Advocates of biotechnology have consistently upheld the notion that the field contributes to human health care, environmental protection, and industrial-scale synthesis of complex chemicals. Despite the obvious importance of these areas, biotechnology also has much to offer to other fields. One of the oldest of these is the mining industry. The earliest use of microbial processes for mining occurred long before it was clear that microbes were responsible for the effects observed. At the Rio Tinto (Red River) mine in Seville, Spain, Roman era copper mine workings were rediscovered in 1556. Evidence suggests that the mine used water from the…