The biometallurgy is a discipline complementary to pyro- and hydrometallurgy, which utilizes interactions between certain microorganisms from extreme environments and metals for their recovery from primary resources (ores) or secondary resources (industrial waste, urban mining, …). It offers various alternatives to physicochemical techniques such as bioleaching, bioreduction, biosorption, bioprecipitation, … The preliminary step is bioleaching, which involves solubilizing metals biologically. This approach is exclusively driven by bacterial metabolism products through three main strategies: production of biosourced sulfuric acid, production of oxidizing/reducing agents, or complexing agents. Meurice R&D utilizes the first two pathways, which are also inseparable. The chemolithotrophic bacteria and archaea used are generally acidophilic and require extreme pH conditions for their growth and activity. Microbiology not only allows for a substantial reduction in inputs but, above all, enables operation under low-temperature (25-50°C) and atmospheric pressure conditions, representing an economic and ecological advantage.
