25 Biomining startups to know 🪨 ⛏️
Biomining in its basic form is nothing new.
Mining companies, for example, have used the bacillus bacteria to extract residual copper from ore for decades.
But biotech innovations are making biomining greener and smarter.
In fact there are new methods that extract metal without even needing rock.
📊 The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that by 2040 we will need between 6x and 19x more nickel than in 2020, as well as 6x-21x more cobalt and 13x-42x more lithium.
💡 How does it work:
Bioleaching
IMicrobes aid the work of rock crushers (and replace some of the work of smelters) by seeking out metals and flushing them from the rock.
This happens through oxidation: the microbes oxidise the metal and allow it to be dissolved in water. Once the metallic water is collected, the metals within it can be reconstituted.
E-waste biomining
Electronic waste dumps — computers, phones, electrical cables — have nickel, copper, gold, lithium and other metals in higher concentrations than many ore-bearing rocks.
Mining e-waste landfills for metal is a circular economy dream, especially when it is done through the low-carbon process of bioleaching.
Phytomining
This process employs bioleaching but with a feedstock very different from rocks. Plants are the “miners,” and their mines are nickel-rich soil. During photosynthesis certain plants absorb trace nickel from the soil in their roots and leaves. A plantation of such plants is then harvested, bioleached, and turned into metal.
Remediation
Biomining can also clean up contaminated land. Mining companies, for example, use microbes to leach their tailings.
This not only recovers metal but prevents toxic materials in the tailings from entering waterways and soil.
🚀 Check out the startups working in the space:
FungAI l Aether l ekolive Endolith l REEgen l Allonnia l Novalith l 1849 bio l
ReeTerra l Giraffe Bio l Genomines l AlkaLi Labs l BioMetallica l BioMetallum l Magmatic Bio l Mint Innovation l Phoenix Tailings l Last Loop Metals l BRAIN Biotech AG l Maverick BioMetals l Transition Biomining l Infinite Elements, Inc l VIRIDIAN RESOURCES, L.L.C. l Blue Planet Environmental Solutions l BiotaTec - Next Gen BioMining Centre
Check out the full HackTrends report with the opportunities, challenges and data behind the Trend: https://lnkd.in/euwebsh9
