Biological ore processing for the isolation of heavy metals

A process of isolating or enriching a heavy metal present in a suspension containing a particulate mineral ore containing a heavy metal, comprising

• a step of incubating a suspension containing (i) a particulate mineral ore containing a heavy metal and (ii) biomass comprising a bacterium capable of binding the heavy metal;
• a step of separating the biomass having bound heavy metal from the suspension of the previous step;
• and
• a step of isolating the heavy metal from the biomass separated in the previous step;
• wherein said bacterium is selected from the following genera and species:
• Pseudochrobactrum, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus pumilus, Stenotrophomonas, Bacillus cereus, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, or from combinations thereof;
• wherein the heavy metal is selected from ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, silver, osmium, iridium, platinum, gold, and/or rare earth metals, and wherein the incubating step comprises agitating the suspension containing the heavy metal and the biomass for forming a film or foam containing biomass having bound heavy metal;
• and the separating step comprises removing the film or foam from the suspension.