Seeing as this is an instant 'hit', I'll bore you with some details:

Parys mountain is a now-abandoned copper mine on Anglesey, north Wales, UK. It has been mined since at least 1500 BC, probably much earlier. Even the Phoenicians are proven to have mined here. The mine reached its heyday during the 18th century, to provide copper sheathing for British warships. It was reputed to be the largest copper mine in the world at the time. The oxidation of Iron yields energy for highy-specialised, ancient forms of bacteria known as acidophiles that tolerate pools like this that reach a pH less than 1 (and that IS acidic!). The whole mountain is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, partly for this reason.

Fascinating! Strange how over time even appalling environmental disasters seem to become valued. I saw somewhere that Chernobyl is now home to some rare birds of prey!

That's a really interesting story, thanks for sending it along. Here's Anglesey's current efforts
http://www.copperkingdom.co.uk/

The other side is using the bacteria to leach low-grade ores to extract metals, a technique now in widespread use.