INOVAÇÕES TECNOLÓGICAS NA BIOMINERAÇÃO DE MINÉRIOS LATERÍTICOS DE NÍQUEL E COBALTO

Abstract

The search for better energy efficiency in the automotive sector represents a challenge for the development of automotive batteries that affect the mining and metallurgical sector. Many of these batteries are based on the use of cobalt, a strategic mineral considered as a by-product of nickel mining. With the continuous depletion of high-grade nickel sulfide ores, it is necessary to develop new technologies for the recovery of these metals from the laterites. The use of microorganisms capable of solubilizing metals from low-grade ores by the biological generation of acids in situ is an interesting alternative and has already been used. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the profile of technological competencies related to nickel and cobalt bioleaching processes through the study of patents deposited in the Patent Scope and Google Patents databases. It was observed that, between 1995 and 2017, about 42 patentswere deposited. From the results obtained in this research, a parallel was drawn between the patent deposits and the economic data of the market. The analysis of the obtained data allowed to describe the technologies preferentially protected of the processes of bioextraction of nickel and cobalt.