Unlocking Mineral Resource Potential: Biotechnological Approaches to Recover Critical Minerals from Waste
A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 24 January 2025 | Viewed by 1239
Special Issue Editors
Interests: environmental microbiology; biotechnology; molecular biology; metal extraction; biohydrometallurgy; recycling of mine tailings/slag; spent (ev) batteries; CO2 capture and mineralization; biofuels; energy; pollution & waste
Interests: environmental microbiology; biotechnology; biohydrometallurgy; metal recovery from waste; metal extraction; CO2 capture and sequestration; carbon mineralization in mine tailings; environmental fate of energetic compounds
Interests: environment microbiology; biotechnology; molecular biology; metals & minerals; biohydrometallurgy; recycling of mine waste; spent (EV) batteries; biofuels; energy; pollution & waste
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
According to the market research and consulting firm Credence Research (2023), biohydrometallurgical approaches generated a total revenue of USD 1.5 billion for mining companies in 2020, and this value is expected to reach a market valuation of USD 3.6 billion by 2027. Although often designed for primary ores, the use of microbial technologies for the recovery of metals is now attracting attention for the extraction and recovery of strategic and critical minerals from secondary resources, in support of the global energy transition and the steady decline in discoveries of new mineral deposits with economic ore grades. Submissions are invited for a Special Issue of Minerals, Unlocking Mineral Resource Potential: Biotechnological Approaches to Recover Critical Minerals from Waste, to highlight the great potential of microbial technologies to provide a cost-effective and sustainable approach for the selective extraction and recovery of critical minerals from resources such as mine tailings, metallurgical slag, e-waste, EV lithium-ion batteries and other unconventional resources. Of particular interest are manuscripts describing a novel biological or hybrid physicochemical/biological technology, or a novel application of a conventional biotechnology, as well as case studies and success stories, for the extraction and selective recovery of target minerals using the elements of bioleaching, biooxidation or biobeneficiation. The microbially accelerated mineral carbonation of mining and metallurgical waste will also be considered for its capacity to reduce CO2 emissions. The intent is to achieve a comprehensive overview of the most advanced and recent developments in mining biotechnologies for secondary resources.
Dr. Kamalpreet Kaur Brar
Dr. Nancy Perreault
Dr. Sara Magdouli
Guest Editors
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.
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Keywords
- biohydrometallurgy
- metal extraction and recovery
- secondary resource
- mining and metallurgical waste
- waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE or e-waste)
- recycling of Li-Ion batteries
- critical minerals and rare earth elements
- biobeneficiation
- biomineralization
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