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exit2dos t1_jahit3q wrote

Reply to comment by fauxbeauceron in German scientists show a commercially feasible method for cyanobacteria to extract 17 rare earth elements from low-concentration sources. Currently, most of the world's supply of these elements is mined in China. by lughnasadh

> alternative to mining

This will not negate the need to initially mine the REE's. The 'wastewater' they are talking about it wastewater from mining.

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Regolithic_Tiger t1_jai47ff wrote

True, but mine water quality is a huge barrier to successful mine closure.

This has the potential to allow for way less chemical treatment, and therefore lower costs of closure and less likelihood of abandoning mines.... Provided it can also address other metals too.

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exit2dos t1_jai62fj wrote

Absolutely ! The more the wastewater and tailings can be processed the less harmful they should (theoretically) become.

Settling Ponds are a wealth of resources, it is just unknown how & therefore unfeasable to process a lot of the that waste.

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Regolithic_Tiger t1_jao5qjb wrote

tailings storage facilities (TSFs) are what you're thinking of. Settling ponds are those that are specifically designed to settle out suspended solids. TSFs will often contain a pond on them, but much of the impoundment area is beach (with varying degrees of water content). what I'm getting at, is that TSFs are more solid than water, while settling ponds are more water than solid (AFAIK). Mining terminology is weird.

And yes, in some cases tailings are reprocessed when technology catches up. It's kind of hard to do though.

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[deleted] t1_jalijat wrote

[deleted]

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Regolithic_Tiger t1_jao5yzv wrote

That's contact water, dude. It's not supposed to be clean. they have those ponds to manage their water so it doesn't get released to the environment. They then take the water from the ponds (and TSFs) and run it through the treatment plant or some other form of treatment and then discharge it once it meets water quality guidelines.

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fauxbeauceron t1_jai26jy wrote

Just a taught experiment : what if we make plants and mushrooms concentrate those minerals for us then make a soup with them. Then the bacteria finish the job.

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exit2dos t1_jai5ew1 wrote

I would think they would need caves to grow in, with the REE's exposed on (or near) the loose exposed surface. Mushrooms dont have roots like trees. I am unsure if the wanted REE's would be considered nutrients to a plant or mushroom. (after-thought; Some REE's definatly not as they are toxic and/or (mildly) radioactive).

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Nozinger t1_jaj8e16 wrote

Not necessarily. The seawater can also contain those rare earth minerals with current methods it is just way too expensive to extract those comercially.
If we find a way to improve this technology and make it way cheaper or use it on a bigger scale we could potentially extract those elements from the sea.

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crackpipecardozo t1_jajhj2l wrote

What about brine produced from oil and gas formations. Probably billions (if not trillions) of gallons of this in the US

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exit2dos t1_jajqr4x wrote

I believe they are talking about the Brine slurry, just nameing it 'wastewater' for layman understanding.

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runetrantor t1_jaj8bjr wrote

Wouldnt this sort of... filter out part of the contaminants of the wastewater so it not as environmentally damaging? Yes, its still from traditional mining, which in of itself is bad for the land, but maybe this can help not pollute the watertable as much?

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