This work utilizes a combined biological-electrochemical technique for the in-situ removal of metals from polluted mine tailings. As the main novelty point it is proposed to use electrokinetics (EK) for the in-situ activation of a bioleaching mechanism into the tailings, in order to promote biological dissolution of metal sulphides (Step 1), and for the subsequent removal of leached metals by EK transport out of the tailings (Step 2). Mine tailings were collected from an abandoned Pb/Zn mine located in central-southern Spain. EK-bioleaching experiments were performed under batch mode using a lab scale EK cell. A mixed microbial culture of autochthonous acidophilic bacteria grown from the tailings was used. Direct current with polarity reversal vs alternate current was evaluated in Step 1. In turn, different biological strategies were used: biostimulation, bioaugmentation and the abiotic reference test (EK alone). It was observed that bioleaching activation was very low during Step 1, because it was difficult to maintain acidic pH in the whole soil, but then it worked correctly during Step 2. It was confirmed that microorganisms successfully contributed to the in-situ solubilization of the metal sulphides as final metal removal rates were improved compared to the conventional abiotic EK (best increases of around 40% for Cu, 162% for Pb, 18% for Zn, 13% for Mn, 40% for Ni and 15% for Cr). Alternate current seemed to be the best option. The tailings concentrations of Fe, Al, Cu, Mn, Ni and Pb after treatment comply with regulations, but Pb, Cd and Zn concentrations exceed the maximum values. From the data obtained in this work it has been observed that EK-bioleaching could be feasible, but some upgrades and future work must be done in order to optimize experimental conditions, especially the control of soil pH in acidic values.

这项工作利用生物电化学组合技术从受污染的尾矿中原位去除金属。作为主要新颖点，建议使用动电学 (EK) 原位激活尾矿中的生物浸出机制，以促进金属硫化物的生物溶解（步骤 1），并随后去除浸出的金属通过 EK 运输出尾矿（步骤 2）。尾矿是从位于西班牙中南部的一个废弃的铅/锌矿中收集的。EK 生物浸出实验是使用实验室规模的 EK 细胞在批量模式下进行的。使用从尾矿中生长的本地嗜酸细菌的混合微生物培养物。在步骤 1 中评估极性反转直流电与交流电。依次使用不同的生物策略：生物刺激、生物增强和非生物参考测试（仅 EK）。据观察，在第 1 步中，生物浸出的活性非常低，因为很难维持整个土壤的酸性 pH 值，但在第 2 步中，生物浸出的活化作用正常。证实了微生物成功地促进了土壤的原位溶解。与传统的非生物 EK 相比，最终金属去除率得到了提高（Cu 提高了 40% 左右，Pb 提高了 162%，Zn 提高了 18%，Mn 提高了 13%，Ni 提高了 40%，Cr 提高了 15%） 。交流电似乎是最好的选择。处理后尾矿中Fe、Al、Cu、Mn、Ni、Pb含量符合规定，但Pb、Cd、Zn含量超出最大值。从这项工作中获得的数据可以看出，EK 生物浸出是可行的，但必须进行一些升级和未来的工作，以优化实验条件，特别是控制土壤 pH 值的酸性值。