The increasing importance of biohydrometallurgy for metal recovery from primary and secondary resources

Biohydrometallurgy offers various process options including bioleaching, biooxidation, biomineralization, bioprecipitation, biosorption and bioelectrochemistry. The purpose of biohydrometallurgical research is to explore these process options for metal recovery from primary and secondary resources. Bioleaching and biooxidation have been developed over the last decades towards industrial application for processing of sulfide ores, and all these options will be highlighted at Biomining '23 in June. We will be publishing the provisional programme next month, so it is not too late to submit an abstract if you would like to present your work in Falmouth.

Falmouth from the conference venue, the National Maritime Museum

Today the biomining share of the global cobalt, copper, nickel, zinc and gold production is between 0.4% and 1.9% for each metal. Future biomining applications may include various complex, low-grade sulfide ores, mine tailings as well as oxide ores such as limonitic laterites. Also secondary resources such as electronic scrap have become a promising target for biohydrometallurgy. The recovery of metals from metal-rich process waters, acid mine drainage and industrial wastewaters has been studied in several projects and has begun to be an industrial reality. There is a high chance that biohydrometallurgy will play a greater role for metal recovery in future.

The increasing importance of biohydrometallurgy in the minerals industry will be highlighted at the Falmouth conference in a keynote lecture from Prof. Axel Schippers, of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Germany. 

Axel Schippers with Anne-Gwenaelle Guezennec and Catherine Joulian,
of BRGM, France, at Biohydromet '16 in Falmouth

Axel studied biology at the University of Hamburg, Germany, and received his doctor‘s degree in 1998 for a thesis on the sulfur chemistry of microbial metal sulfide oxidation. Afterwards he worked for two years as a post-doc on sediment microbiology and biogeochemistry in the Max-Planck-Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany. In 2001 he moved to the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources in Hannover, Germany and from 2007 he has been head of the Geomicrobiology unit. In 2006 he qualified as lecturer (Privatdozent) for microbiology and geochemistry at the Leibniz University of Hannover and was appointed as Professor in 2011.

#Biomining23

Recent comments

There have been comments on the following postings since the last update:

Return to Chingola
Process Mineralogy '22: a return to face-to-face meetings for MEI Conferences
Leonard (Len) George Austin: 1929-2022

Flotation '23: Clariant is the latest sponsor, and news of an award to Metcelerate
Derek Barratt, 1939-2022
Prof. Noel Warner: 1932-2022

Tega Industries and Promet101, the latest Comminution '23 sponsors
Kal Sastry: 1942-2016
New book: Biomining Technologies: extracting and recovering metals from ores and wastes
A good start to my week in Melbourne
Roe-Hoan Yoon elected Fellow of National Academy of Inventors
January Cornish Mining Sundowner

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Nominations invited for the 2022 MEI Young Person's Award

It was a pleasure to present the 2020 and 2021 MEI Young Person's Awards to Ahmad Hassanzadeh and Paulina Quintanilla respectively at Process Mineralogy '22 in Sitges in November. It is a shame that we have not been able, as yet, to present Nikhil Dhawan with his award for 2019 but hopefully we might get that opportunity this year.

But in the meantime it is time to start thinking of who you might like to nominate for the 2022 Award, and join the list of exceptional young mineral processors who have made outstanding contribution to minerals engineering.

Nominations, for persons under 35 years of age at December 31st 2022, should be submitted by email to bwills@min-eng.com by Friday March 3rd 2023. Nominations should include the name, age and affiliation of the nominee, and reasons for the nomination. The recipient will receive an engraved award and a complimentary registration to any future MEI Conference, and the presentation will be made whenever a mutually convenient situation arises.

@barrywills

January Cornish Mining Sundowner

Last night's sundowner at the County Arms Hotel in Cornwall's capital city of Truro was well attended by around 30 regulars and some new faces.

