Bioleaching
Revision as of 12:29, 25 January 2019 by NRJC (talk | contribs) (Created page with "==Key Stage 4== ===Meaning=== Bioleaching is a process of extracting minerals from their ore using bacteria then using Extraction of...")
Key Stage 4
Meaning
Bioleaching is a process of extracting minerals from their ore using bacteria then using electrolysis in solution to extract the metal form the mineral.
About Bioleaching
Bioleaching has several stages:
- Waste low grade ores are fed to bacteria where they take in the minerals and through chemical reactions convert them into soluble minerals.
- The solution is then filtered.
Electrolysis is then used to extract the metal from the mineral.
- Bioleaching is cheaper than smelting but takes much longer to extract the minerals than conventional mining.
- Bioleaching is used on the waste low grade ores from mining smelting would be too expensive and not enough mineral extracted.