Review and prospects of bioleaching in the Chinese mining industry

As the world’s second largest economy experiencing rapid economic growth, China has a huge demand for metals and energy. In recent years, China ranks first, among all the countries in the world, in the production and consumption of several metals such as copper, gold, and rare earth elements. Bioleaching, which is an approach for mining low grade and refractory ores, has been applied in industrial production, and bioleaching has made great contributions to the development of the Chinese mining industry. The exploration and application of bioleaching in China are reviewed in this study. Production and consumption trends of several metals in China over the past decade are reviewed. Technological processes at key bioleaching operations in China, such as at the Zijinshan Copper Mine and Mianhuakeng Uranium Mine, are presented. Also, the current challenges faced by bioleaching operations in China are introduced. Moreover, prospects such as efficiency improvement and environmental protection are proposed based on the current situation in the Chinese bioleaching industry.