Optimizing biological consortia for mining wastewater treatment

Industrial processes, such as the mineral extraction of raw materials, have been in crucial focus because of the current drive towards greener and more sustainable energy sources. Hence, the production workflow of critical elements, such as rare earth elements (REEs), is reassessed to identify less toxic and degradable reagents, while also identifying the challenges associated with the emissions of not yet regulated elements (i.e. Li, B, Tb). Innovative biological wastewater (WW) treatment options are studied to effectively remove contaminants and recycle industrial water in a low-cost and lowered carbon-equivalent emissions manner. This work aims to use aquatic plants and phytoplankton to remove regulated and unregulated contaminants (i.e. flotation chemicals, heavy metals, REEs) from mining WW outlets. A thorough screening of different species has been done to identify the potential to decontaminate the water effluent by promising biological entities in batch experiments. The study assessed removal potential of toxic elements, including the REEs, and greener flotation agents by the species selected. Preliminary results show promising element-specific removal by some species, allowing us to suggest potential synergetic biological treatments that will provide low-cost and sustainable WW treatment alternatives.