Biohydrometallurgy: Paving the Way for a Greener Future of Mineral Processing in Indonesia

Abstract

Biohydrometallurgy has been around since the 1960s, and it uses microorganisms to facilitate the extraction of metals. As environmental rules get stricter and the quality and complexity of ore available for processing decrease, this technology presents an alternate option for mineral processing. Several countries, including South Africa, Russia, Chile, Australia, the United States, China, Burma, New Zealand, Peru, Uzbekistan, and Ghana, have used this method commercially in copper processing plants and gold and silver processing plants. In Indonesia, this approach has neither been developed nor implemented on an industrial basis. In Indonesia, biohydrometallurgical processing is worth proposing as a solution to future mineral processing issues, particularly the problem of limited capital and low-grade ore processing. Globally, a significant amount of focus is placed on the investigation of biohydrometallurgy. However, only the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) does biohydrometallurgy-related research in Indonesia. This investigation began in 2009 for the extraction of nickel from laterite ores. Additional research has also been conducted on the extraction of metals such as copper and gold. The research findings thus far have generated an intriguing and highly potential outlook that can be scaled up through a pilot plant and industrialized in Indonesia.