BioLeaching

Low quality of local deposits of industrial minerals is caused by metallic impurities that dramatically reduce value and usability of these resources. By a low-cost, effective and non-hazardous purification method (impurities removal on industrial scale) ekolive increases the raw material value, accessibility and usability. Same technology of metals extraction can be applied on hazardous secondary raw materials – mining waste. The concentration of metals is often many times higher than in currently mined primary ores, but an ecological technology to extract them was missing.

This opens up new, highly lucrative business opportunities for local mineral deposits and mining sites with nearby consumers of high-quality materials and metals, considering the global increasing need for raw materials resources.

For this purpose, ekolive provides a bioleaching process for releasing metallics, metalloids and/or non-metallics and/or degrading organics out of any suitable carrier material, avoiding the need of aeration during the process, using mixtures of different natural microorganisms, in particular of heterotrophic autochthonous microorganisms and heterotrophic allochthonous microorganisms under non-sterile conditions.

Beside having demonstrated the market maturity of this process in a first large industrial pilot project in Slovenia for the upgrading of industrial minerals, ekolive has filed a European Patent application on ecological release of elements and degradation of organics using heterotrophic microorganisms.

>> Here you will find relevant literature, reports, studies and scientific publications on the topic.