Why Copper Miners Are Turning to Microbes | Bloomberg Primer

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AI-assisted summary of Why Copper Miners Are Turning to Microbes | Bloomberg Primer — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published: 2026-10-20

Key ideas

Copper market values have doubled over the past decade as global electricity demand heads toward doubling by 2050, forcing miners to target low-grade ores carrying just 0.25% to 0.30% metal concentration. (0:01)
Startup Endolith has raised over $20 million with backing from the US Department of Energy, BHP, and Rio Tinto to replace single-strain biomining with diverse, genomically sequenced microbial consortia. (4:06)
Rio Tinto venture Nuton has commercialized bio-leaching for primary sulfides and tailings, securing offtake agreements with Amazon Web Services for US data center infrastructure. (12:18)
Conventional heap leaching recovers only 20% to 50% of copper, creating an urgent imperative to prove microbial technologies at commercial scale as a lower-carbon alternative to opening new mines. (7:43)

Detailed notes

## Background Published by Bloomberg Originals on YouTube on October 19, 2026, this primer examines how surging electricity demand from grids, electric vehicles, and renewable power is putting severe pressure on the global copper supply. The video explores whether biomining—the practice of using microorganisms to extract metals from low-grade rock—can profitably unlock the copper required for global electrification.

## TL;DR As global electrification accelerates and high-grade copper reserves near exhaustion, mining operations like Arizona's Carlota Mine are left with low-grade ores that yield poor recovery rates under standard extraction methods. To prevent supply deficits without the multi-billion-dollar cost and environmental toll of building new mines, companies are turning to modern biomining techniques that leach metal from rock piles. Rather than relying on historical single-strain approaches, startups like Endolith and ventures like Rio Tinto's Nuton are conditioning diverse microbial consortia to survive harsh industrial heaps. While scaling these biological communities across unique ore chemistries remains a formidable hurdle, commercial traction from buyers like AWS underscores biomining's potential as a lower-footprint alternative to traditional open-pit extraction.

## Atmosphere & style The presentation carries Bloomberg's signature analytical, high-production documentary tone, balancing fast-paced economic reporting with industrial realism. Visuals juxtapose the vast, dusty expanse of heavy mining earthworks against sterile, futuristic laboratory settings where genomic screening takes place. The mood is pragmatic and cautiously optimistic, framing the friction between the environmental costs of mineral extraction and the raw physical necessities of the global clean energy transition.

## Bulletin - [00:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=1s) Copper market values have doubled over the past decade as global electricity demand heads toward doubling by 2050, forcing miners to target low-grade ores carrying just 0.25% to 0.30% metal concentration. - [04:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=246s) Startup Endolith has raised over $20 million with backing from the US Department of Energy, BHP, and Rio Tinto to replace single-strain biomining with diverse, genomically sequenced microbial consortia. - [12:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=738s) Rio Tinto venture Nuton has commercialized bio-leaching for primary sulfides and tailings, securing offtake agreements with Amazon Web Services for US data center infrastructure. - [07:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=463s) Conventional heap leaching recovers only 20% to 50% of copper, creating an urgent imperative to prove microbial technologies at commercial scale as a lower-carbon alternative to opening new mines.

