The cleaning of large volumes of metal-loaded water formed at closed and active mine sites can be a valuable resource of metals. Active treatment processes are needed to recover these metals for reuse and for better environmental protection of recipient waters. This review evaluates the mechanisms of metal removal and recovery and practical feasibility of mine water treatment in two bioreactor systems: sulfate-reducing bioreactors and bioelectrochemical reactors. The influence of treatment conditions and reactor designs on metal recovery, as well as limitations to intensify the treatment processes, are discussed. High metal removal efficiencies are reported with sulfate-reducing bioreactors, whereas metal recovery, in particular, requires reactor designs and process conditions that differ from those that are primarily applied for sulfate removal. Bioelectrochemical systems offer another route for utilizing synergistic microbial processes for metal recovery, but the performance data is still limited to laboratory- and pilot-scale experiments.

清洁封闭和活跃矿场中形成的大量含金属的水可以成为宝贵的金属资源。需要积极的处理过程来回收这些金属，以便再利用并更好地保护接收水。这篇综述评估了两种生物反应器系统中的金属去除和回收机制以及矿井水处理的实际可行性：还原硫酸盐的生物反应器和生物电化学反应器。讨论了处理条件和反应器设计对金属回收率的影响，以及强化处理过程的局限性。据报道，还原硫酸盐的生物反应器具有较高的金属去除效率，而金属回收尤其需要与主要用于硫酸盐去除的反应器设计和工艺条件不同的反应器设计和工艺条件。