Mackenzie B Best

Introduction Click to copy section linkSection link copied! As a major component of amino acids, nucleic acids, and other essential biomolecules, nitrogen (N) is fundamental for all known life forms, and its availability often limits biological productivity. (1,2) While abundant in Earth’s atmosphere, dinitrogen (N2) is inaccessible to all but specialized diazotrophic microorganisms, so organisms generally rely on other more bioavailable forms of N such as nitrate, ammonia, or organic N.

Abstract Waste rock and tailings left behind by historic mining operations can contain substantial critical mineral resources. However, over the decades and centuries since these deposits were emplaced, microbial communities developed that can catalyze rock weathering and elemental cycling, which could have impacted the economic resources but also might be harnessed for future biomining or other metal recovery efforts.