Removal of heavy metals from mine tailings by in-situ bioleaching coupled to electrokinetics.

This work utilizes a combined biological-electrochemical technique for the in-situ removal of metals from polluted mine tailings. As the main novelty point it is proposed to use electrokinetics (EK) for the in-situ activation of a bioleaching mechanism into the tailings, in order to promote biological dissolution of metal sulphides (Step 1), and for the subsequent removal of leached metals by EK transport out of the tailings (Step 2). Mine tailings were collected from an abandoned Pb/Zn mine located in central-southern Spain.