Abstract
The present review describes the historical development and mechanisms of bioleaching. Recent development has shown commercial application of the process and, concurrently, details pertaining to the key microorganisms involved in these processes have been described. Bioleaching of metal sulfides is caused by diverse groups of bacteria. The dissolution biochemistry signifies two types of pathways, which are specifically determined by the acid-solubility of the sulfides, the thiosulfate and polysulfate pathways. This sulfide dissolution can be affected by ‘direct’ and ‘indirect’ mechanisms. In the ‘indirect’ mechanism bacteria oxidize only dissolved iron (II) ions to iron (III) ions and the latter can then attack metal sulfides and then be reduced to iron (II) ions. The ‘direct’ mechanism requires the attachment of bacteria to the sulfide surfaces. In the case of thiobacilli, bacteria secrete exopolymer that facilitates attachment of the bacteria to a metal surface, thus enhancing the leaching rate. In terms of eco-friendliness and process economics, within the field of biohydrometallurgy the technology is considered robust.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
K. Bosecker,Hydrometallurgy 59, 245 (2001).
W. Verstraete,J. Biotechnol. 94, 93 (2002).
C. Sheela Sasikumar and T. Papinazath,Proc. 3 rd International conference on environment and Health )eds., M. J. Bunch, V. M. Suresh, and T. V. Kumaran), p. 465, Chennai, India (2003).
G. J. Olson, J. A. Brierley, and C. L. Brierley,Appl. Microbiol. Biot. 63, 249 (2003).
D. B. Johnson,Hydrometallurgy 59, 147 (2001).
C. L. Brierly,CRC Cr. Rev. Microbiol. 6, 207 (1978).
D. G. Lundgren and E. E. Malouf,Adv. Biotechnol. Processes 1, 223 (1983).
D. E. Rawlings,Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 56, 65 (2002).
L. Needham and Gwei-Djen,Chemistry and Chemical technology: Part II.5, p. 25, Univ. Press, Cambridge, (1974).
G. Rossi,Biohydrometallurgy, p. 1, McGrawHill, Himburg, Germany (1990).
H. L. Ehrlich,Hydrometallurgy 59, 127 (2001).
T. Lugaski,Coper-The Red Metal, http://www.unr.edu/sb204/geology/coptext.html (1997).
L. U. Salkield,Geotechnical Engineering, p. 230, Kluwer Academic Publishen, USA (1987).
J. A. Brierley and C. L. Brierley,Hydrometallurgy 59, 233 (2001).
S. Bustos, S. Castro, and S. Montealegre,FEMS Microbiol. Revs. 1, 231 (1993).
H. A. Schnell,Biomining: Theory, Microbes and Industrial Processes (ed., D. E. Rawlings), p. 21, Springer, New York (1997).
P. C. van Aswegen, M. W. Godfrey, D. M. Miller, and A. K. Haines,Miner. Metall Process. 188 (1991).
H. J. Marais,Innovation in metallurgical plant, p. 125, South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Johannesburg (1990).
R. Poulin and R. W. Lawrence,Minerals Engg. 9, 799 (1996).
J. A. Brierley,Minerals Engg. 52, 49 (2000).
J. L. Whitlock,Biomining: Theory, Microbes and Industrial Processes (ed., D. Rawlings), p. 17, Springer, New York (1997).
C. Johansson, V. Shrader, J. Sussa, K. Adutwum, and W. Kohr,Biohydrometallurgy and the Environment Towards the Mining of the 21 st century, (eds., R. Amils and A. Ballester) p. 569, Elsevier, Amsterdam (1999).
J. Berthelin,Microbial Geochemistry (ed., W. E. Krumbein), p. 223, Blackwell Scientific, Oxford (1983).
M. P. Silverman and H. L. Ehrlich,Advances in Applied Microbiology, p. 153, Academic Press, New York (1964).
H. L. Ehrlich,J. Bacteriol. 86, 350 (1963).
D. K. Ewart and M. H. Hughes,Adv. Inorg. Chem. 36, 103 (1991).
T. Gehrke, R. Hellmann, and W. Sand,Biohydrometallurgical Processing, Vol. 1, (eds., T. Vargas, C. A. Jerez, J. V. Wiertz, and H. Toledo), p. 1, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile (1995).
C. Pogliani and E. Donati,J. Ind. Microbiol. Biot. 2, 88 (1999).
R. Blake, M. M. Lyles, and R. Simmons,Biohydrometallurgical Processing (eds., C. A. Jerez, T. Vargas, H. Toledo, and J. V. Weirtz), p. 13, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile (1995).
