Advances in biotreatment of acid mine drainage and biorecovery of metals: 1. Metal precipitation for recovery and recycle.

Acid mine drainage (AMD), an acidic metal-bearing wastewater, poses a severe pollution problem attributed to post mining activities. The metals usually encountered in AMD and considered of concern for risk assessment are arsenic, cadmium, iron, lead, manganese, zinc, copper and sulfate. The pollution generated by abandoned mining activities in the area of Butte, Montana has resulted in the designation of the Silver Bow Creek-Butte Area as the largest Superfund (National Priorities List) site in the U.