Scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory are investigating whether bacterial spores can help address the challenge of sourcing rare earth elements. Their work focuses on spores that are both durable and customizable, allowing them to bind to rare earths in environments where conventional methods may struggle.
The target feedstocks include acid mine drainage and other metal-laden waste streams. Rather than mining new ore, the approach aims to extract valuable critical minerals from existing pollution, potentially turning an environmental liability into a resource.
Because the project is still described as a Q&A-style update from the lab, the source does not provide specific performance data or a timeline for deployment. It does make clear that the research is part of broader efforts to develop new methods for critical mineral recovery, but no comparisons to other techniques are made in the source.