Biomining breakthrough turns oil sands waste into valuable rare earth metals

Khyati Joshi, a 28-year-old PhD researcher at York University, is pioneering a sustainable approach to recovering rare earth elements (REEs) from Alberta’s oil sands tailings. Her work focuses on biomining, a process that uses organic acids produced by microorganisms to extract valuable metals like yttrium from industrial waste. Joshi’s research could transform oil sands tailings, currently viewed as an environmental liability, into a secondary source of critical metals essential for clean energy technologies.

Joshi’s method involves organic acids such as citric acid, which are biodegradable and less toxic than traditional inorganic acids. This approach not only reduces environmental harm but also lowers operational costs by minimizing impurities during extraction. However, organic acids are less aggressive than conventional methods, requiring longer leaching times. Joshi is working to optimize these processes to make them competitive with traditional mining practices.

Yttrium is a key focus of Joshi’s research due to its high yield and demand in applications like LEDs and medical procedures. If integrated into existing tailings management frameworks, her organic acid leaching process could reshape the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) profile of Alberta’s oil sands industry. By turning waste into a valuable resource, this method aligns mining with low-carbon, bio-based production systems.

Joshi’s next steps involve scaling up her lab experiments to bioreactor systems to produce larger quantities of organic acids. She is also exploring the potential of applying this method to other industrial waste streams and mine tailings across Canada. Her innovative approach could pave the way for more sustainable and efficient metal recovery practices in the future.