Phytomining, sometimes calledagromining,[1] is the concept of extracting heavy metals from the soil using plants.[2] UnlikePhytoremediation, where extraction is used for cleaning up environmental pollutants, phytomining is for the purpose of gathering the metals for economic use.[3]
Phytoming exploits the existence ofhyperaccumulator plants which naturally have proteins or compounds that bind with certain metal ions. Once the hyperaccumulation happens, the final metal, or bio-ore, needs to be refined from the plant matter.[4] A 2021 review concluded that the commercial viability of phytomining was "limited"[1] because it is a slow and inefficient process.
Phytomining was first proposed in 1983 by Rufus Chaney, aUSDA agronomist.[5] He and Alan Baker, aUniversity of Melbourne professor, first tested it in 1996.[5] They, as well as Jay Scott Angle and Yin-Ming Li, filed a patent on the process in 1995 which expired in 2015.[6]
Several startups are using the process for mining surface-available heavy metals. In 2025, Genomines received 45 million dollars of Series A funding to commercialize nickel phytomining frommine tailings.[7]
^US5711784A, Chaney, Rufus L.; Angle, Jay Scott & Baker, Alan J. M. et al., "Method for phytomining of nickel, cobalt and other metals from soil", issued 1998-01-27
