Microbial ecology of Río Tinto, a natural extreme acidic environment of biohydrometallurgical interest

Río Tinto (Iberian Pyritic Belt, SW Spain) is a natural extreme acidic environment with a rather constant acidic pH and a high concentration of heavy metals. The Tinto ecosystem is under the control of iron. The geomicrobiological characterization of Río Tinto has been performed to unravel some basic questions of biohydrometallurgical interest. The methodologies developed for this study have been applied successfully to monitor different bioleaching processes. ► Río Tinto, an environmental of biohydrometallurgical interest. ► Iron cycle is responsible for the maintenance of the constant pH. ► Molecular ecology tools help to understand and to control the development of microbial populations of biohydrometallurgical interest.