Phytomining is an agricultural and environmental process that makes use of specific plants called hyperaccumulators to absorb and concentrate valuable metals and critical minerals directly from the soil.
The world needs larger and larger quantities of rare earth metals that are essential for smartphones, wind turbines, and other elements of modern technology. Mining for rare earths is linked to toxic waste, cancer, and ecological degradation. One of the worst aspects of it is acid mine drainage, which occurs when a chemical reaction converts elements in exposed rocks into sulfuric acid, releasing both valuable and toxic metals, polluting waterways and harming ecosystems.
Using plants to extract metals isn’t new. Research on using plants to mine nickel began in the 1990s. A new study at North Caroline State University looked at the ability of pokeweed, a plant native to North Carolina, to absorb rare earth metals and survive in toxic acid mine drainage. Pokeweed is a fast-growing plant. It can grow two feet in two months even during a drought. It may provide an ideal way to recover valuable rare earths from mine drainage sites.
The researchers developed a technique for measuring the amounts of rare earths in the plants without damaging them, thereby allowing the plants to absorb optimal levels before harvesting them. The team is working on a process using bacteria to dissolve the plants and extract the metals without requiring any burning or synthetic chemicals.
There are quite possibly other plants growing in people’s backyards that have other almost magical properties that we don’t know anything about.
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References:
How North Carolina scientists are growing a solution to mining’s toxic legacy
