Bio mining

• Soil microorganisms are very closely involved as catalytic agents

in many geological processes such as mineral formation, mineral
degradation, sedimentation and geochemical cycling.

• Bio mining is the extraction of specific metal from their ores

through biological means mostly by microorganisms.

• It is an effective and green technology to mine metals.

• The main aim of this technology is to utilize bio-oxidation and

biotransformation to decompose the mineral matrix and exposed
the entrapped valuable metals.
• Its also a combination of chemical and physical methods. It is
done in two steps that are:
•Bio oxidation
•Bioleaching
Advantages of bio mining

• It is cheap
• Reliable
• Efficient
• Environmentally friendly
Characteristics of bacteria used in bio-mining:

• Thermophilic
• Chemophilic
• Autotrophic
• Most current bio-mining operations target valuable metals like
copper, uranium, nickel, and gold that are commonly found in
sulfidic (sulfur-bearing) minerals. 
• Bio-mining techniques may also be used to clean up sites that
have been polluted with metals
Bio-oxidation

•Involves oxidation of metal ore in order to reach to metal of

interest.

•The metal of interest is made more accessible or enriched in the

material left behind due to the processes of microbial reactions, in
the presence of oxygen and nutrients.

• Bio oxidation also uses microorganisms, not to extract metals,

but to make the metals ready for extraction.

•Oxidation is the chemical reaction in which an element is

changed by the addition of oxygen. Rust is an example of the
oxidization of iron. 
• Bio oxidation is mainly used in gold mining.

• Gold is often found in ores with gold particles scattered

throughout, called refractory ores, and the small particles of gold
are covered by insoluble minerals.

• These minerals make the extraction difficult.

• Therefore, microorganisms that can "eat away" at the mineral

coating are used to pre-treat the gold ores before they can be
extracted.
Metals Recovery

The metals can be recovered by the microorganisms by two

processes:

(1) Bioleaching or microbial leaching:

This broadly involves the extraction or solubilization of minerals
from the ores by the microorganisms

(2) Bio-Sorption:
It deals with the microbial cell surface adsorption of metals from
the mine wastes or dilute mixtures
Bioleaching:

• Extraction of metals from low-grade ores by employing

microorganism is called as bio­leaching.

•Large quantities of low-grade ores are produced during the

separation of higher-grade ores and are generally discarded in waste
heaps.

•Metals from such ores cannot economically be processed with

chemical methods.

•There are large quantities of such low-grade ores especially copper

ores, which can be processed profitably by bio-leaching.

•Copper and Uranium are presently produced commercially by

employing bioleaching process.
Bioleaching advantages

•Bioleaching is more cost-effective than smelting processes,

chemical extraction, safer for the environment

• More efficient in extracting metals with low concentration in

ores.

•Bioleaching can stabilize sulphate toxins from the mine without

causing harm to the environment.

•Poisonous sulfur dioxide emissions harm the environment and

can cause health problems for miners, and bioleaching avoids
this process entirely.

• It directly dissolves metal of interest.

Microorganisms Involved
A number of other microorganisms such as:
• Acidithiobacillus ferroxidans
• Thiobacillus concretivorus
• T. ferrooxidans
• T. thiooxidans 
• Pseudomonas florescens
• P.putida, Achromobacter
• Bacillus licheniformis
• B. cereus
• B luteus
• B. Polymyxa
• B. megaterium
Several thermophilic bacteria (because of rapid growth rate, the thermophilic
bacteria significantly accelerate the bioleaching process) like
• Thiobacillus thermophilica
• Thermothrix thioparus
• Thiobacillus TH1 and
• Sulfolobus acidocaldarius
Some fungi species: (ability to dissolute heavy metals)
• Aspergillus niger  (extract copper and nickel)
• Aspergillus oryzae (for extracting gold)
• Penicillium simplicissimum
Mechanism of Bioleaching:
The bacteria which are naturally associated with the rocks can lead to bioleaching
by one of the following two ways:
(i) Direct bioleaching (Direct action of bacteria on the ore to extract
metal)
(ii) Indirect bioleaching (Bacteria produce certain substances such as
sulfuric acid and ferric iron which extract the metal (indirect action)
(ii) Direct Bioleaching:
Thiobacillus ferrooxidans is often used in microbial leaching. It is an
autotrophic, aerobic, gram (-) negative rod shaped bacterium. It
synthesizes its carbon substances by CO2 fixation. It derives the required
energy for CO2 fixation either from the oxidation of Fe2+ to Fe3+or from
the oxidation of elemental sulphur or reduced sulphur compounds to
sulfates. Thiobacillus thiooxidans oxidizes insoluble sulphur to sulphuric
acid, which takes place in the periplasmic space. It is possible to dissolve
iron through direct bacterial leaching as shown in the reactions:
(ii) Indirect Bioleaching:

• This leaching process takes place without direct involvement of

microorganisms but they indirectly support the leaching by
producing agents responsible for oxidation of minerals.

• It can be explained by the process of oxidation of pyrite. Pyrite is

a common rock mineral that is found in association with many ores.

•The pyrite is initially oxidized to elemental sulphur equation 4,

which is subjected to further oxidation by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans
due to which sulphuric acid is formed which is shown in equation 2.
• Thiobacillus thiooxidans and Thiobacillus ferrooxidans are
generally seen associated with leaching dumps.

• In pilot plant reactors of 50 liter capacity, leaching can be

performed continuously in a cascade series with recycling of cells
and leachates.

