Is bioleaching a new fad or is bio-mining about to go...

Is bioleaching a new fad or is bio-mining about to go mainstream? According to the US Department of Defense, the purpose of the EMBER program is to secure America's rare earth elements supply chain. Just to recap, EMBER is Environmental Microbes as a BioEngineering Resource. Given the critical importance of rare earths in lasers, precision guided weapons and magnets for motors as well as the importance of onshoring supply, the defence of America could well depend upon the successful recruitment of those rock breaking, metal collecting microbes. How much will the innovative technology cost? To kick it off, DARPA have put up a total budget of US$13m.

Meanwhile down the road in Texas, the BBX team are overseeing the application of EcoBiome biotechnology for Tres Estados. Whether its REE or PGM there is a microbe fit for purpose.

Sceptics might conclude that the folks at DARPA who are working with Battelle, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and San Diego State University will come up with a better biotechnology than EcoBiome. They will need to find exceptional microbes and develop a superlative process because they are competing with microbes who can turn 1.34 g/t 5E PGM into a recovered grade of 95.38 g/t 5E PGM albeit in a bench-scale study. Of course, the bioleaching of PGM is not REE but then again EcoBiome does have a proprietary Cultured Rare Earth microbial technology.