## Key takeaways - [00:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=1s) Global electrification, electric vehicles, and renewable infrastructure are driving a structural copper deficit as global electricity demand is projected to double by 2050. - [00:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=1s) Permitting and constructing new copper mines requires billions of dollars and many years, making rapid capacity expansion through new open-pit projects difficult. - [00:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=1s) High-grade copper reserves are largely exhausted, leaving operations dependent on low-grade ores with merely 0.25% to 0.30% copper concentration. - [00:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=1s) Production at Arizona's Carlota Mine has plummeted 60% from peak levels, placing the asset on track for potential closure by decade's end without novel extraction methods. - [04:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=246s) Heap leaching irrigates sulfuric acid through crushed ore mounds, but conventional techniques recover only 20% to 50% of the target copper. - [04:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=246s) Historic biomining treated biology as a 'black box,' relying predominantly on solitary extremophiles such as Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans that struggle under harsh industrial swings. - [04:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=246s) Endolith takes an 'Avengers-style' multi-species consortia approach, using genomic sequencing and cloud computing to select robust natural communities. - [04:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=246s) Endolith has raised more than $20 million in venture capital alongside research support from the US Department of Energy, BHP, and Rio Tinto. - [07:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=463s) Laboratory candidates are conditioned in an 'Olympic training camp' featuring escalating exposures to high temperatures, salinity, and arsenic before scale-up. - [07:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=463s) Scaling biomining requires field deployment via mobile pilot reactors directly plumbed into mine irrigation systems to adapt to deposit-specific chemical matrices. - [12:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=738s) Rio Tinto's Nuton venture is actively commercializing proprietary microbial leaching to process lower-grade primary sulfides and historic mine tailings. - [12:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=738s) Hyperscaler demand is accelerating adoption, with Amazon Web Services buying Nuton's bio-leached copper for deployment in US data centers. - [12:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=738s) Extracting copper from existing piles via microbes provides a significantly smaller carbon and environmental footprint than breaking ground on new mines.

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=1s) The Growing Copper Deficit and the Push for Low-Grade Ore

Copper powers the modern electrified world, forming the backbone of everything from domestic homes, cars, and mobile phones to electric vehicles and wind turbines. Its critical nature has driven its market value to more than double over the past decade. However, opening new copper mines requires billions of dollars, faces strict investor skepticism, and takes years of development. Consequently, the industry cannot simply discover and build new mines quickly enough to meet the demand of ongoing global electrification.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: The Copper Supply Squeeze accDescr: Diagram illustrating the imbalance between skyrocketing copper demand and mining constraints. subgraph Demand["Demand Drivers"] D1["Electric Vehicles & Wind Turbines"] D2["Power Grids & Electronics"] D3["Global Power Demand to Double by 2050"] end subgraph Bottleneck["Mining Constraints"] B1["High-Grade Ores Largely Depleted"] B2["New Mines Take Years & Billions to Build"] B3["Low-Grade Ore Contains Only 0.25%–0.30% Copper"] end subgraph Solution["Biomining Approach"] S1["Extract More from Existing Mines"] S2["Microbial Heap Leaching"] end Demand --> Bottleneck Bottleneck --> Solution ```

At Arizona's Carlota Mine, production is down roughly 60% compared to its peak output, putting the site on track for potential closure by the end of the decade without intervention. High-grade deposits are almost entirely depleted or situated in areas that are either inaccessible or unsafe to mine. The remaining surface reserves are locked in low-grade ores carrying merely 0.25% to 0.30% copper concentration, of which traditional extraction techniques recover only around half. As Dr. Liz Dennett, founder and CEO of startup Endolith, explains:

> “The main issue with the high-grade copper ores is that most of them are gone, and the things that are left are very difficult to get to.”

To keep supplies flowing without opening costly new pits, operators are looking toward biomining—using microorganisms to leach metals from rock.

- Copper market value has more than doubled over the last 10 years. - Low-grade copper ores contain only about 0.25% to 0.3% copper. - Conventional extraction methods retrieve only about half of the copper from these low-grade deposits. - Carlota Mine's copper output is down approximately 60% from its peak.

---

[04:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=246s) Heap Leaching Mechanics and Endolith's Microbial Approach

