The biometallurgy is a complementary discipline to pyro- and hydrometallurgy, exploiting the interactions between certain micro-organisms in extreme environments and metals to recover them from primary resources (ores) or secondary resources (industrial residues, urban mines, etc.). It offers various alternatives to physico-chemical 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.
