MEI's summary of the International Biohydrometallurgy Symposium, IBS 2026

The International Biohydrometallurgy Symposium (IBS) is the world’s foremost conference dedicated to the application of biotechnology to mineral resource recovery.  The 26th conference was held at the Centre de Conférences, Orléans, France from September 28th-30th and was organised by BRGM in cooperation with PROMETIA, and with MEI as media sponsor. 

MEI was represented at the conference by Amanda Wills and her summary of the event is shown below. Amanda's IBS photo album is freely available and selected photos are shown in this report.

Sunday September 27th

Amanda attended the Welcome Wine Reception and having missed the 2024 event, it was a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends and meet new. Christopher Bryan, Chair of this year's event, told her that they have 199 delegates registered from 33 countries, which bodes well for some interesting presentations and discussions over the next 3 days. In all there are 76 oral presentations and 91 posters scheduled.

Monday September 28th

Amanda said that Day 1 of IBS '26 flew by. David Holmes, of Fundación Ciencia & Vida, Chile, kicked off proceedings as the invited speaker with "Biohydrometallurgy Through Time: People, Processes and Future Frontiers". Drawing on his extensive experience in the field, David provided a fascinating look at how biohydrometallurgy has developed, the people and processes that have shaped it, and the challenges and opportunities ahead. His talk was full of interesting anecdotes, including a memorable swimming pool story that Amanda admitted she is unlikely ever to forget!

After the coffee break, the programme split into two parallel sessions, with a wide range of topics reflecting the breadth of current research in biohydrometallurgy. Among the presentations Amanda caught was one from Jochen Petersen, of the University of Cape Town, who discussed "Heat Management and Thermophile Transition in Chalcopyrite Heap Bioleaching". Jochen is also one of the keynote speakers confirmed for MEI’s Hydrometallurgy ’27, providing a welcome preview of some of the expertise that will feature at that conference.

After lunch, another Hydrometallurgy ’27 keynote speaker, Frank Crundwell, presented "Progress in the Understanding of Dissolution and Leaching Reactions". His presentation explored advances in our understanding of the fundamental chemistry of dissolution and leaching, an important underpinning of many of the processes discussed throughout the symposium. Frank, of CM Solutions, South Africa is also an  advisor to MEI on the Hydrometallurgy '27 conference.

The afternoon continued with presentations covering microbial processes, bioleaching, mineral dissolution and the practical challenges of developing and managing these technologies. Among the speakers was Sue Harrison, who is Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation at the University of Queensland and Emeritus Professor at the University of Cape Town. Sue has agreed to present a keynote at Hydrometallurgy ’27 and there was an extra reason to celebrate: congratulations were in order following her appointment as an International Fellow of the prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering.

The day demonstrated the diversity of biohydrometallurgy, bringing together fundamental science, process development and industrial application. But the discussions over coffee and between sessions were just as important, providing plenty of opportunities to catch up with old colleagues, meet new ones and exchange ideas. It was a busy and highly engaging start to IBS 2026. 

Tuesday September 29th

Day 2 continued the strong focus on applying microbiology to the recovery of critical and valuable metals. A particular highlight was the keynote by Elizabeth Watkin, Professor at Edith Cowan University, Australia, on unlocking rare earth elements using phosphate-solubilising microbes, followed by Edith Cowan University PhD student Julian Dietrich’s presentation, bringing the microbial dimension of biohydrometallurgy into sharp focus. The wider programme explored advances in biomining, bioleaching and the treatment of secondary resources, reflecting the symposium’s broader emphasis on using biological processes to support resource recovery and the circular economy. 

The day ended with a Gala Dinner at the Château de La Ferté-Saint-Aubin. After a tour of the Château, delegates had drinks on the lawn, followed by a sit down meal. The evening finished with an excellent band and a bit of a dance for some, including Amanda.

Wednesday September 30th

Day 3 brought the symposium to a strong close, with the emphasis shifting towards scale-up, industrial implementation and the future of biohydrometallurgy. The morning keynote from Anne-Gwénaëlle Guezennec, of BRGM, France, on the challenges and tools for scaling up bioleaching, set the tone, followed by presentations on continuous pilot-scale systems, real PCB processing, pyrrhotite tailings and the integration of bioleaching with sulphur capture. The rare-earth session was another highlight, covering microbial leaching, protein-based separation and emerging approaches such as phage display and lanmodulin for selective REE recovery. 

The afternoon moved firmly towards industrial application, with Jan van Niekerk, of Metso, South Africa, presenting on the testing, design and implementation of the BIOX process at the Sabodala-Massawa gold mine, followed by an industry-focused round table, with Mohammad Khoshkhoo, John O'Callaghan, Pilar Parada, Monserrat Rebolledo, Jan van Niekerk, and Frank Crundwell taking questions from the audience about the biggest challenges the industry is facing.

The symposium concluded with prizes and closing remarks, and congratulations to the winners of the Best Oral, Best Student Oral, Best Poster, and Best Student Poster presentations: Katherine Picott,  Isolda Tristany Tarrés, Silja Välimets, and Katarzyna Kwiecień. 

An appropriate finale to three days that demonstrated the continuing evolution of biohydrometallurgy from laboratory research towards practical, scalable processes for critical-metal recovery and more sustainable mining. It was announced that IBS 2028 will be in Cape Town and IBS 2030 in Santiago, Chile.

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