phytomining

English

WOTD – 10 November 2023

Etymology

A diagram showing how heavy metals in the soil are taken in by some plants. The metals can then be obtained from the plants for commercial exploitation.

From phyto- (prefix meaning ‘derived from or pertaining to plants’) +‎ mining.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪtəʊˌmaɪnɪŋ/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈfaɪtoʊˌmaɪnɪŋ/, [-ɾoʊ-]
• Hyphenation: phy‧to‧min‧ing

Noun

phytomining (uncountable)

1. (biotechnology) The planting and harvesting of vegetation that selectively concentrates specific metals from the environment into their tissues, for the purpose of commercial exploitation of the extracted metal.

   Synonym: agromining

   • 2005 May, J. Scott Angle, Nicholas A. Linacre, “Cultivation on Naturally Enriched Areas”, in Ecological Risks of Novel Environmental Crop Technologies Using Phytoremediation as an Example (EPT Discussion Paper; 133), Washington, D.C.: Environment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute, →OCLC, page 14:

     Cultivation of hyperaccumulators on naturally enriched areas offers the greatest promise for use in phytomining. Phytomining is a more specific form of phytoremediation where the purpose of metal removal from soil is economic gain.

   • 2013, Christopher W. N. Anderson, “Hyperaccumulation by Plants”, in Andrew J. Hunt, editor, Element Recovery and Sustainability (RSC Green Chemistry Series; no. 22), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: RSC Publishing, →ISBN, page 121:

     The three metals, nickel, thallium and gold were reported as candidates for phytomining in 1999 owing to the relatively high price that each metal commands on international commodity markets.

   • 2013, Meri Barbafieri, Jan Japenga, Paul Romkens, Giannantonio Petruzzelli, Francesca Pedron, “Protocols for Applying Phytotechnologies in Metal-Contaminated Soils”, in Dharmendra Kumar Gupta, editor, Plant-Based Remediation Processes (Soil Biology), Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, New York, N.Y.: Springer, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 23:

     Added value to the phytoextraction process could be obtained by combining the biomass produced as an energy source, resulting in an ore after incinerating the residual biomass. This would be possible in the case of phytomining, a particular example of phytoextraction. Phytomining involves the exploitation of subeconomic ore bodies using hyperaccumulating plants.

Hypernyms

• phytoextraction
• phytoremediation

Translations

planting and harvesting of vegetation that selectively concentrates specific metals from the environment into their tissues, for the purpose of commercial exploitation of the extracted metal

• Finnish: fytolouhinta
• French: phytominage (fr) m
• Macedonian: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: fitomineração f, agromineração f
• Spanish: fitominería f

See also

• hyperaccumulation
• semisynthesis

Further reading

• phytomining on Wikipedia.Wikipedia