Use of enzymes isolated from Bacteria in Biomining

生物采矿是利用细菌等微生物获取贵金属的过程。生物矿化用于浸出不溶性金属，如铜硫化物，通过使其溶解，促进提取其他目标贵金属（Johnson, 2014）。关于嗜酸化养细菌、古细菌和某些酵母加速氧化溶解和从矿石中分离矿物质/金属的能力，已经有很多研究。这种生物矿化过程被称为生物浸出。生物浸出可作为一种氧化预处理方法用于难选金矿，以缓解金矿的开采。此外，生物矿化可用于从电子废物中回收金属，并从废物流和工艺水中回收特定金属，有助于软化和脱矿。在这个过程中可以回收的其他贱金属有钴、镍和锌（Johnson, 2014）。由于生物浸出是一个可能需要许多天才能发生的过程，我们的计划不是在生物浸出中使用细菌，而是计划通过使用全细胞提取物或酶来加速这一过程，以进一步稳定技术，直接用于工业过程。这项研究如果成功，可能会使在加拿大矿山及其周围工作的人受益，因为他们有可能接触到这种苛刻的化学过程或接触到污染物。产品开发和制造将通过国内和国际销售和创造新的就业机会，为加拿大经济做出贡献。此次合作的长期目标是让HQP在瑞尔森大学继续进行项目和进一步培训，并有可能在毕业后被BIOSA技术公司聘用。

Biomining is the process that uses microorganism such as bacteria to obtain precious metals. Biomining is used to leach insoluble metals, such as copper sulfides, by making them soluble facilitating the extraction of other targeted precious metals (Johnson, 2014). There has been much research as to abilities of acidophilic chemolithotrophic bacteria, archaea and certain yeasts to accelerate the oxidative dissolution and separate minerals/metals from ore. This biomining process is termed bioleaching. Bioleaching can be used for refractory gold ores as an oxidative pretreatment to ease gold mining. In addition, biomining can be used for metal recovery from electronic wastes and to reclaim specific metals from waste streams and process water helping with softening and demineralization. Other base metals can be that can be recovered in this process are cobalt, nickel and zinc (Johnson, 2014). Since bioleaching is a process that can take many days to occur, our plan is not to use bacteria in bioleaching, instead we are planning to accelerate this process by using whole cell extracts or enzymes for further stabilization technique to be used in industrial processes directly. This research could if successful benefit people working in and around Canadian mines who have the potential to be exposed to such harsh chemical processes or be exposed to pollutants. The product development and manufacturing will contribute to the Canadian economy through national and international sales and the creation of new jobs. The long-term objective of the collaboration allows the continuation of the project and further training of HQP at Ryerson University with the possibility to be hired by BIOSA Technologies following graduation.