Barbara with Dean Eastbury (3rd left) and Nigel and Karen Powell

There was good news of progress by Cornish Metals in the redevelopment of the old South Crofty tin mine in Camborne, which closed in 1998 following over 400 years of continuous production. Recent drilling has confirmed extensions of the historic Great Flat Lode (posting of 12 June 2010) and has discovered tin mineralisation in a new target called the “Wide Formation”, inferred to lie parallel to and beneath the Great Flat Lode. Richard Williams, CEO of Cornish Metals, said earlier in the month “the Wide Formation has been interpreted to exist from exploration drilling conducted in the 1960s but has never been followed up until now.  Discovering a new high-grade zone of tin mineralisation in the middle of a historic mining district is a tremendous outcome, and again demonstrates the exploration potential of the region".

Since acquiring the project in 2016, Cornish Metals has identified the mineral resources for South Crofty using the vast archive of historical production data and more recent drilling. Additionally, Cornish Metals has undertaken extensive pilot-scale water treatment trials and successfully applied for and received the necessary environmental permits to abstract, treat and discharge mine water in order to dewater the mine. Planning permissions for the operation of the mine and re-development of the surface facilities have been secured and construction of the water treatment plant is currently well underway, dewatering of the mine being expected to commence this year.

Mike Hallewell, a regular at the sundowners, is metallurgical consultant to the South Crofty project and Barbara and I travelled to Truro with him by train from Falmouth last night and he told me that metallurgical testwork is proceeding well, and further characterisation later in the year will culminate in DMS and electronic sorting pre-concentration amenability testwork, followed by subsequent downstream flowsheet verification testwork on the resultant pre-concentrated products.

Prior to the closure of South Crofty in 1998 Mike was Mill Superintendent and he was joined at the sundowner with several of his colleagues of that era. Kevin Ross was the General Manager, and Colin Belshaw the Mine Superintendent until the mid 90s. Alan Beattie was the Mechanical Foreman for the mine and Guy Cordingley plant metallurgist.

South Crofty 'old boys': Guy, Mike, Alan, Kevin and Colin

It was particularly good to see Colin Belshaw making a very rare appearance at a sundowner, as it was the first time in nearly 45 years that Colin, Nigel Powell and I have got together since we dominated Camborne School of Mines squash in the 70s and 80s. 

Reunion with Nigel and Colin

Colin was undoubtedly the finest squash player ever at CSM, and after graduating in 1979 he spent many years in Africa and played for the Zambian national team. Although we had some tremendous battles, I never managed to beat him, and during his three years at CSM he won the championship twice. So what happened in 1977 many people ask?  Colin was enjoying his first year at Camborne and the date of the semi-final coincided with the day after a typical student party, which left him in no fit state to even walk around a squash court on the next day, leading to his unfortunate exit and an easy ride for me in the final!

With Colin in 1977

It was a great sundowner last night, followed by an excellent pub meal, so hopefully there will be a good turnout for next month's event, also at the County Arms, Truro, on Wednesday 15th February from 5.30pm.

@barrywills

Flotation '23 update- the latest keynote and a brand new sponsor

All is developing well for Flotation '23 in Cape Town in November. It will be good to have Prof. Jim Finch and Dr. Glenn Dobby at the conference, the authors of the seminal text Column Flotation. Jim has for many years been MEI's consultant to the conference series, and we are pleased that Glenn will be sharing his views on particle collection in flotation in a keynote lecture.

Glenn will show that some flotation particle collection processes follow the rules of first-order kinetics, coursing bubble recovery in column flotation being a good example. However, particle collection onto gas bubbles in high shear feed slurry aeration machines, such as the Jameson Cell, are not a classic first-order process.

Mechanical flotation machines exhibit coursing bubble recovery, with associated first-order kinetics, in the more quiescent zones. However, the particle collection process in the shear zone of mechanical flotation machines is typically the dominant collection mechanism, and this process is better understood as a probabilistic process and the keynote will review evidence for better understanding particle collection in mechanical cell shear zones, and will suggest a probabilistic approach to modelling.

Dr. Glenn Dobby is co-owner and Senior Consultant for Woodgrove Technologies Inc., Canada, a minerals technology company that develops energy efficient and space efficient flotation systems, as well as advanced process control systems.  From 1991 to 2005 he was co-owner and VP of MinnovEX Technologies Inc., where he was primarily responsible for the direction of technology development in flotation equipment, flotation modelling, comminution modelling and geometallurgy.  Glenn was with Vale Thompson for four years and with MIT for two years before becoming a Professor in the Metallurgy and Materials Science Department at the University of Toronto from 1984 to 1991.