Traditional biomining on low-grade ore relies on heap leaching. In this process, ore is blasted down into small particles and piled into giant mounds called heaps. An irrigation network trickles sulfuric acid through the rock alongside naturally present or introduced microbes. These organisms interact with the rock to release copper into an acidic liquid solution, which drains into holding ponds at the base. While microbes have broken down minerals for billions of years, the mining sector has historically treated them as an uncontrolled "black box," adding a single bug and hoping for the best.

```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: Heap Leaching Process accDescr: Flowchart showing the steps of the heap leaching biomining process. O["Blasted Low-Grade Ore"] --> H["Stacked Giant Heap"] A["Sulfuric Acid + Microbes"] -->|"Irrigation drip"| H H -->|"Copper liberated into solution"| P["Collection Ponds"] P --> SX["Solvent Extraction (Phase Separation)"] SX --> EW["Electrowinning (Pure Cathode)"] ```

Endolith, a startup founded in 2023, intends to replace this hands-off approach using genomic sequencing, targeted microbial communities, and cloud computing. The company has raised over $20 million in venture funding, received grant backing from the US Department of Energy, and partnered with mining majors BHP and Rio Tinto. While early biomining relied almost exclusively on a single extremophile bacterium—*Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans*—Endolith argues that a single strain cannot survive the wild swings in temperature, acidity, and chemical toxins seen inside industrial heaps.

Instead of relying on a lone worker, Endolith selects diverse natural consortia and acclimates them through an escalating regimen. Dr. Liz Dennett contrasts this with past practices:

> “I guess if I was going to do an analogy, it would be like the Iron Man, the Tony Stark organisms, and we're taking a much more communal Avengers type approach.”

- Biomining patents for heap leaching date back to the late 1950s, though historical microbial mining dates to ancient Greece and China. - *Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans* is an extremophile bacterium traditionally used as the primary organism in copper leaching. - Endolith has secured more than $20 million in venture capital. - Major mining partners include BHP and Rio Tinto, alongside backing from the US Department of Energy.

---

[07:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=463s) From the Lab to the Field: The Industrialization Bottleneck

At Endolith's laboratory, microbial communities undergo rigorous screening overseen by Christine Green, Vice President of Technology and Operations. Technicians use advanced genomic monitoring to track precisely which species are active in copper liberation. The candidate microbes are subjected to an "Olympic training camp," where staff systematically ramp up salinity, arsenic concentrations, and temperatures to simulate extreme field conditions. Surviving consortia graduate from small culture flasks to test columns of increasing size, though even minor adjustments in airflow, temperature, or rock particle size can alter community dynamics.

To move from controlled indoor columns to field deployment, Endolith built a mobile pilot reactor rig designed to tie directly into mine irrigation lines. Downstream at the processing plant, aqueous solutions containing copper ions undergo solvent extraction to switch the copper into an organic phase. This concentrates the copper to high purity before it enters the electrowinning plant to produce commercial copper cathode plates.

Yet moving from pilot trials to full heaps remains a massive hurdle. Standard heap leach operations extract only 20% to 50% of available copper, and Endolith must prove it can reliably exceed that baseline in the real world. Every mineral deposit possesses a unique chemical matrix, meaning an assemblage that works at one site may fail at another. With global electricity demand projected to double by 2050, the pressure on miners to prove new technological breakthroughs like microbial leaching, chemical catalysts, and automated sensing is higher than ever. As one commentator observes:

> “Startups like Endolith face myriad challenges in the mining industry, and what we've seen with companies and startups is that it takes them a long time to prove out their technology and to show that these are really breakthroughs that can make it easier to extract these minerals.”

- Standard heap leach operations typically recover only 20% to 50% of the total copper present. - Global electricity demand is projected to double by the year 2050. - Endolith uses direct column tests and dedicated pilot rigs hooked to irrigation pipes to test microbial performance before commercial-scale application.

[12:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=738s) Commercial Adoption and the Environmental Balancing Act

Major mining players are actively commercializing bio-extraction methods rather than treating them as purely experimental science. Nuton, an independent venture launched and backed by global mining giant Rio Tinto, is actively developing its own proprietary microbial leaching technologies to extract copper from lower-grade primary sulfides and legacy mine tailings. These efforts are already seeing commercial demand from the tech sector, with Amazon Web Services purchasing copper produced through Nuton’s bio-technology specifically for use across its data centers in the United States.

