{"id":261580,"date":"2021-08-03T10:59:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-03T10:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grist.org\/?p=542583"},"modified":"2021-08-03T10:59:00","modified_gmt":"2021-08-03T10:59:00","slug":"plant-based-metal-the-mining-industry-could-get-a-sustainable-makeover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/08\/03\/plant-based-metal-the-mining-industry-could-get-a-sustainable-makeover\/","title":{"rendered":"Plant-based metal? The mining industry could get a sustainable makeover."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Malaysia\u2019s Kinabalu Park, which surrounds Mount Kinabalu, the 20-largest peak in the world, is home to a nickel mine like none other. In lieu of heavy machinery, plumes of sulfur dioxide, or rivers red with runoff<\/a>, you\u2019ll find four acres of a leafy-green shrub, tended to since 2015 by local villagers. Once or twice per year, they shave off about a foot of growth from the 20-foot-tall plants. Then, they burn that crop to produce an ashy \u201cbio-ore\u201d that is up to 25 percent nickel by weight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Producing metal by growing plants, or phytomining, has long been tipped as an alternative, environmentally-sustainable way to reshape \u2013 if not replace \u2013 the mining industry. Of 320,000 recognized plant species, only around 700 are so-called \u201chyperaccumulators,\u201d like Kinabalu\u2019s P. rufuschaneyi.<\/em> Over time, they suck the soil dry of metals like nickel, zinc, cobalt, and even gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While two-thirds of nickel is used to make stainless steel, the metal is also snapped up by producers of everything from kitchenwares to mobile phones, medical equipment to power generation. Zinc, on the other hand, is essential for churning out paints, rubber, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, plastics, inks, soaps, and batteries. And, as supplies of these hard-to-find metals dry up around the world, demand remains as strong as ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The idea of phytomining was first put forth in 1983 by an agronomist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture named Rufus L. Chaney. Other research groups before the Malaysia team have shown that the solar-powered and carbon-neutral metal extraction process works in practice — a key step to winning over mining industry investors, who have insisted on field trials of several acres to show proof of principle. The most recent data out of Kinabalu Park, a UNESCO-listed heritage site located on the island of Borneo, is finally turning industry heads, as they shows the scales have tipped in favor of phytomining\u2019s commercial viability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe can now demonstrate that metal farms can produce between 150 to 250 kilograms of nickel per hectare (170 to 280 pounds per acre), annually,\u201d said Antony van der Ent, a senior research fellow at Australia\u2019s University of Queensland whose thesis work spurred the Malaysia trial. At the midpoint of that range, a farmer would net a cool $3,800 per acre of nickel at today\u2019s prices<\/a> \u2013 which, van der Ent added, is \u201con par with some of the best-performing agricultural crops on fertile soils, while operating costs are similar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Take, for instance, palm oil \u2013 a crop as notorious for its profitability as its role in driving deforestation in Asia and Africa. Farmers planting oil palm trees, prior to the pandemic, stood to clear 2.84 metric tons (3.12 tons) of crude oil annually on average<\/a> \u2013 or $2,710 in today\u2019s prices. For farmers in Malaysia and Indonesia, where 90 percent of the world\u2019s palm oil is grown<\/a>, nickel farming might just prove a more attractive option. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAt this stage, phytomining can go full-scale for nickel immediately, while phytomining for cobalt, thallium, and selenium is within reach,\u201d van der Ent said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While van der Ent\u2019s team has won over some in the mining industry, adoption of phytomining isn\u2019t yet on the fast track. That\u2019s despite the Malaysia plot and other examples suggesting that while plants are of course less capital intensive and more environmentally friendly than traditional mining, they are also more efficient. Still, in an industry that van der Ent characterizes as resistant to change, phytomining\u2019s immediate future could be more as a complement to traditional mining than its replacement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Several Indonesian nickel mining companies are now looking to partner with van der Ent\u2019s Malaysia team. \u201cWe have lined up several industry partners who\u2019ve agreed to implement trials in Indonesia,\u201d he said. \u201cBut due to COVID, this development is currently on hold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When travel restrictions are lifted and borders open up, van der Ent hopes to show that there are a number of advantages to phytomining that traditional mining simply can\u2019t offer. \u201cThere is an abundance of unconventional ores that could be unlocked through phytomining,\u201d he said. One example is soil abundant in tropical regions that typically contain 0.5 to 1 percent nickel by weight, which is below the cut-off where a company could profitably implement conventional strip mining. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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