• In the laboratory better yields of bioleaching products can be

obtained under optimal conditions, like control of temperature,
O2 and CO2 adjustments, maintenance of pH between 2 and 3, and
eh around – 300mv with very finely ground ores in a tower
(percolator). However, conditions and yield cannot be achieved in
a commercial scale because it is expensive.
Methods of Bioleaching:
1. Slope Leaching
• Fine ore is kept in a large, slope-shaped dump. During slope leaching, a water
solution made of inoculum is continuously sprayed over the ore. After that, the
leach liquor (or remaining liquid) is gathered at the bottom and processed for
supplemental metal recovery.
2. Heap Leaching
• In this technique, the ore is arranged in large heaps. During heap leaching, an
aqueous mixture of microorganisms is sprinkled over the leach pile. Then, the
solution is collected and processed to help recover even more metal.
3. In-situ Leaching
• The ore remains in its natural state while the leaching process takes place.
• Water containing Thiobacillus is pumped through drilled passages to
unextracted ore which remains in its original location in the earth.
• In most cases, the permeability of the rock must be first increased by
subsurface blasting of the rock.
• The acidic water seeps through the rock and collects in the bottommost cavity
from which it is pumped, the minerals extracted, and the water re-used after
regeneration of bacteria.
• The leach fluid is then stored until it is time for metal recovery.
Bio-heap leach

Process done in two stages:

1. Crushing
2. Bio heap leaching
3. Metal recovery

• Metal ores are leached from ore by bacterial action

• Bacteria used grow naturally in the ore and the company reports up
to 98% recovery rates from metal ore to solution

Operated in two stages:

1. Primary heap with a residence time of 1.5 years

2. Secondary pad residence of 3.5 years
Metal recovery

Three types are recovered

1. Copper sulphide

2. Zinc sulphide

3. Nickel copper sulphide

Examples of microbial ore leaching
i. Copper Leaching:
To have an idea of bioleaching process copper leaching by bacteria is described as
an example. Covellite, chalcocite and chalcopyrite are generally used as copper
ores for bioleaching processes. Apart from containing copper, the ores also contain
other elements like iron, zinc and sulphur. For example – Chalcopyrite contains
26% copper, 25.9% iron, 20.5% zinc and 33% sulphur.
Mechanism of Copper Leaching:
During the oxidation of Chalcopyrite the following reaction occurs:
• Chalcopyrite is oxidized as follows:
• 2 CuFeS2 + 8 ½ O2 + H2SO4 ———> 2 CuSO4 + Fe2 (SO4)3 + H2O
• Covellite is oxidized to copper sulfate:
• CuS + 2 O2 ————> CuSO4 ————–(6)

Generally heap leaching process is employed in copper leaching process but

sometimes a combination of heap leaching and in situ leaching processes are used.
The solution (Sulphate/Fe3 solution) is sprinkled over the heap which percolates
through the ore and collects at the bottom pit. The solution collecting in the
bottom pit will include copper metal, which is removed by precipitation. The
remaining water with Fe3+ is used again in the leaching process after adjusting the
pH to 2.0 with the help of H2SO4.
Bioleaching of copper has been used in the United States, Australia, Canada, Mexico, South
Africa, Portugal, Spain and Japan. About 5% of the world copper production is obtained
through bioleaching.
ii. Uranium Leaching:

• In the uranium leaching process, insoluble tetravalent uranium is oxidized

with a hot H2SO4/Fe3+ solution to soluble hexavalent uranium sulfate.
• UO2 + Fe2 (SO4)3 ————-> UO2SO4 + 2 FeSO4 —————-(7)
• This is an indirect leaching process since the microbial attack is not on the
uranium ore directly but on the iron oxidant.
• Ferric sulphate and sulphuric acid can be produced by T. ferrooxidans from
the pyrite within the uranium ore.
• 2 FeS4 + H2O+ 7.5 O2 ———-> Fe2(SO4)3 + H2SO4 ——(8)
• In situ microbial leaching is greater acceptance since it eliminates the
expense of moving vast amounts of material. For instance thousand tons of
uranium ore must be handled in other than bioleaching processes, to obtain
one ton of uranium.
• This is an indirect leaching process since the microbial attack is not on
uranium ore directly but on the Iron oxidant.
• Ferric sulphate and sulfuric acid can be produced by T. ferrooxidans from the
pyrite within the uranium ore.
2FeS2 + H2O + 7.5 O2 → Fe2 (SO4)3 + H2SO4

For the initial production of the Fe3+ leach solution the pyrite reaction is used.
For carrying this reaction pilot plants with surface reactors are used which are
similar to trickling filters used in sewage operations.
For getting optimum uranium leaching the incoming air should passes a pH of
1.5-3.5, temperature of 35°C and CO2 0.2%. However, certain thermophilic
strains require a temperature optimum of 45-50°C.
The dissolved uranium is extracted from the leach liquor, in commercial
processes with organic solvents like tributyl phosphate and the uranium is
subsequently precipitated from the organic phase. The organic solvents which
remain in the water system after extraction of uranium may be toxic and hence
cause problems when the microbiological system is reused.
Microbial leaching of refractory precious metal ores to enhance recovery of gold
and silver is one of the most promising applications. Gold is obtained through
bioleaching of arsenopyrite/pyrite ore and its cyanidation process. Silver is more
readily solubilized than gold during microbial leaching of iron sulphide.
Similarly silica is leached from ores like
magnesite, bauxite, dolomite and basalt by
Bacillus licheniformis. The silica is accumulated
by B.licheniformis by process of adsorption
which is readily separated. This technology of
obtaining silica from magnesite is being
adapted by Salam works of Burn, Standard Co.
Ltd, Tamil Nadu in collaboration with the
department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India.
Ore leaching by microbes has potential for use
in the extraction of other metals such as zinc,
cobalt and nickel. New reactor systems are
likely to be developed to increase the
efficiency of bioleaching in terms of cost and
kinetics. These innovations are expected to
extend the scope of bleaching applications.