Bioleaching Technique for Extracting Precious

¶ … bioleaching technique for extracting precious metals from the earth. More specifically, bioleaching consists of the use of bacteria to consume the unusable portions of material in which naturally-occurring deposits of precious metals typically exist in nature. Those metals are valuable because of their usefulness in the components of mobile cellular telephones, computers, and other modern digital and communications technology. Previously, precious metal extraction has been limited to the use of other industrial techniques and processes such as smelting large quantities of deposits in which those metals occur naturally.

What is the author's position regarding the issue?

The author strongly suggests that the increasing industrial reliance on bioleaching is a good thing for various reasons. First, it permits mining for precious metals in materials that were previously considered nothing more than industrial waste material. The natural occurrence of precious metal resources are rapidly being depleted so the ability to extract them from industrial waste greatly extends the life of naturally-occurring precious metals resources. Second, the author emphasizes the comparative ecological cleanliness and environmental benefits of using bioleaching instead of traditional methods of precious-metal extraction. In particular, smelting is associated with significant environmental contamination and bioleaching eliminates that source of pollution of the global environment and biosphere.

3. What evidence/reason does the author present to support their position?

The principle evidence presented by the author consists of a brief outline of the scientific principle behind bioleaching, a retrospective account of the manner in which that process has previously been used, and the identification of some of the larger industrial ventures currently employing bioleaching for precious-metals extraction on a large scale. The author suggests that bioleaching is a viable means of conducting precious-metals extraction that is effective and more environmentally friendly than traditional industrial processes used for that purpose.

4. Does this evidence provide adequate justification for the position? (Is it credible?)

In general, the evidence provided by the author does justify the position. While it is difficult to determine how credible that information is without references to external data for confirmation, if one presumes only that the objective information presented is factually accurate and true, it does seem to justify the author's position. Additional sources of precious metals would extend the life of natural resources, reduce the production costs of the technologies that are dependent on them, and reduce the need to rely on other industrial processes that contribute to environmental destruction.