In 2009 the former Homestake
Mine was a dark, wet, and difficult
place to conduct research. The
deepest mine in North America began
filling with water following its closure in
2002. As momentum built to turn the
mine into an underground lab, pumps
were installed to dewater the flooded
shafts and tunnels. As the water receded,
Rajesh Sani, PhD, was among the first
researchers to enter the deeper sections
of the mine.
“We went 5,000 feet deep, for sampling
which took a great deal of effort,”
says Sani, an associate professor in the
Department of Chemical and Biological
Engineering at SD Mines.
Sani and his team were not deep
underground hunting for precious
minerals, they were looking for bugs.
“The microbes we found were as good as
gold,” he says with a smile.
Extremophiles are microorganisms
that live in harsh environments. They
have learned to thrive in places like the
geothermal vents of the mid-Atlantic
rift, the frigid waters of Antarctic
lakes, or the veins of hot water found
in tiny cracks deep underground.
Extremophiles have evolved unique
characteristics that make them very
useful to scientists like Sani. Twelve
years after that first trip, the former
Homestake Mine is now the Sanford
Underground Research Facility (SURF).
Today, the microbes discovered inside
SURF are at the center of exciting new
research at SD Mines.
The BuG ReMeDEE
In 201...