Importance of microbiology in the development of sustainable technologies in mineral processing

The importance of microbiology in today’s mineral processing technology had been shown by biomining technology in which it capabilities to utilize lower grade ore as oppose to the conventional ones, and more environmental friendly. The understanding of biomining and its application in around the globe had been done through five selected case studies involving different scenarios of biomining technology is being applied such as in gold mining, copper mining and nickel and zinc mining. The selected mines is Newmont mine in Nevada, USA, Talvivaara mine in Finland, Fariview mine in South Africa, Chuquicamata mine in Chile and lastly Laizhou mine in Shandong Province, China. Their respective biomining technology also had been studied along with their respective capabilities in mineral processing to better understand of the capabilities and future development of biomining technology for many years to come. The comparison between the scenarios had made achievements to the objective of which to study the future of biomining technology in the developments of sustainable technologies in mineral processing.