P. Devasia, K. A. Natarajan, D. N. Sathyanarayana, and G. Ramananda Rao,Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 59, 4051 (1993).
H. Tributsch,Hydrometallurgy 59, 177 (2001).
W. Sand, T. Gehreke, P.-G. Jozsa, and A. Schippers,Hydrometallurgy 59, 159 (2001).
W. Sand, T. Gehrke, R. Hallman, and A. Schippers,Appl. Microbiol. Biot. 43, 961 (1995).
W. Sand, T. Gehrke, P. Jozsa, and A. Schippers,Biotechnology Comes of Age, p. 366, Australian Mineral Foundation, Glenside, South Australia (1997).
A. Schippers and W. Sand,Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 65, 319 (1999).
G. W. III Luther,Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 51, 3193 (1987).
C. O. Moses, D. K. Nordstrom, J. S. Herman, and A. L. Mills,Geochim Cosmochim Acta 51, 1561 (1987).
A. Schippers, P.-G. Jozsa, and W. Sand,Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62, 3424 (1996).
R. Steudel,Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 35, 1417 (1996).
B. Escobar, G. Huerta, and J. Rubio,World J. Microb. Biot. 13, 593 (1997).
J. Barret, M. N. Hughes, G. I. Karavaiko, and P. A. Spencer,Metal Extraction by Bacterial Oxidation of Minerals, Ellis Horwood, Chichester, UK (1993).
J. F. Blais, R. D. Tyagi, and J. C. Auclair,Wat. Res. 27, 111 (1993).
D. A. Clark and P. R. Norris,Microbiology 142, 785 (1996).
S. Nagpal, D. Dahlstrom, and T. Oolman,Biotechnol. Bioeng. 41, 459 (1993).
D. P. Kelly and A. P. Wood,Int. J. Syst. Evol. Micr. 50, 511 (2000).
K. B. Hallberg and E. B. Lindstorm,Microbiology 140, 3451 (1994).
D. B. Johnson,FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 27, 307 (1998).
T. Fuchs, H. Huber, K. Teiner, S. Burggraf, and K. O. Stetter,Syst. Appl. Microbiol. 18, 560 (1995).
P. R. Norris, N. P. Burton, and N. A. M. Foulis,Extremophiles 4, 71 (2000).
K. J. Edwards, P. L. Bond, T. M. Gihring, and J. F. Banfield,Science 279, 1796 (2000).
J. T. Pronk, J. C. de Bruyn, P. Bos, and J. G. Kuenen,Appl. Environ. Micribiol. 58, 2227 (1992).
A. Das, A. K. Mishra, and P. Roy,FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 97, 167 (1992).
N. Ohmura, K. Sasaki, N. Matsumoto, and H. Saiki,J. Bacteriol. 184, 2081 (2002).
A. Yarzábal, G. Brasseur, and V. Bonnefoy,FEMS. Microbiol. Lett. 209, 189 (2002).
A. Hiraishi, K. V. Nagashima, K. Matsuura, K. Shimada, S. Takaichi, N. Wakao, and Y. Katayama,Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 48, 1389 (1998).
A. Hiraishi, Y. Matsuzawa, T. Kanbe, and N. Wakao,Int. J. Syst. Evol. Micr. 50, 1539 (2000).
J. Pizarro, E. Jedilicki, O. Orellana, J. Romero, and R. T. Espejo,Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62, 1323 (1996).
R. T. Espejo and J. Romero,Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63, 1344 (1997).
R. G. McCready and W. D. Gould,Microbial Mineral Recovery (eds., H. L. Ehrlich and C. L. Brieley), p. 107, McGraw Hill, New York (1990).
P. Craven and P. Morales,Copper hydromet roundtable, p. 119, Randol International Ltd., Golden, Colorado (2000).
P. van Staden, M. Rhodes, and T. Martinez,Abstracts of Annual Meeting of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Cincinnati, Ohio (2003).
K. A. Natarajan,Microbial Mineral Recovery (eds., H. L. Ehrilch and C. L. Brierley), p. 79, Mc-Graw-Hill, New York (1990).
F. Veglio, R. Quaresima, P. Fornari, and S. Ubaldini,Waste Management 23, 245 (2003).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mishra, D., Kim, DJ., Ahn, JG. et al. Bioleaching: A microbial process of metal recovery; A review. Met. Mater. Int. 11, 249–256 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03027450
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03027450