Biohydrometallurgy applied to exploitation of black shale resources: Overview of Bioshale FP6 European project

Bioshale project, co-funded by the European Commission (FP6 programme), started in October 2004 and finished in October 2007. The main objective of this project was to define innovative biotechnological processes for “eco-efficient” exploitation of black shale ores. The black shale ores contain base, precious and high-tech metals but also high contents of organic matter that handicap metal recovery by conventional techniques. Three world class black shale deposits were chosen as targets of the R&D actions. These include one deposit that existed under natural conditions (Talvivaara, Finland), one currently in process (Lubin, Poland) and one after mining (Mansfeld, Germany). The main technical aspects of the work plan can be summarized as follows: evaluation of the geological resources and selection of metal-bearing components; selection of biological consortia to be tested for metal recovery; assessment of bioprocessing routes, including hydrometallurgical processing for metals recovery; techno-economic evaluation of new processes including social and environmental impacts. An overview of the main results obtained by the 13 European partners (from 8 countries) involved in this completed research programme is given in this work.