```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: Microbial Copper Supply Chain accDescr: Flow showing how microbial extraction by Rio Tinto's Nuton venture supplies commercial copper to Amazon Web Services. subgraph Innovation ["Biomining Innovation"] A["Rio Tinto / Nuton"] -->|"Deploys microbial leaching"| B["Recovered Copper"] end subgraph Commercial ["Commercial End-Use"] B -->|"Purchased by AWS"| C["US Data Centers"] end ```

The rise of biomining highlights an ongoing friction at the core of the global green transition. While widespread electrification remains one of the primary pathways to curb carbon emissions, securing the raw materials required to build out grids, electric vehicles, and computing infrastructure inevitably carries ecological trade-offs. The extractive sector faces a dual imperative: it must supply massive volumes of metal while curbing its traditional environmental fallout. As one speaker notes: “Sometimes mining can be incredibly harmful for the environment, but really the environmental problems facing the mining industry come into conflict with another basic reality, which is that we need mining and the industry is always in conflict to figure out how to do that in the most sustainable way.” Within this reality, biomining offers a compelling alternative to conventional operations, as another speaker summarizes: “Generally speaking, the industry believes carbon footprint and environment footprint of microbes is still smaller than opening up a new mine.”

- **Corporate Backing:** Rio Tinto's venture, Nuton, has positioned microbial leaching directly for commercial deployment. - **Hyperscaler Offtake:** Amazon Web Services (AWS) has turned to bio-leached copper to supply material for its domestic US data center infrastructure. - **Footprint Comparison:** Using microbes to reprocess tailings or extract metal from low-grade ore deposits creates a significantly smaller carbon and environmental footprint than permitting and constructing net-new open-pit or underground mines.

## Notable quotes > [00:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=1s) The main issue with the high-grade copper ores is that most of them are gone, and the things that are left are very difficult to get to. — Dr. Liz Dennett

> [12:18](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc&t=738s) Generally speaking, the industry believes carbon footprint and environment footprint of microbes is still smaller than opening up a new mine.

## Mentioned Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, Amazon Web Services, BHP, Carlota Mine, Christine Green, Dr. Liz Dennett, Endolith, Nuton, Rio Tinto, US Department of Energy

## Video description The global copper supply is on a collision course with growing electricity demand. Copper is crucial to power grids, renewable energy equipment and electric vehicles. Over the past few decades, mining companies have found it increasingly challenging to extract more of the metal and still turn a profit. Some have now turned to biomining, the process of using microbes to extract metals. Can this technique meet the rising demand of an electrifying world?

00:00 - 01:32 — Introduction 01:32 - 04:05 — Biomining 04:05 - 06:48 — Heap Leaches 06:48 - 09:42 — In The Lab 09:42 - 11:34 — In The Field 11:34 - 13:05 — Conclusion 13:05 - 13:38 — Credits

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[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VV11Zx_fzc)

中文简报

微生物能否化解铜供应困境？| 彭博入门随着全球电气化进程加快且高品位铜矿储量渐趋枯竭，诸如亚利桑那州卡洛塔铜矿等采矿项目只剩下采用常规提取法回收率极低的的低品位矿石。为了在避免耗资数十亿美元及造成环境负担开建新矿的前提下防止供应出现缺口，各企业正转向从矿石堆中浸出金属的现代生物采矿技术。初创公司Endolith以及力拓旗下合资项目Nuton等并未沿用过去的单一菌株方案，而是驯化多样化的微生物群落，以使其在恶劣的工业堆浸环境中存活。尽管针对不同矿石化学特性对这些生物群落进行规模化应用仍是一大艰巨挑战，但来自AWS等买家的商业青睐凸显了生物采矿作为传统露天开采低足迹替代方案的潜力。在过去十年中铜市值翻了一番，而到2050年全球电力需求预计也将翻倍，这迫使矿企不得不将目光投向金属含量仅为0.25%至0.30%的低品位矿石。 (0:01) 初创公司Endolith已筹集超过2000万美元，获得了美国能源部、必和必拓以及力拓的支持，旨在用经过基因组测序的多样化微生物群落替代单一菌株生物采矿方案。 (4:06) 力拓旗下合资项目Nuton已实现原生硫化矿和尾矿生物浸出的商业化，并与亚马逊网络服务（AWS）达成了用于美国数据中心基础设施的承购协议。 (12:18) 传统堆浸法仅能回收20%至50%的铜，这使得验证微生物技术的商业化规模应用成为当务之急，以作为开辟新矿的低碳替代方案。 (7:43)

