Redirecting the Microbiome: Rethinking Copper Mining with Sasha Milshteyn

The Climate Biotech Podcast

What happens when a structural biochemist turns his attention to mountains of rock? Dr. Sasha Milshteyn takes us on a remarkable journey from studying tiny molecular movements in proteins to revolutionizing how we extract copper from massive mine heaps.
The mining industry faces a critical challenge - we've depleted most easily-processed oxide copper ores, leaving behind harder-to-extract sulfides that typically yield just 30-50% recovery using conventional methods. This creates a significant bottleneck for the clean energy transition, which demands unprecedented quantities of copper. For decades, miners have attempted to improve extraction by growing iron and sulfur oxidizing microbes in labs and inoculating heaps with them, but these introduced microbes rarely thrive against established native communities.
Sasha's breakthrough insight came from recognizing that every ore heap already contains a complex ecosystem of extremophiles - acid-loving microbes that derive energy from "eating rock." Rather than fighting against these established communities by introducing foreign organisms, Transition Biomining analyzes the native microbiome and identifies what's limiting its performance. They then develop custom "prebiotics" that enhance the function of these specialized microbes, potentially boosting recovery by 25-30 percentage points.
What makes this approach particularly powerful is how it integrates with existing mining infrastructure. A medium-sized mine moves approximately 100,000 tons of rock daily - the equivalent of 1,000 train cars. By working within established processes rather than requiring entirely new systems, Transition offers a practical path forward for an industry traditionally, and understandably, resistant to change.
Beyond mining, Sasha shares valuable insights for all scientists and entrepreneurs: understand what happens at scale before designing bench experiments, question assumptions in established protocols, and recognize how little we truly know about biological systems.
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amilshteyn/

Website: transition.bio
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Chapters

1. Redirecting the Microbiome: Rethinking Copper Mining with Sasha Milshteyn (00:00:00)

2. Mining's Standard Failed Approach (00:00:04)

3. Introduction to Climate Biotech Podcast (00:00:26)

4. Sascha's Journey From Ukraine to Science (00:01:38)

5. From Chemistry to Structural Biology (00:04:40)

6. Metagenomics and First Mining Encounter (00:10:47)

7. Witnessing Mine Operations Firsthand (00:15:14)

8. Why Inoculation Fails in Mining (00:19:16)

9. Transition Biomining's Custom Approach (00:28:40)

10. Mind-Blowing Science and Parting Advice (00:39:49)

11. Final Thoughts and Wrap-Up (00:44:39)