Lexikon

bioleaching is a type of leaching where the extraction of metal from solid minerals into a solution is facilitated by the metabolism of certain microbes - bioleaching microbes. Bioleaching is a process described as "the use of microorganisms to transform elements so that the elements can be extracted from a material when water is filtered trough it".

Source: BioMineWiki: http://wiki.biomine.skelleftea.se/wiki/index.php/Bioleaching