We also welcome a new sponsor to join the other 16 companies already offering corporate support. MetSoP is a team of metallurgists based in South Africa, that offer metallurgical solutions and products. The company specialises in formulating tailor made flotation reagents for various ore types.

Current sponsors

And a reminder that we are now open for abstract submission, the deadline being the end of May. Details of sponsorship and of the exhibition can also be found on the conference website.

#Flotation23

Lithium and the Energy Transition

Cornish Lithium is an innovative mineral exploration and development company, focused on the environmentally and socially responsible extraction of lithium in Cornwall. The Company is progressing towards extraction of lithium from two previously considered ‘unconventional’ sources of lithium: from geothermal waters, and from mica minerals disseminated through granite rock (posting of December 9th 2021).

Through embracing new technologies to explore for and extract the lithium, Life Cycle Analyses to evaluate their projects and building in circular economy design principles to use the resources as efficiently as possible (including partnering with potential heat users at geothermal lithium sites), Cornish Lithium aims to be a global leader in responsible mineral production.

So we are pleased to have, as a keynote speaker at Sustainable Minerals '23, Lucy Crane, the ESG and Sustainability Manager for Cornish Lithium. 

Lucy, who will review lithium and the energy transition, is a geologist by training with a background in grassroots exploration. She is a strong advocate for the standardisation of sustainable and responsible practices in mining, promoting these actions to the wider public, and is passionate about making the industry a more diverse place to work. She has been on the committee for Young Mining Professionals London since its inception, and is heavily involved in Women in Mining UK. She holds a degree in Earth Sciences from Oxford University, and a Masters in Mining Geology from the Camborne School of Mines.

We look forward to our involvement with Cornish Lithium at the conference.

#SustainableMinerals23

Roe-Hoan Yoon elected fellow of National Academy of Inventors

I am very pleased to report that Roe-Hoan Yoon, a University Distinguished Professor in the Virginia Tech Department of Mining and Minerals Engineering and director of the Center of Advanced Separation Technologies, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. With funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and the Virginia Center for Innovative Technology, Prof. Yoon developed and patented the microbubble flotation process, which has been marketed commercially under the name Microcel, regarded by the coal industry as one of the best technologies for separating fine particles.

Prof. Yoon is internationally known for significant contributions to advancing the technology and science of mineral processing, fine particle separation and dewatering, column flotation, chemistry of sulfide mineral flotation, fine particle dewatering, and colloid and surface chemistry. 

In 2017 I had the pleasure of interviewing him (posting of 14 August 2017) and I asked him many questions to which he did not merely reply, but put together a fascinating mini-autobiography of his life from humble origins in South Korea to his position as one of the world’s top scientists in his field.

In the conversation he said that his inspiration to work on the flotation of fine particles came from a paper on the hydrodynamics of bubble-particle collision by Prof. Graeme Jameson, another giant in the field of flotation innovation.

Profs. Jameson and Yoon at Flotation '11

Both Prof. Jameson and Prof.Yoon are recipients of the IMPC Lifetime Achievement Award (LTAA), and I had the honour of sharing the stage with Roe-Hoan in Santiago in Chile, when he was presented with the LTAA and I received the Distinguished Service Award.

Santiago, Chile 2014
Prof. Yoon, BW and Profs. Juan Yianatos and Cyril O'Connor

Prof. Yoon presented a keynote lecture "Developing a Flotation Model from First Principles" at Flotation '17 and we hope to have him back in Cape Town in November for Flotation '23 to hear more of continuing developments in his research. 

With Prof Yoon at Flotation '17 prior to his keynote lecture

@barrywills

New book: Biomining Technologies: Extracting and Recovering Metals from Ores and Wastes

It is a pleasure to announce that MEI's Biomining '23 consultant, Chris Bryan, is co-editor of a new book which explores the biology, diversity and ecology of microorganisms involved in biomining processes. Fellow co-editors are Barrie Johnson, Michael Schlömann and Francisco Roberto. 

