Circular economy approaches to microbially-induced carbonate precipitation for bioprocessing of geothermal brine for lithium recovery

Abstract

Microbial Induced Carbonate Precipitation (MICP) is a biogeochemical process that drives the formation of carbonate minerals. This study employed MICP, using the urease-overproducing bacterium Sporosarcina pasteurii to remove cationic metals from geothermal Li-bearing brines. MICP successfully removed 96% of Ca, 46% of Mg, 88% of Mn, and 91% of Sr from a natural brine solution. Over 96% of Li remained in the solution following the treatment process. Circular economy approaches were applied by using waste products to stimulate ureolysis and testing the slurry waste generated from bioprocessing of the brine for use as a soil amendment. S. pasteurii grew on 62.5 g L⁻¹ of spent yeast extract and precipitated metal carbonates from natural brine at rates similar to those observed when cultivated in commercial media (TSB plus 30 g L⁻¹ urea). S. pasteurii was also able to utilize urea from cow urine and precipitate an equivalent amount of calcium to commercial urea. The slurry was able to neutralize acidic soils and enhance the microbial activity of the soil. This study highlights the use of waste products (cow urine and spent yeast from the brewery industry) as cost-effective alternatives for the biomass production of S. pasteurii. The novelty of this study lies in the application of MICP using waste substrates, in the treatment of Li-bearing geothermal brines, and in demonstrating selective removal of scaling metals while retaining Li in solution, a significant step toward enabling efficient Li recovery.