The bioleaching allows the use of microorganisms for its use in the extraction and treatment of minerals, which makes it a recent and sustainable technique against conventional methods in the recovery of metals of interest, among which zinc stands out. Being the fourth most used metal by mankind after iron, aluminum and copper, zinc is widely used in the industry of alloys, galvanized, rubber, cement, plastics and pigments, to name a few. In the present review, different studies are gathered around the process of bioleaching of sulfides that are aimed at the recovery of zinc, which includes zinc sulphides and their properties, generalities of the bioleaching process, which includes physical and chemical dissolution mechanisms of the mineral, microorganisms involved in the process, physicochemical parameters, such as operating temperature, nutrients, particle size, pulp density, pH, iron content, dissolved oxygen and CO2, modifications in the bioleaching system, as an addition of ions or spectral waves, the role of the extracellular polymer substance and its relationship with the biooxidation of minerals, registered techniques and their future development.