A ‘super-powered’ fungus could be used to extract critical minerals from toxic mining waste, according to the University of Queensland, while also helping remediate sites.
Developed by the university’s environmental engineers at its Biosustainability Hub, these unique fungal strains are grown and can be used to detoxify mining tailings and capture traces of important rare earths without the need for harsh chemicals.
Recovering critical minerals from mining tailings currently involve a process called leaching, which relies on acids and solvents, which the university said is expensive and can be damaging to the environment.
Pioneered by senior lecturer at the university’s School of Civil Engineering Denys Villa-Gomez, the new leaching method instead uses ‘super fungi’ strains that produce organic acids capable of cleaning mine waste and recovering valuable metals.
“We take fungi that grow naturally in mining, and then we engineer them to actually be super, so they can cope with toxic environments and tolerate harsh conditions,” Villa-Gomez said.
“We know the process works well for extracting high-value critical minerals such as vanadium and scandium, key compounds in electronics and microchips.”
Villa-Gomez, who is also a research fellow at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, contributed to an editorial piece in 2025 on the research topic of biotechnologies to recover critical minerals, detailing that industrial residues such as bauxite residue, iron ore concentrates, coal fly ash, and electronic waste, are now recognised as valuable reservoirs of critical minerals.
The editorial also said that recovering metals from these secondary sources “offers an opportunity” to reduce waste, enhance resource circularity, and strengthen strategic metal security.
This creation of the ‘super fungi’, the university said, is done through adaptive laboratory evolution, where the fungi are put under challenging conditions over time so “only the strongest” survive and evolve into more effective strains.
“It’s just like how a superhero gets powers because they are exposed to radiation,” Dr Villa-Gomez said.
State-of-the-art bioreactors at UQ’s Biosustainability Hub then process the mining waste by combining it with the engineered fungi and feedstock.
PhD candidate Fernanda Soto-Montandon said as the fungi consumes the feedstock they begin producing natural organic acids as part of their metabolism.
“Those acids then break down the mining waste, destabilizing the mineral structure and releasing the trapped metals into a liquid form,” she said.
“From there, the metals can be recovered and reused, turning what was once waste into a valuable resource through a low‑impact biological process.”
Using that same method, the editorial piece noted that research from Bobadilla-Fazzini and Poblete-Castro in a 2023 report demonstrated the use of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans for sulfur removal from iron ore concentrates.
Operating stirred-tank and packed-column bioreactors at 30 degrees Celsius, they achieved up to 80 per cent desulfurisation, offering a clean alternative to conventional chemical processes and highlighting the role of bioreactor configuration in optimising microbial performance.
The $70 million Biosustainability Hub was launched in the second week of June by Federal Assistant Minister for International Education Julian Hill, with Hub director Esteban Marcellin saying the facility is helping manufacturing, energy, mining, and food production industries transition to cleaner operations.
“We use cutting-edge synthetic biology to engineer microbes and biological systems to turn waste, emissions and low‑value materials into sustainable, high‑value products,” Marcellin said.
“The Hub provides companies with a bridge from fundamental discovery to real-world application.
“From sustainable mining and waste management, fermentation scale-up and bioreactor optimisation, we are accelerating the journey from lab to market.”
Villa-Gomez said exploring the use of fungus as a bioleaching tool was an environmentally responsible and cost-effective alternative to traditional mineral extraction processes.
“In the future, it’s hoped we could deploy these fungi directly at mine sites, recovering minerals while helping remediate the land at the same time,” she said.
“We are engaging with industry partners to test these technologies in the field.”
