Review of International Biohydrometallurgy Symposium, Frankfurt, 2007

This article reviews the proceedings of the 17th International Biohydrometallurgy Symposium held in Frankfurt, Germany from September 2–6, 2007. Topics included, but were not limited to: microbiology and engineering of bioleaching, bioremediation, microbe–mineral interfacial processes, biosorption and nano-biotechnology. This review highlights aspects of biotechnological relevance. The various papers amply demonstrate that an ancient biotechnology has come of age with the commissioning of the world's largest microbial bioreactor at Escondida in Chile sending a strong message that bioleaching is a practical technology. A Special Edition of Hydrometallurgy later this year will feature selected papers from this Symposium that have been peer reviewed.