Source quotes

[0:01] Dr. Liz Dennett: The main issue with the high-grade copper ores is that most of them are gone, and the things that are left are very difficult to get to. [12:18] Generally speaking, the industry believes carbon footprint and environment footprint of microbes is still smaller than opening up a new mine.

Original transcript

[0:01] - Copper. [0:03] One of the most precious non-precious metals. [0:06] It's part of your everyday life. [0:08] It powers your home, your car, and your phone. [0:11] It's how you're watching this very video. [0:14] And its value has [0:15] more than doubled over the last 10 years. [0:19] - Across the board, there's demand for copper [0:21] for electrification. [0:23] - Everything from electric cars [0:25] to wind turbines relies on having access to copper. [0:28] - But there's not enough to keep up. [0:31] - Unfortunately, we can't just go out [0:33] and discover new copper mines. [0:36] - Opening a new mine costs a pretty penny, [0:39] and it takes years to build. [0:42] - If you can find ways to squeeze more copper out [0:45] of existing mines, you don't have to open up new mines. [0:49] - One way to answer this big problem is actually small. [0:54] Nope, smaller than that. [0:56] Think microscopic. [0:58] There we go. [0:59] Microbes. These little bugs eat their way through ore [1:04] and leave behind copper. [1:06] Not much is understood about them. [1:10] Mining companies are finding ways to change that. [1:13] But are these teeny, [1:15] tiny miners biting off more than they can chew? [1:39] - This is cool. We get to go to the pit. [1:42] That's where the action happens. [1:44] This where the really big truck with the really, [1:46] really big rock-carrying ability is. [1:48] That's why I didn't say that. [1:53] - Oh, I'm sorry. It's actually - [1:56] - I'm Dr. Liz Dennett. I'm the founder and CEO of Endolith. [2:00] The main issue with the high-grade copper ores is that most [2:02] of them are gone, and the things [2:03] that are left are very difficult to get to. [2:06] They're very remote or they're not able to be safely mined. [2:09] And so the best place to find copper is [2:11] where we already have copper, places like this. [2:16] - This is Carlota Mine. [2:18] It's producing about 60% less copper than it did [2:21] during peak output. [2:23] Unless something is done, it's set to shut down [2:26] by the end of the decade. [2:29] - Most of the copper that's left on the surface [2:31] of the planet is trapped in low-grade ores. [2:33] I am talking rocks that are like 0.25 to 0.3% copper. [2:38] That's not very much copper. [2:39] And traditional methods get maybe around half of that. [2:43] - In high-grade ore, you'll find much denser [2:46] concentrations of copper. [2:48] Today, we find that it's harder [2:50] and harder to find high-grade copper mines. [2:53] The mining industry is a famously conservative industry. [2:56] These are companies that are often quite reluctant [2:58] to invest billions of dollars into a new mine [3:01] because sometimes it can scare their investors. [3:04] Because of that, we've seen a lot of companies come in [3:07] and try to offer alternatives. [3:10] - Biomining, the process of using microbes [3:13] to extract metals from ore, is one [3:16] of these alternatives to get more copper. [3:19] It's also very inexpensive compared to other methods. [3:24] - Microbes are actually the oldest miners in the world. [3:28] For billions of years, they have been reshaping the planet [3:32] by breaking down rocks and reaching out elements. [3:36] - Microbes are living organisms too small to be seen [3:39] with the naked eye, like bacteria, archaea, and some fungi. [3:44] They can be found in the most extreme environments, [3:48] from volcanoes to glaciers, [3:50] and the most ordinary: our bodies. [3:54] Microbes have always been a part of mine sites. [3:57] The challenge modern biomining companies face is [4:00] that they still don't fully understand how these bugs work. [4:06] - It's a black box. Microbes are in the environment. [4:09] They are playing some kind of role, [4:11] but it's unconstrained, it's running wild. [4:14] - So let's take a step back here. [4:16] Heap leaching is a biomining process [4:20] for low-grade ore. [4:22] It starts with ore getting blasted into