Electrification, AI infrastructure, storage, advanced manufacturing, and national security planning depend on a long range of metals. Copper, nickel, lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, and the transition metals that shape electron behaviour all sit under the same pressure: demand is rising faster than new deposits can advance through permitting, construction, and commissioning. Declining head grades, complex mineralogy, and rising processing costs influence every operational decision in the sector.
The International Energy Agency projects a steep climb in copper requirements through 2040, and S&P Global estimates demand could double by 2035. Analysts following AI infrastructure expect data centre growth to add more than 1 million t of annual copper demand before the decade ends.
There is metal in the ground, and there is metal in the rock that earlier generations of processing routes were not designed to treat. The challenge is finding ways to release it reliably and affordably. This is why operators are revisiting approaches that were always promising but never fully supported by the scientific and engineering tools of their time.
Bioleaching is one of those approaches. It works because microbial life has been shaping mineral systems for billions of years, long before humans understood these reactions even existed. Microbes have established ecosystems inside acid mine drainage sites, volcanic systems, deep subsurface zones, and high-sulphur ore bodies. These communities already understand how to metabolise minerals in places that look hostile to human observers.
Early biological approaches were limited by the instrumentation available. The field today looks different. Genomics helps teams identify which microbes thrive in specific mineral systems. Adaptive evolution encourages traits that improve metabolic performance on a particular ore type. Real-time sensors show how acidity, heat, redox potential, and chemical gradients shift inside a heap. Cloud computing turns those signals into information that decision-makers can actually use. Biology has not changed. What changed is our ability to finally see, measure, and guide what was previously invisible inside a heap.
Examples are accumulating across commodities, and early pilots show that tuned microbial systems consistently outperform passive or unmanaged biological activity. Researchers have documented improved copper release from low-grade sulphide ore when microbial communities are tuned to the mineralogy. Lithium-bearing clays are showing early signs that microbial consortia may help unlock bound lithium in specific horizons. Some nickel laterites are revealing pathways for microbial iron reduction that could support more efficient downstream processing. These efforts are still early, yet the pilots demonstrate measurable improvements when biological systems are supported rather than left to adapt on their own.
This idea matters for operators managing declining grades or large legacy stockpiles. In an era of declining ore grades, even a few percentage points of additional recovery can shift the economics of an entire district. A few percentage points of additional recovery from material already on site can extend the life of an operation, reduce the need for new pits or waste rock, and improve overall site economics.
There is also a resilience dimension at a moment when mineral supply chains increasingly shape national security, industrial competitiveness, and energy independence. Biological approaches provide something valuable. They can be modular. They can operate at lower energy intensities. They can integrate with existing infrastructure rather than forcing complete redesigns of process flows.
Policy is beginning to reflect this pressure. The US recently added copper to its official list of critical minerals.
Lithium, nickel, graphite, and rare earth elements were already on the list. As demand rises, any approach that increases domestic recovery from existing infrastructure becomes strategically important.
The larger idea is straightforward and overdue – mineral systems are not static. They contain microbial life that has been adapting to their chemistry for billions of years. Once operators can clearly observe these organisms, they can work with them. That creates new pathways for recovery at a moment when the world needs more metal, produced more precisely, and sourced with more flexibility.
Mining evolves whenever its tools improve, and biology is becoming one of the most powerful tools we have added in a generation – biology is becoming one of those tools. The rock remains the rock. Our understanding of the life within it continues to advance.