Research Progress in Biohydrometallurgy of Rare Metals and Heavy Nonferrous Metals with an Emphasis on China

In the twenty-first century, progress in the field of biohydrometallurgy had been significant. Since 2006, a total of 17 novel biomining microorganisms were discovered, and 8 copper heap bioleaching plants and 12 gold biooxidation plants were established or expanded. This review summarized the it was summarized the physiological properties of the newly isolated biomining microorganisms and three novel microbial ecological methods for studying microbial community dynamics and structure. In addition, biohydrometallurgy research on rare metals such as uranium, molybdenum, tellurium, germanium, indium, and secondary rare metal resources, as well as heavy nonferrous metals such as copper, nickel, cobalt, and gold has been reviewed, with an emphasis on China. In future, further studies on bioleaching of low grade chalcopyrite ore, rare metals, secondary resources from waste, and environmental pollution caused by resource utilization are necessary.