Transition Metal Solutions raises $6M to boost copper mining

Transition Metal Solutions has raised a $6 million seed round to scale its technology, which uses prebiotics—additives to boost microbial performance—in copper mining. The startup says it has found a way to use these additives to boost copper production by 20% to 30%. The funding round was led by Transition Ventures.

Other participants in the seed round included:

• Astor Management AG
• Climate Capital
• Dolby Family Ventures
• Essential Capital
• Juniper VC
• Kayak Ventures
• New Climate Ventures
• Possible Ventures
• SOSV
• Understorey Ventures

The investment comes as the world faces a potential copper shortfall. The world could face a severe copper shortfall as early as 2040, a period when demand for the metal could exceed supply by as much as 25%. This looming deficit has driven significant investment into mineral extraction technologies. For example, AI minerals startup KoBold raised funding last year to exploit a copper deposit it found in Zambia.

Traditional copper mining relies on a heap leach—acid-laced piles of ore—where microbes naturally help separate copper from mineral ore. However, traditional heap leaches typically extract only around 30% to 60% of the copper in the ore, leaving 65% of the material behind. According to Sasha Milshteyn, co-founder and CEO of Transition Metal Solutions, previous industry efforts to boost extraction by introducing specific engineered or isolated microbial strains have largely failed to sustain performance. Milshteyn noted that well over 90% of the microbial community present in the material consists of organisms that have never been seen before, while traditional methods focus only on the tiny fraction—typically in the 5% range—that scientists can culture in a lab.

Instead of targeting isolated strains, Transition Metal Solutions focuses on nudging the microbial community toward a higher functional state using additives. In lab samples, the company extracted 90% of copper from ore, compared to 60% using traditional methods. Outside of the lab, Milshteyn expects the technology to increase copper extraction to 50% to 70%, and thinks it could be maybe higher.

Transition Metal Solutions plans to use the seed funding to validate its technology through an independent, third-party metallurgy lab. “Without third party results, nobody’s going to believe you,” said Sasha Milshteyn, co-founder and CEO of Transition. Once validated, the company plans to test the treatment on a demonstration heap before deploying its technology at copper mines around the world.

Why it matters

Copper is critical for the world’s energy transition, yet current extraction methods leave significant material behind. This prebiotic approach could materially improve supply efficiency if proven at scale, helping to head off a projected supply deficit.