This research investigated to reduce mass of heavy metals in AMD(acid mine drainage) by microbial mats formed on the channel bed. As, Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn components were monitored in water and microbial mats, at three points (AMD1, AMD2 and AMD3), in a total of six times. Average daily discharge mass of heavy metals was highest in July, Fe component contained more than 76% of total discharge mass. Discharge mass of heavy metals of AMD and heavy metal contents in microbial mats decreased with downstream at channel. Heavy metal components that average daily discharge mass is over 0.5 kg were Fe, Cu and Zn, and they were highest in July. Average removal efficiency of heavy metals in AMD was highest about 21% in Fe, this microbial mats were due to form from precipitation of Fe component in AMD by aerobic iron bacteria. Relative content for As component in microbial mats than AMD was over 16 times, this As components were due to absorb at iron oxide and iron hydroxide on the surface of microbial mats.

Microbial mats, the yellow and reddish brown deposits formed from the mine drainage, occur on the bottom of drain and mine tailing pond of the Ilkwang mine in Pusan, Korea. The constituents of microbial mats and their biomineralization were studied by using XRD, IR, and SEM-EDX. The upper part of the microbial mat is yellow-colored and composed of tube-shaped and small spheroid bacterial materials, which are mainly made up of amorphous and poor-crystalline iron-oxide minerals. The shape and composition of bacterial materials suggest that they are probably belong to iron-oxide mineral aggregates. The iron-oxide minerals of the yellow microbial mats are mainly goethite, but those of the reddish brown microbial mats contain abundant hematite along with goethite. This implies that with the evolution of biomats, goethite may be transformed to hematite.