Since the identification and characterization of iron and sulfur oxidizing bacteria in the 1940s, a rapid progress is being made in minerals engineering based on biological activities. Microorganisms can play a beneficial role in all facets of minerals processing, from mining to waste disposal and management. Some of the applications, such as biologically assisted leaching of copper sulfide ores, uranium ores, and biooxidation of refractory sulfide gold ores, are now established on the scale of commercial processes. A variety of other bioleaching opportunities exist for nickel, cobalt, cadmium, and zinc sulfide leaching. Recently, other uses of microorganisms are potentially possible. These include the bioleaching of nonsulfide ores, bioflotation, and bioflocculation of minerals, and bioremediation of toxic chemicals discharged from mineral engineering operations. These activities acquire considerable opportunities for further research and development in these areas. This paper is an attempt to provide a critical summary on the most important efforts in the area of bacterial activities in the mineral and mining industry. 1. Introduction Biotechnology has many potential applications in mining industry including metal leaching, product upgrading, removal of impurities, treatment of acid rock drainage, and other uses for environmental control. Recent interest in the biotechnological processes is the direct application to treat wastes and low-grade ores [1–3]. In this aspect, bacteria catalyze the dissolution of metals from minerals. Therefore, bacterial leaching processes are faster than chemical processes at ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure. So far, only three different types of commercial scale microbiological leaching techniques are practiced for the recovery of copper and uranium from low-grade ores, namely, dump leaching, heap leaching, and insitu leaching. Knowledge about bacterial involvement in these processes has been relatively recent, because the microorganisms responsible for the solubilization of metals from minerals were identified only a few decades ago. Furthermore, heap and dump leaching technologies were introduced in the United States by the Phelps-Dodge Corporation at Bisbee, Arizona, and Tyron, New Mexico, in early 1920s [4], although at that time the processes involved in the leaching and acid drainage production were considered to be solely chemical in nature. Lately, interest in the biological oxidation of refractory sulfide gold ores has been practiced worldwide [5]. Moreover, microorganisms are used in biobeneficiation
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