particles, [4:26] which then gets piled into ginormous heaps, hence the name. [4:30] An irrigation system runs sulfuric acid through the heap. [4:35] This is where communities of microbes are added. [4:38] This buggy solution flushes through the ore [4:41] and liberates the copper, [4:43] which is collected in giant ponds at the end of the process. [4:48] Typically, microbes are left alone after being added. [4:52] Today, biomining companies are looking for ways [4:55] to do more during that step. [4:58] Endolith is one of them. [5:03] - So part of what we are doing is using microbes combined [5:06] with some cloud computing and some other aspects [5:08] to take the mines that already exist [5:10] and squeeze every drop of copper out. [5:13] - Founded in 2023, the startup is turning heads. [5:17] They've reportedly raised a little over $20 million [5:20] from venture capital investment. [5:22] They've even received grant funding from the US Department [5:25] of Energy and have partnered [5:27] with major mining companies like BHP and Rio Tinto. [5:33] Endolith has only begun proof-of-concept deployment. [5:37] Their clients range from greenfield mines, which are sites [5:40] that have yet to become mines, to existing mines. [5:46] - So Endolith hasn't really kicked off with field deployment [5:50] until now, so a lot of people are still waiting to say, "Oh, [5:53] can you really deliver the same promise when you [5:56] operate in the real world?" [5:58] - So what does Endolith claim to deliver? [6:02] - Historically, biomining used one type of microbe, [6:06] a bug called acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. [6:09] - Acido-what? - Could you repeat that? [6:12] - Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans. Top 10 microbe. [6:16] It is A-tier, maybe even S-tier. [6:19] - Evidence of microbes at mines date as far back [6:22] as ancient Greece and China, [6:24] but it wasn't until the late 1950s [6:27] that the first heat leaching process using [6:30] microbes was patented. [6:32] Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans - whew! [6:36] - is one of the most well-known microbes used to extract copper. [6:41] It's a bacterium that is an extremophile, [6:44] meaning it can survive harsh places like mine sites. [6:49] - I guess if I was going to do an analogy, [6:50] it would be like the Iron Man, the Tony Stark organisms, [6:53] and we're taking a much more [6:54] communal Avengers type approach. [6:56] - Unlike traditional biomining, [6:59] Endolith focuses on more than just Tony Stark in order [7:02] to thrive at mine sites. [7:04] Heap leaches experience extreme changes in conditions. [7:08] For example, temperature that may affect the performance [7:11] of individual microbes or even kill them. [7:15] Endolith says they select microbes from nature, train them [7:19] to survive these conditions, [7:21] and then deploy them as a group. [7:23] - We take these bugs and these microbial communities [7:27] and then we'll slowly run them through kind [7:29] of like an Olympic training camp. [7:30] An example of this is if we want to deploy in saltwater, [7:34] we will start at relatively fresh water conditions [7:36] and we'll slowly increase the salt water [7:39] or we'll slowly increase the temperature [7:40] or we'll slowly increase the arsenic concentration. [7:43] - Before the microbes hit the mines, [7:45] they start their training here. [8:00] - Every engineering system has funky noise. [8:03] - This is Christine Green, Vice President of Technology [8:08] and Operations at Endolith. [8:10] - Now that the microbiologists have actually really [8:13] progressed a lot of the tools, you can see all [8:16] of those organisms [8:17] that actually make a difference in copper leachings. [8:21] - Endolith relies on genomic tools [8:23] to monitor the microbial communities as they go [8:25] through each step of their process. [8:28] - This is really the hub. [8:30] This is where all the magic happens. [8:33] - Once the chosen communities grow up a bit, the bugs run [8:36] through several scales of testing. [8:39] - So we like to, you know, plug in a number [8:41] of different communities at various temperatures [8:44] and see do they live or die? [8:46] We'll take those microbes [8:48] and place them into the column itself. [8:51] - As