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What is biomining primarily used for?
  • a)
    Extracting minerals from water sources
  • b)
    Extracting fossil fuels from underground deposits
  • c)
    Extracting metals from ores using micro-organisms
  • d)
    Extracting minerals from volcanic rocks
Correct answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?
Most Upvoted Answer
What is biomining primarily used for?a)Extracting minerals from water ...
Delhi's biomining project to clear landfill sites is likely to miss the latest deadline of 2024.
About Biomining:
  • It is the technique of extracting metals from ores and other solid materials, typically using micro-organisms (bacteria, archae, fungi, or plants).
  • Biomining techniques may also be used to clean up sites that have been polluted with metals.
  • Process:
  • Valuable metals are commonly bound up in solid minerals.
  • Some microbes can oxidize those metalsallowing them to dissolve in water.
  • This is the basic process behind most biomining, which is used for metals that can be more easily recovered when dissolved than from solid rocks.
  • A different biomining technique, for metals which are not dissolved by the microbes, uses microbes to break down the surrounding mineralsmaking it easier to recover the metal of interest directly from the remaining rock.
  • When the metal of interest is directly dissolved, the biomining process is called “bioleaching,” and when the metal of interest is made more accessible or “enriched” in the material left behind, it is called “bio oxidation.” 
  • What metals are currently biomined?
  • Most current biomining operations target valuable metals like copper, uranium, nickel and gold that are commonly found in sulfidic (sulfur-bearing) minerals.
  • Microbes are especially good at oxidizing sulfidic minerals, converting metals like iron and copper into forms that can dissolve more easily.
  • Compared to typical mining that uses hazardous chemicals and has a large CO2 footprint, biomining represents an environmentally friendly alternative, producing very little (if at all) hazardous waste. 
Hence option c is the correct answer.
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What is biomining primarily used for?a)Extracting minerals from water sourcesb)Extracting fossil fuels from underground depositsc)Extracting metals from ores using micro-organismsd)Extracting minerals from volcanic rocksCorrect answer is option 'C'. Can you explain this answer?
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