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Mining With Microbes
Member rating: No Rating | Words: | Submitted: Wed Aug 13 2003
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MINING WITH MICROBES Bacteria such as Thiobacillus ferro-oxidans and Thiobacillus thio-oxidans obtain the energy they need to live by oxidising Fe2+ ions and S2- ions respectively. The S ions are present in insoluble minerals of copper, zinc and lead. The oxidation of the S ions by bacteria releases these valuable metal ions into solution (from where the metallic elements can be extracted). Humans can achieve the same result only by smelting ores at high temperatures, a far more polluting and energy-intensive approach. As we learn more about these biological processes, it is becoming clear that they can be used to process ores - a technology that in the future could transform the metal industries and bring enormous environmental benefits. Research laboratories around the world are witnessing a marriage between biotechnology and metallurgy, creating a new discipline known as biohydrometallurgy. By the mid-1980s, the copper industry in the US was on its last legs. Sources...
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