REVIEW article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Bioprocess Engineering
Bioleaching as a Biotechnological Tool for Metal Recovery: From Sewage to Space Mining
Provisionally accepted
Archana Paimpillil Abraham
Simone Schopf*- Brandenburgische Technische Universitat Cottbus-Senftenberg, Cottbus, Germany
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Heavy metals are essential for technological and economic growth but can cause serious environmental and health problems due to their toxicity and persistence. Traditional methods for metal recovery often have high costs and can create secondary pollution. Bioleaching offers a sustainable, low-energy, and eco-friendly alternative, effectively recovering metals from low-grade ores and various waste materials. Recovering metals from secondary sources such as industrial and electronic waste reduces the need for new mining, thus conserving natural resources and supporting circular economic goals. Recently, biomining has expanded beyond Earth, showing promising results in space environments. This review discusses the current understanding of bioleaching processes, their potential for sustainable metal recovery on Earth and in space, their challenges, and future perspectives. Overcoming technical challenges, such as raw material composition, slow reaction kinetics, optimization of process parameters, and addressing safety concerns is crucial. A further increase in research focus aiming at scaling up bioleaching technology is essential, alongside addressing ethical and economic concerns related to space mining.
Keywords: bioleaching, biomining, Metal recovery, Space Mining, sustainable technology
Received: 24 Sep 2025; Accepted: 15 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Paimpillil Abraham and Schopf. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Simone Schopf
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.