Vale (NYSE:VALE) has teamed up with the University of São Paulo to identify bacteria and fungi capable of eating copper in a move which could generate an additional $1.4 billion in gross revenue for the Brazilian mining giant.

According to Worldcrunch a team of USP researchers are currently working at a tailings dam near Sossego mine in northern Brazil to identify the most ravenous copper-eating bacteria and fungi for use in the metal recovery process.