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Can Biomining be A Pathway to Sustainable Access to Rare Earth Elements?

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Highlights

  • Scientists discover biomining as an innovative, eco-friendly technique for extracting rare earth elements (REEs) from low-grade mining waste sources.
  • Six biomining technologies identified, including bioleaching and biosorption, with potential for efficient REE recovery from waste streams.
  • Coal ash demonstrates highest profit potential among mining waste streams for rare earth element extraction.

Earth scientists from Australia and Vietnam study the  recovery of rare earth elements (REE) via biomining.  An important topic, given the essential nature of REEs for the accumulating demand in advanced manufacturing such as renewable energy, military equipment, electric vehicles. Importantly the recovery of REEs from low-grade resources emerges as of mission-critical importance. So, what about mining waste? Can mining waste be a sustainable source?              

A lot depends on specific mining sites, its geological conditions, and sociodemographic backgrounds. But yes, mining waste has been identified as a source of REEs in various concentrations and abundance.

For instance, yttrium, cerium, and neodymium are the most common REEs in mining waste streams (50 to 300 μg/L).

So, what is biomining?

According to the Australian and Vietnam-based researchers “biomining has emerged as a viable option for REEs recovery due to its reduced environmental impact, along with reduced capital investment compared to traditional recovery methods.”

In this latest paper Phong H.N. Vo of University of Technology Sydney and colleagues aim to do the following for the reader:

  1. Characteristics of mining waste as a low-grade REEs resource.
  2. Understand the key operating principles of biomining technologies for REEs recovery
  3. Know the effects of operating conditions and matrix on REEs recovery.
  4. Comprehend the sustainability (opens in a new tab) of REEs recovery through biomining technologies.

In this important paper published in Science of the Total Environment the authors break down and examine six types of biomining:

  1. Bioleaching
  2. Bioweathering
  3. Biosorption (opens in a new tab)
  4. Bioaccumulation (opens in a new tab)
  5. Bioprecipitation
  6. Bioflotation (opens in a new tab).

After describing these methodologies, the authors design a SWOT analyses and techno-economic assessments (TEA), reporting that Biomining technologies have been found to be effective and efficient in recovering REEs from low-grade sources. Through TEA, coal ash has been shown to return the highest profit amongst mining waste streams.

Phong H.N. Vo (opens in a new tab) at University of Technology Sydney represented the study as corresponding author.

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