What is a significant advantage of phytomining or bioleaching for copper extraction?

Phytomining and bioleaching present a significant advantage by avoiding traditional mining methods, which often involve extensive environmental disruption and pollution. These techniques utilize plants or microorganisms to extract copper from soil and ore, which means that they can be carried out in a more sustainable manner. Traditional mining, on the other hand, often requires the removal of large amounts of earth and rock, resulting in habitat destruction and significant energy consumption.

In addition to minimizing environmental impact, these methods can also open up areas that are too difficult or costly to reach using conventional mining techniques. This capability makes phytomining and bioleaching particularly useful for extracting metals from low-grade ores or from sites that would otherwise be neglected due to the impracticalities of traditional extraction methods.