BioMining

What are the Oversight Issues?

Why BioMining?

Researchers hope that future enterprises in biomining will be able to use engineered bacteria that we can control by sending signals during the mining process.

Such signals would tell the bacteria to behave in some way, for instance moving to a specific location or grouping together in a tighter network called a biofilm.

Genetically engineered microorganisms in the United States are overseen primarily by the Environmental Protection Agency under the Toxic Substances and Control Act.

However, with mining operations, there are several other U.S. agencies that come into play including the Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management and state and local jurisdictions.

The expert group consulted in this project raised some concern that there is uncertainty in what agencies would review biomining applications and whether there would also be post-use monitoring for organisms dispersal in the envirnoment and possible impacts.

Traditional metal mining is a costly, labor-intensive, and hazardous process.

Biomining with specialized bacteria can help reduce the use of hazardous chemicals by using bacteria to help extract the metals. Biomining with non-engineered bacteria is being used. Engineered (or highly engineered "synthetic biology") bacteria are now being developed by researchers to make the process more efficient and sustainable.

What are broader societal implications and concerns?

What are the Risks and Benefits?

Genetic engineering is perceived by some to be "un-natural" and the release of highly engineered or synthetic organisms for biomining might heighten public concern about biomining.

The biggest issue for our expert group was the historical lack of trust in mining industries to be good stewards of the environment.

It will be important for oversight, therefore, to have independent safety reviews and transparency for public confidence.

Risks

Benefits

What about the bacteria?

• Potential for reduced chemical use and therefore fewer worker and environmental risks from biomining.
• Cheaper than traditional mining techniques.
• May be easier on environment due to fewer CO2 emissions.

• In addition to the risks posed by chemical environmental contaminants from the biomining process itself, the expert group consulted in the NCSU synthetic biology project identified risks of using genetically engineered microbes in biomining.
• These included impacts on naturally occuring flora and fauna stemming from persistence, survival and distribution of genetically engineered microbes outside of mining sites.
• However, these risks might be offset by the benefits of reduced chemical use during biomining.

Synthetic biologists have engineered microorganisms that do specific tasks to help with the biomining process.

These specialized bacteria have been created specifically for metal extraction, and may reduce costs and environmental harm.

What did our study find out about this case?

What is Biomining ?

Currently scientists are researching new uses of engineered bacteria to improve metal extraction in different settings and different types of metals.

Other researchers are investigating ways to get bacteria to behave in desirable ways-- this includes learning more about different types of bacterias as well as learn more about how they signal to one another so they can better group to extract metals.

We asked experts to rate how risky they thought biomining is compared to other synthetic biology technologies being researched.

Experts generally noted that the risks of biomining are fairly small but there are still moderate levels of uncertainty about the technology.

Further research into this technology and its impacts on society are needed to help reduce the uncertainty.

For example, research has been conducted on the bacterium A. ferrooxidans that is crucial for bio-leaching, which has been shown to increase the potential for gathering iron from low-grade ore that we otherwise would not be able to harvest.

Biomining is the use of non-engineered or engineered bacteria to improve how mining operations collect heavy and precious metals. From this short presentation you will learn why biomining is being researched, what types of biomining exist, and what risks and benefits are associated with biomining.

Where is it being used?

Many industrial firms are employing biomining techniques around the world.

Resources and References

Biomining is currently being employed in mines around the world including Australia, Chile, Ghana, South Africa, and parts of Central Asia.

Reports suggest that the use of biomining is expected to grow around the world in coming years.

Universal BioMining (San Francisco, CA) applys synthetic biology to the mining field by designing organisms to better sequester heavy metals from mining waste water streams.

Other industrial firms employing biomining and bioleaching practices include:

• GeoBiotics (Colorado, U.S.) - working with Caraiba copper project in Brazil
• BHP Billiton (Melbourne, Australia) - working with Chilean copper and nickel projects
• Mintek (Johannesburg, South Africa) - working with gold mining
• BacTech (Toronto, Ontario)

BioSigma (Santiago, Chile) is developing biomining techniques to several Chilean copper mines to help leach copper from sulfide and ores by using microbes that live under extreme conditions.

Biomining: How microbes help to mine copper

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17406375

The microbiology of biomining: development and

optimization of mineral-oxidizing microbial

consortia

http://mic.sgmjournals.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.2006/001206-0?crawler=true&mimetype=application/pdf

Bioleaching

http://www.pythongroup.ca/mining-news/article/id/56

Universal Biomining

http://universalbiomining.com/

What are the types of biomining?

There are two main types of biomining:

bio-leaching and bio-oxidation

Bio-leaching

Bio-oxidation

BioMining

Bioleaching begins when crushed ore is sprayed with sulfuric acid.

Specialized bacteria that like the acid help to pull out metals like copper, nickel, cobalt, and zinc and separate them from other materials.

Once these metals are pulled out of the ore by the bacteria they can be harvested and processed into pure solid forms. In this way bacteria can be used to access precious metals easier and safer than before.

Bio-oxidation involves using microorganisms to oxidize minerals—this process weakens the bonds around metals contained within low grade ores that wouldn’t be used in traditional mining operations.

Once the metals are more accessible, special chemicals are used to target the valuable metals and move them away from other materials so they can be harvested for future use.

This case study was produced by the NCSU Genetic Engineering and Society Center

The expert Delphi study was funded by the Sloan Foundation.