Grow Everything Biotech Podcast 173. They Put the Ore in Organisms: Liz Dennett’s Microbial Mining at Endolith
What if the oldest miners on Earth weren't humans at all—but microbes that have been extracting metals for billions of years? In this episode, Karl and Erum sit down with Liz Dennett, founder and CEO of Endolith, who's deploying extremophile microbial communities to unlock up to 1.9x more copper from existing mine heaps at industrial mining sites across the US. Liz shares her journey from growing up in resource-rich Alaska to pioneering bio-leaching technology that's tackling a critical challenge: we need more copper between now and 2050 than humanity has produced in its entire history—and every data center, EV, and AI query depends on it. But here's what makes this conversation different: Liz isn't trying to disrupt mining, she's working with it, bringing "purple-haired PhD energy" to one of the world's most conservative industries through safety-first culture, collaboration over competition, and under-promising, over-delivering results. This episode reveals why biology might be our best tool for responsible resource stewardship and what it really takes to bring breakthrough biotechnology into legacy industrial systems—plus, the copper oxidation series on Liz's nails.
Grow Everything brings the bioeconomy to life. Hosts Karl Schmieder and Erum Azeez Khan share stories and interview the leaders and influencers changing the world by growing everything. Biology is the oldest technology. And it can be engineered. What are we growing?
Learn more at www.messaginglab.com/groweverything
Chapters:
- (00:00:00) - Welcome to the Show: Microbes, Mining, and the Copper Crisis
- (00:01:53) - The PowerPoint-Google Slides Software Saga
- (00:03:47) - Meeting Clients In Person: Building Deeper Connections
- (00:05:05) - Erum's Panel Experience and the HairDAO Moment
- (00:06:56) - Mining, Microbes, and Copper in the Human Body
- (00:08:59) - Why Copper Matters for AI and Electrification
- (00:11:00) - Introducing Liz Dennett: From Alaska to Endolith
- (00:12:43) - Growing Up in Alaska: Natural Resources as Lived Reality
- (00:14:00) - The Moment Biology Met Mining
- (00:15:00) - What is Heap Leaching? Visualizing the Process
- (00:17:00) - Recovery Rates and Why 10% More Copper is Monumental
- (00:18:00) - Biology's Surprises: Communities Over Single Organisms
- (00:19:43) - Extremophiles: Microbes That Love Sulfuric Acid
- (00:21:00) - Dirty Biology: Engineering Control vs. Biological Adaptability
- (00:23:00) - Building Trust in a Conservative Industry
- (00:25:00) - Culture at Endolith: Safety, Feedback, and Snacks
- (00:27:00) - Validation Work and Customer-Specific Testing
- (00:28:00) - How Data, Biology, and Infrastructure Shape Resource Thinking
- (00:30:00) - The Copper Crisis: More Needed by 2050 Than Ever Before
- (00:33:00) - When Does Biology Work? Redox Reactions and Metal Recovery
- (00:34:00) - GMOs vs. Wild Type: The Labradoodle Analogy
- (00:36:00) - Bio-Leaching Evolved: Not Just One Microbe, A Full System
- (00:38:00) - Collaborating with Rio Tinto Nuton and Gunnison Copper
- (00:40:00) - Force Multipliers, Not Mine Operators
- (00:41:00) - The Copper Oxidation Series on Liz's Nails
- (00:42:00) - The 10-Year Vision: Biology as a Standard Mining Layer
- (00:44:00) - Quick Fire Questions: Wilderness vs. Mine Site, Copper vs. Lithium
- (00:45:00) - The Unwavering Playlist and Fundraising Energy
- (00:47:00) - Wrap-Up and Final Thoughts on Collaboration and the Energy Transition
Links and Resources:
- Links and resources Doc
- SynBioBeta Pass - Discount code: Grow Everything
Topics Covered:
biomining, Copper, mining, microbes, bioleaching, heap leach, extremophiles, energy transition, electrification, critical minerals, industrial biotechnology
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Music by: Nihilore
Production by: Amplafy Media