1. Biomining Process Development:

• Development and optimisation of biohydrometallurgy processes, including sub-processes of biohydrometallurgy, reactor systems, hydrodynamics and modelling
• Associated Unit operations, Up- and Downstream processing (including waste management) etc.

2. The Microbiology of Biomining:

• Microbial ecology and succession, both description and kinetics
• Microbial consortia and bioprospecting,
• Certain fundamental aspects.

3. Biohydrometallurgy Applications:

• Biomining (i.e. Bioleaching, Biooxidation) applications - both heap and tank
• Novel and potential resources (e.g. electronic and other metallic wastes)
• Bioremediation applications (e.g. the treatment, prevention and prediction of AMD, metal recovery from wastes etc.)
• Other biotechnologies in mining and metallurgical industries.

Prof. Barrie Johnson, Professor of Environmental Biotechnology at Bangor University, UK, presented a keynote lecture "Biomining in reverse gear: using bacteria to extract metals from oxidized ores".

Barrie is a Fellow of the Learned Socierty of Wales, Industrial Research Fellow of the Royal Society and head of the Bangor Acidophile Research team.

Dr. Corale Brierley presented the 2nd keynote, entitled "Integrating biohydrometallurgy in contemporary mine production".

Dr. Brierley is internationally recognized from a 30+-year career, comprising 20 years as an international consultant; two years with Newmont Mining Corporation as Head of Environmental Process Development; eight years of managing Advanced Minerals Technology Inc., and 10 years of applied research and development at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology. Dr. Brierley is the 2008 recipient of AIME’s James Douglas Gold Medal Award, which recognizes distinguished achievement in nonferrous metallurgy, and the 2011 recipient of the Society of Mining Engineers’ Milton E. Wadsworth Award, which recognizes distinguished contributions that advance our understanding of the science and technology of non-ferrous chemical metallurgy.

Sue Harrison has some 20 years experience in research in bioprocess engineering, gained in the industrial and academic arenas. She heads the Centre for Bioprocess Engineering Research (CeBER) at the University of Cape Town (South Africa) and collaborates actively with researchers at the universities of Mumbai, Cambridge University and Imperial College London and with companies in South Africa and abroad. Since her appointment to the academic staff in 1991 more than 40 MSc and PhD students have been awarded research degrees under her supervision. She was awarded the South African DST Research Chair in Bioprocess Engineering, with effect from 2008.

Patrick d'Hugues is a microbiologist with a PhD in industrial and applied microbiology. He is currently manages a research team on Waste and Raw Materials at BRGM, the French Geological Survey. Over the last 15 years he has worked on R&D projects dedicated to biotechnology applications on mineral resources and for the environment. He was involved as a technical expert during the commissioning of the KCCL cobalt bioleaching plant (Uganda), and has been involved as a project manager coordinating the EU-funded FP6 Bioshale project (2004-2008). He is currently a project manager of a workpackage on ecoefficient production methods in the FP7 Promine project.

Chris Bryan is a microbiologist with a PhD in molecular and environmental microbiology and is a Lecturer in Sustainable Mining and Minerals Resourcing at the Environment and Sustainability Institute (ESI), University of Exeter (UK). His primary research focus is on the application of biohydrometallurgy to the recovery of metals from sulfide ores and the genesis of acid mine drainage. He has gained invaluable experience working with various research groups around the world including postdoctoral positions at BRGM with Dr d’Hugues as part of the BioMinE project, and most recently with Prof. Harrison at CeBER.