Bioleaching & Phytomining Flashcards

All 5 cards in this deck

What is bioleaching?

Using bacteria to produce a solution (leachate) containing metal compounds from low-grade ores.

Give two disadvantages of bioleaching.

It is very slow and low yield; toxic substances such as sulfuric acid can be produced.

Give two disadvantages of phytoextraction.

It is slow and needs a large area of land; the metal compound still needs further extraction.

Give two advantages of biological methods of metal extraction over traditional mining.

They allow use of low-grade ores and conserve ore reserves; they cause less noise, dust and habitat damage from mining.

True or false? Bioleaching and phytoextraction produce pure metal directly.

False. The leachate or plant ash contains metal compounds that need further processing, e.g. displacement or electrolysis.