Introduction to Phytomining
In a field in northern Albania, farmers work between rows of yellow mustard plants and bring their harvest: nickel. What is planted here is one of around 700 hyperaccumulative species – plants that accumulate high amounts of metals from the ground, such as nickel, zinc, copper, even gold and rare removal. They developed to store this metals in their shoots, leaves or juice. It is her little toxic trick, a defense against predators and pathogens. The metals are harmless for the plants themselves.
From Cleaning Contaminated Soil to Metal Harvesting
Scientists used such plants for the first time in the 1980s to eliminate soils that were contaminated by mines or enamel. A plant was even able to remove small amounts of radioactive cesium from the soil of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster site. But only in the 1990s did the scientists ask: What if we used all of the precious metals collected by the plants? They called the idea: phytomining.
Phytomining as a Business Model
There are too much nickel in the ground on the field in Albania to grow food plants with good harvest. But then there is not enough nickel to build a conventional mine. This makes it an ideal place for phytomining. The minimal goal is about a third of a ton of nickel per hectare. The plants suck the metal open and store it. Once harvested and dried, about 2% of your dry weight is nickel. The plants are then grinded and burned, leaving an ashy concentrate or "organic ore". The ashes are washed and transformed into a liquid by using sulfuric acid. It is then filtered and crystallized in nickelsulfate, a resource that is highly in demand in high batteries as in electric cars.
Environmental Impact of Phytomining
The environmental influences of phytomining is low. Conventional metal mining can severely affect the environment and often contain the design of large land areas. It can produce poisonous tailings and waste that penetrate the environment and poison people and wild animals. Due to the energy-intensive processing, high greenhouse gas emissions are often equipped. With 10 to 59 tons of emissions per ton of metal, nickel is particularly dirty. Phytomining, on the other hand, is climate-friendly. An enormous amount of carbon is captured by the metal harvest. It is released into the atmosphere during the burning of the plants, but that means that they get up nickel at almost zero carbon emissions.
Phytomining Targets Land
Phytomining also targets land, which is sterile and is considered unsuitable for agriculture due to the metals in the soil. This country is cleaned by the metals in the soil. After that, it could probably be used for forestry or leisure purposes.
Demand for Nickel
While plants are able to suck out different types of metal, scientists and companies have used phytomin almost exclusively to the nickel harvest in many parts of the world. The demand for Nickel will grow quickly, according to the International Energy Agency, expected to double by 2050, heated by global hunger for EV batteries. Most of the supply comes from mines in Chinese possessions in Indonesia, in which the concentrations are high in floors. Phytomining could serve as an alternative in countries with a lower nickel content and help them to secure their own care.
Is Phytomining Worth It?
The strategic research company estimated that phytomining would be too expensive for nickel buyers. The startup aims to correspond to the price of another nickel on the market. The goal is to get demonstrations of pricing. The startup also combines agriculture with carbon capture, for which you can sell carbon loans in order to make it worth your while.
Can Phytomining Replace Conventional Mines?
In order to meet the annual issue of a conventional nickel mine, a field should have the size of around 200,000 hectares. This is 2.5 times the size of New York City. In order to completely replace the current global conventional nickel production, 15 million hectares would be required – an area of the size of Tunisia. Phytomining can definitely not replace a conventional mining. It can be an additional process. Smaller communities that fight to breed food plants are most to benefit from this type of mining. The locals could make a low profit from the sale of nickel as they clean up their floor.
