Biomining

Metal binding proteins for bioremediation.

Working Groups: Biomining and Pathways

The mining industry sits at a turning point requiring the integration of sustainable practices across every stage of operation, from exploration to reclamation. Mining activity routinely leaves behind pollutants including copper, cadmium, mercury, and lead, and the site-specific nature of contamination makes affordable, efficient remediation strategies difficult to generalize. Microbes offer a promising path forward as biological platforms capable of capturing and recovering metals through environmentally benign mechanisms. By combining high-throughput sequencing with emerging cell surface display (CSD) technologies, this project aims to identify and engineer metal-binding proteins that enable microbial recovery of copper from mining waste. The work connects microbial diversity to metal recovery potential, generating tools for sustainable bioremediation that reduce the environmental footprint of mining operations while advancing Canada's clean technology, circular economy, and responsible resource development goals.