In just five years, the world could begin facing a shortage of copper. This critical mineral is essential for everything from data centers and electric vehicles to defense systems. Without significant changes, a severe shortfall could emerge by 2040, with demand potentially exceeding supply by as much as twenty-five percent. If copper prices seem high today, the situation may intensify in the coming years.
This looming deficit has attracted substantial investment. Companies and investors are pouring money into the sector as demand accelerates. For example, the AI minerals startup KoBold raised five hundred thirty-seven million dollars last year to develop a major copper deposit it discovered in Zambia.
However, an innovative solution might help avert the crisis. One startup, Transition Metal Solutions, claims it can increase copper production by twenty to thirty percent using a novel method. The approach involves special additives that enhance the performance of microbes already present in mines. Think of it as probiotics for copper extraction.
To scale this technology, Transition Metal Solutions has raised a six million dollar seed funding round. The investment was led by Transition Ventures and included participation from numerous other venture firms.
Microbes have always played a crucial role in copper mining, naturally helping to separate the metal from ore so it can be refined. For years, companies have tried to engineer these microbes to extract more copper, but according to Sasha Milshteyn, co-founder and CEO of Transition, the traditional approach has been flawed.
Typically, companies isolate or engineer promising microbial strains, grow them in large quantities, and apply them to ore heaps. Milshteyn states this method has largely not paid off, often yielding only a temporary boost or no improvement at all.
He suspects the problem is twofold. First, microbes do not work in isolation; they exist in diverse communities where each organism plays a role. Simply boosting one strain ignores this complex ecosystem. Second, our understanding of these communities is limited. Over ninety percent of the microbes present in ore are species science has never seen before, as the extreme conditions of a mine heap are difficult to replicate in a lab.
Instead of focusing on a few star microbes, Transition aims to elevate the entire microbial community. The company applies low-cost, mostly inorganic compounds already found at mining sites to nudge the community toward a higher functional state.
In laboratory tests, this proprietary cocktail has extracted ninety percent of the copper from ore samples, a significant increase from the sixty percent recovered through traditional methods. While real-world efficacy may be somewhat lower, Milshteyn believes the technology can boost extraction rates at typical mines from between thirty to sixty percent to at least fifty to seventy percent or higher.
Each mine hosts a unique microbial community, so Transition plans to tailor its additives based on initial testing. As more data is gathered, the company hopes to eventually predict a mine’s needs in advance.
At that rate, this probiotic approach could help solve the copper shortage before it begins. But first, the company must prove its solution works to the mining industry. Transition plans to conduct third-party testing with a respected metallurgy lab, a step Milshteyn says is essential for credibility. The seed funding will cover this phase.
Following successful lab results, the next step is a demonstration on a heap containing tens of thousands of tons of material. If successful, the technology could then be deployed globally.
As Milshteyn notes, typical mining operations leave about sixty-five percent of the copper behind in the material. His company’s goal is to get as much of that valuable resource out as possible.