Biomining in China: History and Current Status

While the earliest biomining activities in China were documented in 6th ~ 7th century BC fundamental research and biomining applications started relatively late in this country. Rapid development, from phenotypic to genotypic characterisation of biomining microorganisms, as well as from theoretical to practical applications, has been made in China since the 1950s. The central government has attached great importance to biohydrometallurgy and is supporting integrated applications of bioleaching technology in copper, gold, and uranium extraction to ensure China’s economic reserves of strategic mineral resources. Examples include a bioleaching plant at the Zijinshan copper mine with an annual processing capacity of 60 million tons of copper ore, the first demonstration project of biooxidation of refractory gold ore developed by the Changchun Gold Research Institute (CCGRI), and the leaching of a sulfide-entrained uranium ore where yields have been increased to 96%. This chapter describes the history of biomining in China, and introduces the development and application of biomining technologies (e.g., recovery of copper, zinc, gold, and uranium). The main challenges and future directions are also discussed.