Bioleaching: Advances in Microbial Metal Recovery from Low-Grade Ores, Metallurgical Waste and Extreme Environments

Dear Colleagues,

Bioleaching, also known as biohydrometallurgy and biomining, constitutes a pioneering discipline emerging from the convergence of biotechnology, metallurgical engineering, and environmental science, representing a pivotal advancement in 21st-century mineral processing and the circular economy. This technology demonstrates substantial efficacy in extracting primary resources, including copper, gold, nickel, cobalt, uranium, and rare earth elements, as well as reclaiming valuable metals from diverse solid waste streams such as mining tailings, smelting slags, and electronic waste. Notably, over 25% of global copper production is currently attributed to bioleaching processes, with expanding applications in nickel, zinc, and the recovery of strategic critical metals.

Furthermore, the scope of this technology has extended to frontier domains, including deep-sea polymetallic nodules, deep-earth mineral resources, and potential extraterrestrial biomining. The integration of synthetic biology and artificial intelligence is revolutionizing strain engineering and process optimization, enabling the design of robust microbial consortia with enhanced metal tolerance and oxidation efficiency.

Despite these advancements, industrial scalability remains constrained by critical limitations: (i) suboptimal microbial activity under extreme physicochemical stresses (low pH, high metal ion concentrations, low temperatures); (ii) inefficient leaching rates and protracted reaction kinetics for refractory sulfide minerals; (iii) formation of passivation layers that inhibit mineral dissolution; (iv) insufficient understanding of microbe-mineral interfacial mechanisms at molecular and nanoscales; and (v) hydrodynamic and mass transfer limitations in heap and tank leaching systems.

This Special Issue addresses fundamental scientific and technical challenges within bioleaching systems, encompassing but not limited to:

• Microbial ecology and evolution of acidophilic communities in extreme environments.
• Identification, cultivation, and synthetic biology engineering of high-efficiency strains and artificial consortia.
• Microbe-mineral interfacial mechanisms: adhesion, biofilm formation, electron transfer, and passivation dynamics.
• Hydrodynamic characteristics, multiphase flow, and reaction-transport coupling in heap and tank leaching systems.
• Deep-sea bioleaching: pressure-adapted microorganisms, chemosynthetic ecosystems, and polymetallic nodule processing.
• Bioleaching of complex low-grade ores (high-magnesium, high-arsenic, carbonaceous) and metallurgical solid wastes.
• Integration of bioleaching with complementary hydrometallurgical/electrochemical processes for enhanced recovery.
• Life-cycle assessment, techno-economic analysis, and environmental sustainability of bioleaching operations.
• Emerging applications: critical raw materials recovery, urban mining, and space biomining.

We invite original research articles, comprehensive reviews, and perspectives that advance the fundamental understanding and technological innovation of bioleaching systems, bridging the gap from laboratory discovery to industrial implementation.

Prof. Dr. Ruiyong Zhang
Dr. Yuguang Wang
Dr. Duo-Rui Zhang
Guest Editors

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• bioleaching
• biomining
• biohydrometallurgy
• microbe-mineral interfacial mechanisms
• extreme environments