Multiple chapters focus on engineering design and operation of biomining systems. Several industrial case studies from China, Chile, Peru, Russia/Kazakhstan and Finland are included, which emphasises the practical approach of the book. The reader not only learns more about the biology, diversity and ecology of microorganisms involved in biomining processes, but also about microbial biomolecular and cultivation tools used in the biomining industry. Special emphasis is put on emerging biotechnologies enabling the use of biomining for recycling metals from e-wastes, waste streams and process waters. Finally, the future impacts and direction of biomining towards sustainability in a metal-demanding world are also highlighted.

The book is aimed at an interdisciplinary audience involving operators and researchers working across disciplines including geology, chemical engineering, microbiology and molecular biology. This is reflected by the content of this book, as well as by its authors, who are all leading practitioners and authorities in their fields. 

#Biomining23
#SustainableMinerals23

December summary: Month of discontent

Welcome to 2023 and wherever you are we hope that it all goes well with you. We leave 2022 behind with my final monthly summary, of December:

My favourite stretch of the north Cornwall coast is near Land's End, the area which includes Cornwall's three submarine mines, and I always enjoy taking visitors there if they are interested in Cornwall's rich mining history. So I was pleased when Mike Hallewell, a respected metallurgical consultant, involved with the regeneration of the South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall and the Hemerdon tungsten-tin mine just across the border in Devon, asked me to show a couple of his Canadian VIP guests around the area (see also LinkedIn) in the beginning of the month. Mike is consulting for Eloro Resources Ltd, an exploration and mine development company focused on developing its potential world-class Iska Iska silver-tin polymetallic property in the Potosí Department of southern Bolivia.

It was good to meet Elora's Chris Holden and Bill Pearson. Chris is Vice-President of Corporate Development and Bill is a noted leader in geosciences, having played integral roles in the successful acquisitions of Desert Sun Mining Corp by Yamana Gold in 2006 and Central Sun Mining by B2 Gold in 2009. He was the creator and founder of the Association of Professional Geoscientists from Ontario.

Levant mine

Botallack's Crowns Engine Houses

Botallack's tin dressing floor and arsenic labyrinths

Lunch at the King's Arms, St Just with Chris, Mike and Bill

We were fortunate to be able to travel from Falmouth to Camborne by train for the CSM Association's Christmas lunch, at Tyacks Hotel, the original CSM local pub, as there were a number of rail strikes in December, not to mention strikes by nurses, teachers, post office workers, ambulance drivers.... truly a month of discontent. It was great to see a good turnout at Tyacks, mainly from alumni from the 60s, 70s and 80s and a number of past and present CSM staff.

And thanks to a day without rail strikes we were back at Tyacks five days later, for the Christmas Cornish Mining Sundowner, always a well attended event. The sundowner highlighted again what a wonderful profession is the minerals industry. Cornwall is the hub of the UK minerals industry and has an eclectic mix of academics from CSM, service providers, mining and mineral processing engineers, geologists, consultants etc etc. Each month this disparate group of people come together for the Cornish Mining Sundowner and we all work and socialise together throughout the year. I wonder how many other professional groups do likewise?

The Christmas Cornish Mining Sundowner

Energy still dominates the prevailing gloom, the supply of gas from Russia being severely restricted due to Putin's continuing aggression in Ukraine. But there was some light at the end of a very long tunnel, with the news in the middle of the month that researchers at the US National Ignition Facility in California reported that fusion experiments had released more energy than was pumped in by the lab’s enormous, high-powered lasers, a landmark achievement known as ignition or energy gain. 

Nuclear fusion releases enormous amounts of energy, but until this breakthrough the huge amount of energy needed to initiate the fusion of hydrogen isotopes to helium has always been greater than the energy produced in the fusion reaction. The USA achievement is an important step but we are still a long way off fusion supplying limitless power to the grid using an inexhaustible fuel source and producing carbon free energy with very little radioactive waste (see also Visions of the Future). 

And so ended a month of much industrial unrest, and the end of a year dominated by online and hybrid events. For the first time our family Christmas celebrations were hybrid, with Barbara and I spending Christmas day with Amanda's family in nearby Mabe, and catching up online with Jon and family for their first Christmas in Luxembourg.

Christmas in Mabe.....

.....and in Luxembourg

On behalf of us all we wish you a happy 2023.

@barrywills