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Biomining is the biotechnology that uses microorganisms to recover metals, in particular copper and gold, from ores and concentrates. Having developed from a very simple operational (in terms of both engineering and biology) process, biomining has developed into a multifaceted technology, to the extent that many of the largest industrial stirred tanks and heaps throughout the world are employed for bioprocessing minerals.
This book has a strong applied approach and describes emerging and established industrial processes, as well as the underlying theory of the process, and the biology of the microorganisms involved. Chapters have been written by personnel from leading biomining companies, consultants and internationally recognized researchers and academics.
List of contents
The BIOX(TM) Process for the Treatment of Refractory Gold Concentrates.- Bioleaching of a Cobalt-Containing Pyrite in Stirred Reactors: a Case Study from Laboratory Scale to Industrial Application.- Commercial Applications of Thermophile Bioleaching.- A Review of the Development and Current Status of Copper Bioleaching Operations in Chile: 25 Years of Successful Commercial Implementation.- The GeoBiotics GEOCOAT® Technology - Progress and Challenges.- Whole-Ore Heap Biooxidation of Sulfidic Gold-Bearing Ores.- Heap Leaching of Black Schist.- Modeling and Optimization of Heap Bioleach Processes.- Relevance of Cell Physiology and Genetic Adaptability of Biomining Microorganisms to Industrial Processes.- Acidophile Diversity in Mineral Sulfide Oxidation.- The Microbiology of Moderately Thermophilic and Transiently Thermophilic Ore Heaps.- Techniques for Detecting and Identifying Acidophilic Mineral-Oxidizing Microorganisms.- Bacterial Strategies for Obtaining Chemical Energy by Degrading Sulfide Minerals.- Genetic and Bioinformatic Insights into Iron and Sulfur Oxidation Mechanisms of Bioleaching Organisms.
About the author
Douglas E. Rawlings: Professor and Head of Department of Microbiology at the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa. BSc (Hons), PhD Rhodes University, South Africa. Fellow of the University of Cape Town, Royal Society of South Africa (an immediate past President of RSSAf). Editor of previous book on subject Biomining, Theory, Microbes and Industrial Processes, published by Springer and RG Landes (1997).
D. Barrie Johnson: Reader in Environmental and Applied Microbiology at the University of Wales, Bangor, U.K. Doctoral and Batchelor degrees from the University of Wales. Fellowships held at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratories, (US Department of Energy).
Summary
Biomining is the biotechnology that uses microorganisms to recover metals, in particular copper and gold, from ores and concentrates. Having developed from a very simple operational (in terms of both engineering and biology) process, biomining has developed into a multifaceted technology, to the extent that many of the largest industrial stirred tanks and heaps throughout the world are employed for bioprocessing minerals.
This book has a strong applied approach and describes emerging and established industrial processes, as well as the underlying theory of the process, and the biology of the microorganisms involved. Chapters have been written by personnel from leading biomining companies, consultants and internationally recognized researchers and academics.
