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Minerals
Special Issues
Microbial Communities in Mine Water and Metallurgical Processes
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Microbial Communities in Mine Water and Metallurgical Processes

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (16 November 2020) | Viewed by 3928

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Malin Bomberg

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, 02044 Espoo, Finland
Interests: geomicrobiology; deep biosphere; groundwater; microbial ecology; mine water microbiology; microbe-mineral interactions; water recycling; molecular biology tools
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Mining and metallurgical processes worldwide use high quantities of fresh water, but in many places, water is becoming scarce. In addition, used process water is purified in order to be released into natural water, while new fresh water is taken into the process. Attempts to abate the environmental impact of mining and metallurgical processes are being made by, for example, closing the water loops and recycling water. However, this may lead to fouling of the recycled water, as well as the buildup of chemicals and ions from the flotation processes and ore and to increased microbial biomass in the process water.

Underground mines collect water seeping through the walls of the mine into ponds within the mine, which may then be emptied by pumping. However, in sulfide-bearing rock environments, these mine pond waters may become very acidic due to acidic rock drainage, as well as enriched in heavy metals. The impact of acidic, heavy metal-rich water on the environment around the mine site may be high.

This Special Issue invites papers covering the microbiology of water in metallurgical processes and mines, focusing on, but not limited to, flotation efficiency of metals in the presence of microorganisms, microbe-mineral interactions, microorganisms in acidic mine water, and especially microbial effects on water-saving technologies and closed water loops in mines.

Dr. Malin Bomberg
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • water recycling
  • microbes in metallurgy
  • acid mine drainage
  • biomineralization
  • biological metal cycling
  • heavy metal resistance
  • bioleaching

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

30 pages, 10001 KiB  
Article
Identification and Metabolism of Naturally Prevailing Microorganisms in Zinc and Copper Mineral Processing
by Hanna Miettinen, Malin Bomberg, Thi Minh Khanh Le and Päivi Kinnunen
Minerals 2021, 11(2), 156; https://doi.org/10.3390/min11020156 - 2 Feb 2021
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3377
Abstract
It has only recently been discovered that naturally prevailing microorganisms have a notable role in flotation in addition to chemical process parameters and overall water quality. This study’s aim was to assess the prevailing microbial communities in relation to process chemistry in a [...] Read more.
It has only recently been discovered that naturally prevailing microorganisms have a notable role in flotation in addition to chemical process parameters and overall water quality. This study’s aim was to assess the prevailing microbial communities in relation to process chemistry in a zinc and copper mineral flotation plant. Due to the limitations of cultivation-based microbial methods that detect only a fraction of the total microbial diversity, DNA-based methods were utilised. However, it was discovered that the DNA extraction methods need to be improved for these environments with high mineral particle content. Microbial communities and metabolism were studied with quantitative PCR and amplicon sequencing of bacterial, archaeal and fungal marker genes and shotgun sequencing. Bacteria dominated the microbial communities, but in addition, both archaea and fungi were present. The predominant bacterial metabolism included versatile sulfur compound oxidation. Putative Thiovirga sp. dominated in the zinc plant and the water circuit samples, whereas Thiobacillus spp. dominated the copper plant. Halothiobacillus spp. were also an apparent part of the community in all samples. Nitrogen metabolism was more related to assimilatory than dissimilatory nitrate and nitrite oxidation/reduction reactions. Abundance of heavy metal resistance genes emphasized the adaptation and competitive edge of the core microbiome in these extreme conditions compared to microorganisms freshly entering the process. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microbial Communities in Mine Water and Metallurgical Processes)
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