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Gold Mining Bacteria

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the i'd-like-a-dozen-no-a-hundred dept.

Anonymous 49'er writes "Nature is reporting that bacteria found in Australian gold mines are capable of extruding tiny invisible 'secondary grains' from soil and alluvial systems. From the article: "Potential applications -- from sensing the bacteria as a way to look for gold mines, to using them to help make industrially useful particles of gold -- may be some way off. But Southam is keen to exploit the bacteria's natural trick. 'I want to make a gold nugget one day,' he says. 'Gold nuggets grow in nature, so why shouldn't I be able to make one?'"

6 of 50 comments (clear)

  1. Gold nuggets growing wildly... by pieterh · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's no obvious mechanism by which gold should spontaneously form into nuggets in the wild; I don't really believe that gold particles in the soil magically find their way together by some mystical process of attraction.

    Is it not more likely that these bacteria have been excreting gold as a matter of habit for hundreds of millions of years, and that gold nuggets are in fact the toilet pits of huge bacterial colonies from ages past? Perhaps the bacteria feed off sulphur or some other element that's mixed with the gold...

    --
    My blog
    1. Re:Gold nuggets growing wildly... by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Informative
      Concentrations of gold don't seem to fit a natural process

      Most of the gold in the world is in archaean deposits or was transported from archaean sources by alluvial processes. In these deposits, the gold was dissolved from basalt rocks by superheated water, then precipitated out into cracks and fissures as the water got too cold to maintain the solution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ore_genesis#Gold

      The use of bacteria in mining is nothing new though. We've been using "bug leach" techniques in Australian mines for more than a decade. http://www.indmetlab.com.au/equipment/bio_metallur gy.php The main novelty of this species of bacteria is that it produces metallic gold instead of gold compounds. Given the relative ease of precipitating gold from solution, I'm not sure if it'll be enough of an advance to be worth using.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
  2. Standby patent office, I have and idea! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    1. Infect humans with gold mining bacteria.
    2. Sneak rocks into their food.
    3. ????
    4. Profit!

    1. Re:Standby patent office, I have and idea! by xyvimur · · Score: 4, Funny

      It's faster to make gold out of Smurfs...

  3. Used in processing by Cougar_ · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There is a large gold mine near where I live that uses bacteria to extract gold from the ore that is dug out of the mine. I'm not sure of the specifics, I'd have to ask my brother (he works at the mine), but basically, you feed the bacteria, and in return, they purify the ore. Gotta be better than chemical means such as arsenic and mercury.

  4. Bacteria Point The Way To Gold Deposits by datentod · · Score: 4, Interesting

    An old article from 2002... Bacteria Point The Way To Gold Deposits http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/05/02052 3075914.htm/ Can bacteria help find gold? A pilot survey of 11 soil profiles across gold mining regions in the Peoples Republic of China indicates that elevated spore counts of Bacillus cereus, a common soil bacterium, were detected in areas adjacent to underlying gold deposits.....