As mining companies confront declining ore grades, rising demand for critical minerals and increasing pressure to decarbonise operations, bioleaching is re-emerging as a potential solution to some of the industry’s most persistent challenges.
This episode examines how developments in microbiology are expanding the scope of bioleaching beyond its traditional applications in copper and gold processing.
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The discussion features insights from:
- Priit Joers, Chief Scientific Officer at BiotaTec
- Ross Orr, CEO of BacTech, and
- Darina Štyriaková, CEO of ekolive
While the concept itself is not new, speakers argued that a combination of technological advances and shifting market conditions is creating opportunities that did not previously exist. Bioleaching uses microorganisms to extract metals from ores, concentrates and waste materials, offering an alternative to conventional processing routes that rely on energy-intensive crushing, concentration and smelting.
Bioleaching: how it works
According to Joers, industrial bioleaching emerged decades ago, but the technology remained largely confined to niche applications and a relatively narrow set of microorganisms and ore types.
That is beginning to change.
Joers says advances in molecular biology have dramatically expanded the range of microorganisms available for industrial applications. Mining has historically relied on microbes that derive energy from oxidising iron and sulphur, but researchers are now exploring a wider range of organisms and feedstocks, including mining waste and end-of-life industrial waste streams.
A key development is improved selectivity. “We can actually tune in to these metals of interest,” he says, explaining that microorganisms can be trained to target specific metals.
Industrial adoption
Despite its promise, bioleaching has yet to achieve widespread deployment across the mining sector.
Štyriaková says interest from miners has rarely been the problem. Over the years, ekolive has worked with hundreds of mining companies and completed numerous trials and pilot projects, but the challenge has been converting that interest into full-scale commercial implementation.
Part of the issue is scale.
“Can you actually build it?” Orr asks. BacTech’s approach has been to integrate established bioleaching processes with existing downstream technologies, creating new flowsheets that incorporate biological extraction without requiring miners to abandon proven processing infrastructure.
Downstream and tailings
Tailings management is where bioleaching has particularly strong potential.
Orr highlights BacTech’s work on Vale’s historical nickel mining waste in Sudbury, Canada. The project seeks not only to recover nickel, copper and cobalt from sulphide tailings, but also to create additional value streams from the remaining material.
Joers argues that low operating temperatures, reduced energy requirements and lower emissions could make bioleaching particularly attractive for processing legacy waste streams that were previously considered uneconomic. Such materials could become future sources of critical raw materials, particularly as governments seek greater supply-chain security.
Štyriaková points to tailings sites in Slovakia where copper concentrations remain higher than grades currently being mined by the industry, suggesting that historic waste deposits may represent a significant untapped resource.
What’s next?
Joers says policymakers and industry leaders are increasingly recognising bioleaching’s potential to unlock critical raw materials from historic waste deposits while simultaneously addressing environmental liabilities. Many of these materials have been sitting unused for decades because they contain both valuable and potentially hazardous elements.
Like the wider energy transition, the future of bioleaching may ultimately depend on whether industry can bridge the gap between technical promise and commercial deployment. The technology has existed for decades. The question now is whether advances in biology, combined with growing demand for critical minerals, are enough to move it into the mainstream.
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