ENGLISH

Biomining: Theory, Microbes and Industrial Processes

By Corale L. Brierley (auth.) , Douglas E. Rawlings (eds.)

Book information

Publisher
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
Year
1997
ISBN
978-3-662-06113-8, 978-3-662-06111-4
DOI
10.1007/978-3-662-06111-4
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
9 MB (9556700 bytes)
Series
Biotechnology Intelligence Unit
Edition
1
Pages
302\301
Orientation
yes
Scanned
yes
Time added
2013-08-01 04:00:00
general; MineralogyMicrobiology; Biotechnology; Biochemistry

Description

Biomining is the use of microorganisms in the recovery of metals from ores. During bioleaching, metals such as copper, nickel or zinc are oxidized through microbial action from the water-insoluble sulfide to the soluble sulfate forms. Although gold is inert to microbial action, microbes can also be used in gold recovery from certain types of ores because as they oxidize the ore, they open up its structure, thereby allowing a gold-solubilizing agent such as cyanide to penetrate the ore. The book describes several industrial bioleaching and biooxidation processes as well as the underlying theory and biology of the microbes involved.

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