Mining isn’t known for innovation. For more than a century, we’ve extracted copper using the same process: dig, crush, grind, leach, repeat. Meanwhile, demand has exploded, fueled by EVs, AI infrastructure, and the energy transition. That mismatch has created a bottleneck. We’re using yesterday’s tools to power tomorrow’s economy.
The conductive highway
Copper is the metal that moves energy. Literally, electrons don’t travel from solar panels to batteries—or from your laptop charger to the cloud—without it. Copper is the conductive highway that keeps the world’s electrons flowing. It’s in every EV, every wind turbine, and every data center.
It’s also in short supply. We’ve mined the easy stuff. Now we’re left with lower-quality ores, deeper deposits, and rising costs—just as demand hits historic highs. And when the global economy is built on electrons, copper is no longer just a commodity. It’s a strategic resource, central to national security, electrification, and economic stability.
For the rest of this article: https://www.fastcompany.com/91338917/how-engineered-microbes-could-change-the-way-we-mine-copper-copper-mining-new-technology