Bio mining is a process of extracting minerals from ores using microorganisms. It is a biochemical process involving interactions between microbes and minerals to recover valuable metals. It is one of the environment friendly process of mining and mineral processing.In the present study 11 different bacterial isolates were isolated from hyper saline soils of Kolhapur district. Isolates were identified using Bergey’s manual of systematic bacteriology. All the isolates were investigated for bioleaching of copper using low grade ore Chalcopyrite. Of all isolates, isolate no N-9identified as Thiobacillus ferroxidans.N-9 is found to be most suitable for bioleaching of copper ore in both shake flask as well as bioreactor study. The results showed that in the shake flask the isolate no.N-9 tolerates 40 g/L of Chalcopyrite when supplemented with 0.5 G/L of yeast extract. At 120 rpm and at 40oC temperature,78% of copper can be extracted from 40 g/L of Chalcopyrite after 14 days. Bioreactor study indicated the total extraction of 85% can be achieved in 12 days. Present study indicates the usefulness of isolate N-9 in bioleaching of copper from its low grade ore chalcopyrite.
