Recent discoveries have found that microbes in surface soils can indicate buried resources tens of meters underground. Identifying microbial indicators could substantially narrow the search space to increase efficiency in mineral prospecting.

Compared to other bioindicators like animals and plants, microbes are early, accessible, and sensitive sensors of environmental changes. Using microbes for environmental assessment of mining practices can replace or bolster existing methods. Establishing strong soil baseline data allows microbes to be used as a monitoring tool that allows companies to intervene early, ultimately improving sustainability efforts, saving costs, and ensuring that regulatory requirements are met.

Compared to other bioindicators like animals and plants, microbes are early, accessible, and sensitive sensors of environmental changes. Using microbes for environmental assessment of mining practices can replace or bolster existing methods. Establishing strong baseline data for local water sources allows microbes to be used as a monitoring tool that allows companies to intervene early, ultimately improving sustainability efforts, saving costs, and ensuring that regulatory requirements are met.

Waste rock and tailings are sources of acid mine drainage, where sulfur compounds oxidize to create highly acidic runoff. Neutralization by sulfate-reducing bacteria can prevent environmental contamination. Koonkie can help sample for and identify key target species that are already adapted to your mine's specific conditions.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is transforming biodiversity monitoring by detecting genetic material shed into the environment by plants, wildlife, fish, insects, and microbes. Collected from water, soil, or air, testing DNA can provide a snapshot of nearly all living species in the ecosystem.

Biomining (or bioleaching) is an established, eco-friendly approach to metal extraction that uses naturally occurring microbes. Instead of relying on energy-intensive smelting or harsh chemicals, biomining harnesses the power of bacteria to break down rock and release metals like copper, gold, nickel, and rare earth elements.

Native microbes with unique metabolic capabilities can be used to remediate harmful mining byproducts, or recover valuable metals that have leached into tailings. The majority of microbes have not yet been discovered. Identifying these specific microbes and harnessing their metabolic potential by implementing targeted growth strategies can serve as an effective and ecologically friendly bioremediation and recovery strategy.

Certain microbes have the ability to solidify the materials found in tailings, producing a natural cement. This process, called biocementation, is an environmentally friendly, cost effective, and more durable solution to stabilize tailings than current methods. Putting microbes with biocementation capabilities to work is an emerging strategy for controlling fugitive dust from tailings. Even better, microbes with these capabilities are often already present in tailings. Biocementation has been shown to strengthen and stabilize soil, sand, and concrete.

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is transforming biodiversity monitoring by detecting genetic material shed into the environment by plants, wildlife, fish, insects, and microbes. Collected from water, soil, or air, testing DNA can provide a snapshot of nearly all living species in the ecosystem.

By monitoring the microbial communities in tandem with insects, plants, and animals at reclaimed mining sites and comparing them to undisturbed sites nearby, we can learn about the effectiveness of the reclamation strategies, even at early stages of efforts that span decades. Using microbes as biosensors gives companies timely insights that allows them to adjust current efforts and inform future reclamation strategies. This tool is a streamlined, cost-effective approach that helps ensure that regulatory requirements are met.

Native microbes with unique metabolic capabilities can be used to remediate harmful mining byproducts, or recover valuable metals that have leached into tailings. The majority of microbes have not yet been discovered. Identifying these specific microbes and harnessing their metabolic potential by implementing targeted growth strategies can serve as an effective and ecologically friendly bioremediation and recovery strategy.

Microbes can be harnessed to reduce greenhouse gasses by carbon capture (converting CO2 to stable carbonates) and oxidation of methane, which can be emitted from waste rock. Koonkie can help sample and measure baseline carbon content while simultaneously searching for microbes that increase carbon capture potential, allowing for informed, actionable insights.

From something as simple as a grab sample, DNA barcoding can be quickly and affordably used for quantitative tracking of complex communities that aren’t observable by the naked eye, revealing information about thousands of community members from a single sample. Capturing ecosystem diversity, these methods can be used to evaluate the presence of insects, plants, animals, and microbes. As animals live and roam in an environment, they shed cells and DNA that can be used to identify and track their activity. Environmental DNA (eDNA) testing is transforming biodiversity monitoring, allowing groups like Koonkie to provide a snapshot of nearly all living species in an ecosystem from streamlined soil or water samples.