Latest inventions in science and technology
Bio-mining method
- Context:94 Acres of Land Reclaimed at Perungudi Dump Site through Bio-mining Project.
- Work is currently underway—at a cost of ₹350 crore—to reclaim 225 acres of land at the Perungudi dump site by removing approximately 29.28 lakh cubic meters of accumulated legacy waste using the eco-friendly bio-mining method.
About Biomining
- Biomining is a method of extracting metals from ores and solid waste using living organisms such as bacteria, archaea, fungi, or plants.
- It can also be used to clean areas contaminated with toxic metals.
Process
- Metals are usually trapped within solid mineral rocks.
- Certain microbes help in oxidizing these metals, making them soluble in water.
- This allows easier recovery of metals compared to extracting them directly from rocks.
- In some cases, microbes do not dissolve the target metal but instead break down surrounding minerals, making metal extraction easier from the residue.
- When microbes directly dissolve the metal, the process is called bioleaching.
- When microbes help concentrate or expose the metal in the leftover material, it is called biooxidation.
Benefits of Biomining
- Resource recovery: Biomining helps in recycling waste materials by extracting valuable metals and other useful components, and the remaining material can sometimes be used as compost or fertilizer.
Eco-friendly approach: It is a sustainable and environmentally safe method, and it also helps in cleaning contaminated land, making it suitable for other productive uses
