Nickel laterites represent the major ore reserves of this base metal present in the lithosphere. However, processing these ores by conventional technologies involves considerable energy or reagent expenditure and consequently is less cost-effective than extracting nickel from sulfide ores. Biological options, using metal-complexing organic acids and mineral acids generated by fungi and bacteria, have been investigated but generally found to be ineffective in terms of extraction dynamics or yields. We have examined the possibility of using bacteria that can bring about the reductive dissolution of ferric iron minerals and thereby facilitate the extraction of nickel from a lateritic ore at relatively low (