ABSTRACT
Metal manufacturing industries process huge amounts of ores for metal production, employing several steps. Besides the metal of interest, other metals present in the ores are considered as an impurity and removed as waste byproducts. This results in the disposal of many base and valuable metals. Industrial wastes are produced during several processing steps in the form of slags, dust, fumes, etc. Concentrations of heavy metals in these wastes vary significantly depending on the industrial process from which they are generated. Hence, rather than an end-waste, these byproducts are actually secondary resource materials. Recycling them back in the same industrial process reduces their efficiency, increases the energy input, and damages the equipment. Therefore, other methods must be used for recycling these metals. This chapter summarizes the bioleaching studies of industrial waste slags and dust and briefly describes the use of diverse microorganisms for bioleaching, optimization of process parameters, reactor studies, and kinetics.