the bugs move to bigger columns, things can change. [8:56] - So changing the parameters even just slightly [8:59] will give you a different community. [9:01] So the various microbes that are present [9:05] and are good for copper leaching, that's [9:08] what we're trying to really control. [9:10] The lab is the best case scenario, right? [9:12] You can control the temperatures, [9:13] the particle size distribution, air injection, everything. [9:16] When you get to the field, you now start to have challenges [9:20] that you have to overcome. [9:21] This is actually one of the reactors [9:23] that's going on the pilot rig. [9:26] - Endolith's pilot rig is designed to bring the microbes [9:29] as close to the heap as possible by hooking up directly [9:33] to the irrigation system. [9:35] - So how do you know what is happening inside? [9:38] That's a challenge of facing a lot [9:39] of mining companies when it comes to biomining. [9:43] - Endolith claims they will monitor their microbes in the [9:46] heat by observing parameters like temperature [9:49] and pH levels to adjust the [9:51] communities they're putting to work. [9:58] - You're told that it's turned into [9:59] metal, but you never see it. [10:06] So you can see the copper ions in solution [10:09] and the aqueous solution, [10:11] and then the phase separation where it switches to organic, [10:14] and we use these two different phases in order [10:17] to concentrate the copper to a high enough percentage [10:21] that we can then put it into the electroplating plant [10:23] and make pure copper cathode. [10:27] Mining in general, yeah, people seem to think [10:29] that it's a pretty low tech [10:31] and they have the picture in their mind of picks and shovels [10:34] and people in horrible environments, [10:36] but actually it's, it's pretty high tech in a lot of ways. [10:39] You know, we're always looking to [10:42] increase our recovery from our resource. [10:45] - Traditionally, heap leaches get about 20 [10:48] to 50% of copper out. [10:51] Endolith says they can get more, [10:54] but the move-fast-and-break-things ethos doesn't apply here. [10:59] - Startups like Endolith face myriad challenges in the [11:03] mining industry, and what we've seen with companies [11:05] and startups is that it takes them a long time [11:08] to prove out their technology [11:09] and to show that these are really breakthroughs [11:12] that can make it easier to extract these minerals. [11:17] - Unlike labs, heap leaches are notoriously [11:20] difficult to control. [11:22] On top of that, duplicating the process across different [11:25] deposits is its own beast. [11:28] No two mines are the same. [11:30] What works for one may not work for another. [11:35] - What's surprising about the mining industry is the [11:39] diversity of considerations towards how to mine. [11:42] And there are usually, you know, [11:44] teams at these companies, research [11:46] and development teams, that spend a lot of time [11:48] thinking in really creative, innovative ways about [11:51] how we're going to get more critical minerals. [11:55] - The global demand for electricity is expected [11:57] to double by 2050. [12:00] Without copper, there would be no power grids, [12:03] renewable energy equipment, electric vehicles, [12:06] and data centres. [12:08] Companies worldwide are using methods [12:10] that range from genetic modification, chemical catalysts, [12:14] to sensors and automations on heap leaches. [12:18] Nuton, a venture backed by mining giant, Rio Tinto, [12:21] is developing their own microbial solutions. [12:26] Amazon Web Services has bought their copper [12:28] for US data centres. [12:32] Electrification is one of many ways to curb emissions, [12:35] but there are still costs to the environment. [12:38] - Sometimes mining can be incredibly harmful [12:40] for the environment, but really the [12:43] environmental problems facing the mining industry come into [12:46] conflict with another basic reality, which is [12:48] that we need mining [12:50] and the industry is always in conflict to figure out how [12:52] to do that in the most sustainable way. [12:55] - Generally speaking, the industry believes carbon footprint [12:59] and environment footprint of microbes [13:02] is still smaller than opening up a new mine.