The bacterium produced single-atom, or monoatomic copper, which is particularly useful for energy production and other applications.
The microbe is the first reported to produce a single-atom metal, but the researchers, whose findings were published April 23 in Science Advances, suspect many more await discovery.
"The ores are a mixture of copper with carbonate, sulfate, phosphate and oxide minerals," Rodrigues said.
The process of copper mining releases ionic, or charged, copper as a byproduct that contaminates the surrounding environment.
However, scientists weren't previously aware of any microbes that could produce the single-atom form of a metal.
When the team examined the structure of these atoms, they were found to be the valuable nonionic form of copper.
Researchers will still have to figure out how to use the microbes to mass produce single-atom copper. »