Invisible microbes ‘mining’ toxic mine waste in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia

[Astronuc]

This subject was brought to my intention in the past day. It is of interest to many scientists.

Apparently, various microbes have been inhabiting an abandoned uranium mine in South Australia. Whereas interested parties have assumed that the phosphate deposits of uranium and lanthanide elements were 'fixed', i.e., stationary, especially in a dry desert environment, a group of scientists have discovered a variety of microbes that are breaking down phosphate minerals thus enabling transportation of uranium and other elements.

New research from Monash University scientists has revealed that microscopic life is actively breaking down decades-old mining waste in South Australia, turning stable radioactive and toxic metals into mobile nanoparticles that can easily travel through the environment.

The study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, investigated historic uranium and rare earth element mine waste in a cluster of historical, abandoned mine shafts located in the rugged Mount Painter area of the northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia.

Left largely undisturbed for more than 80 years and now part of the protected Arkaroola Wilderness Sanctuary, the site known as Mount Painter No. 6 Workings served as a natural laboratory for researchers to understand the long-term fate of these hazardous materials.

Previously, scientists believed that uranium and rare earth elements in these dry settings were immobile, safely locked away inside insoluble phosphate minerals. However, using advanced single-particle analysis, the Monash research team discovered high concentrations of polymetallic nanoparticles near the surface of the waste piles

https://www.monash.edu/science/news...bes-mining-toxic-waste-in-the-flinders-ranges

Nanoparticles of uranium and rare earth elements in polymetallic mine waste​

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030438942601191X?via=ihub

Microbial adaptations and biogeochemical cycling of uranium in polymetallic tailings​

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304389423026183?via=ihub


This reminds me of an extremophile bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinococcus_radiodurans