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Prokaryotes and Man Bioleaching G.J.E.Dickens Introduction When extracting metals from deposits, physical methods of mining can only go so far before the yield of pure metal relative to the amount of ore extracted renders the process uneconomical. Under such circumstances, a method called leaching is employed. This involves pumping hot water or acid through a vat containing pulverised low-grade ore and allowing the soluble metal compounds to dissolve in it, before recovering the metal from this solution by electrolysis. However, not all metal compounds are soluble, when this is the case then a slightly different process called Bioleaching is employed. This process makes use of some bacteria's ability to convert insoluble metal compounds (like sulphides) directly into ions in solution. A culture of bacteria in hot water is passed into the vat. The metal is then recovered from this solution exactly like the other leaching methods. (7) Using bacteria to make valuable compounds soluble...

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