Synergistic recovery of Pr, Eu, and Ce from gold mine tailings using bioleaching and oxalic acid pretreatment.

Mining activities produce a significant amount of gold mine tailings (GMT) rich in rare earth elements. Despite this, little information is available regarding the effective extraction of these precious elements from GMT. We describe a novel strategy for removing Pr, Ce, and Eu from GMT using Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans combined with a pretreatment step.