Phytoextraction of high value elements and contaminants from mining and mineral wastes: opportunities and limitations

Remigio, Amelia Corzo; Chaney, Rufus L.; Baker, A. J. M.; Edraki, Mansour; Erskine, Peter D.; Echevarria, Guillaume; Ent, Antony van der

doi:10.1007/s11104-020-04487-3

Cited by 74 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 233 publications

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“…This technique has numerous limitations that prevent it from decontaminating soils in a short time. However, investigations up until today have had promising results (Corzo Remigio et al, 2020)while achieving monetary gain. Phytoextraction can be applied to a limited number of elements depending on the existence of hyperaccumulator plants with suitable characteristics.…”

Section: Articlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of machine learning to establish limits in the classification of hyperaccumulator plants growing on serpentine, gypsum and dolomite soils

Mota-Merlo

Martos

2021

Mediterr. Bot.

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The so-called hyperaccumulator plants are capable of storing hundred or thousand times bigger quantities of heavy metals than normal plants, which makes hyperaccumulators very useful in fields such as phytoremediation and phytomining. Among these plants there are many serpentinophytes, i.e., plants that grow exclusively on ultramafic rocks which produce soils with a great proportion of heavy metals. Even though there are multiple classifications, the lack of consensus regarding which parameters to use to determine whether a plant is a hyperaccumulator, as well as the arbitrariness of stablished thresholds, bring about the need to propose more objective criteria. To this end, plant mineral composition data from different vegetal species were analysed using machine learning techniques. Three complementary case studies were established. Firstly, plants were classified in three types of soils: dolomite, gypsum and serpentine. Secondly, data about normal and hyperaccumulator plant Ni composition were analysed with machine learning to find differentiated subgroups. Lastly, association studies were carried out using data about mineral composition and soil type. Results in the classification task reach a success rate over 75%. Clustering of plants by Ni concentration in parts per million (ppm) resulted in four groups with cut-off points in 2.25, 100 (accumulators) and 3000 ppm (hyperaccumulators). Associations with a confidence level above 90% were found between high Ni levels and serpentine soils, as well as between high Ni and Zn levels and the same type of soil. Overall, this work demonstrates the potential of machine learning to analyse data about plant mineral composition. Finally, after consulting the red list of the IUCN and those of countries with high richness in hyperaccumulator species, it is evident that a greater effort should be made to establish the conservation status of this type of flora.

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Section: Articlesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of machine learning to establish limits in the classification of hyperaccumulator plants growing on serpentine, gypsum and dolomite soils

Mota-Merlo

Martos

2021

Mediterr. Bot.

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“…Despite adequate biomass production, the high shoot concentration of Mo coupled with the TF and root BCF values indicates that both P. spicata and F. campestris are accumulators of Mo and therefore are not suitable for phytostabilization of the HATSF tailings under these conditions. A better use of the grasses would be for phytoextraction where shoot uptake is encouraged (i.e., high TF values) and vegetation is subsequently harvested [36,70].…”

Section: Evaluation Of Bunchgrasses For Phytostabilizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Semiarid bunchgrasses accumulate molybdenum on alkaline copper mine tailings: assessing phytostabilization in the greenhouse

et al. 2021

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Phytostabilization is the use of plants and soil amendments to physically stabilize and remediate contaminated mine wastes and to control wind and water erosion in semiarid environments. The aim of this study was to evaluate two native bunchgrass species’ (Pseudoroegneria spicata and Festuca campestris) biomass accumulation and metals uptake response to locally available soil amendments (compost, wood ash and wood chips) to determine their suitability for phytostabilization at an alkaline copper mine tailings site in British Columbia, Canada. In the greenhouse, bunchgrasses important as forage for livestock and wildlife were grown in tailings with various ash–compost–wood chip combinations and evaluated using a randomized complete block design with 13 treatments and 10 replicates. Plants were harvested after 90 d, and tissues were analyzed for root and shoot biomass. Tissue samples (n = 3) from three treatment subsets (ash, compost, blend) were selected for elemental analysis. Biomass increased with increasing compost applications, and the response was greatest for P. spicata. Shoot molybdenum exceeded the maximum tolerable level for cattle and was significantly higher when grasses were grown on the ash treatment (183–202 mg kg−1) compared to the others (19.7–58.3 mg kg−1). Translocation and root bioconcentration factors were highest on the ash treatment (2.53–12.5 and 1.75–7.96, respectively) compared to the other treatments (0.41–3.43 and 1.47–4.79, respectively) and indicate that both species are ‘accumulators.’ The findings suggest that these bunchgrasses were not ideal candidates for phytostabilization due to high shoot tissue molybdenum accumulation, but provide important considerations for mine restoration in semiarid grassland systems.

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“…Technical difficulties in economic recovery of metals from lowgrade ores and high metal prices have contributed to an increased effort in developing phyto-extraction. 44 Compared to strip-mining operations, phyto-extraction has an environmental impact like agriculture or agroforestry, and it does not require mine site rehabilitation at the end of life. 45 Phytoextraction is expected to be transformative in the extraction of those elements not accessible by traditional mining technologies, with an added advantage of in situ rehabilitation.…”

Section: Phyto-extractionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward Closing a Loophole: Recovering Rare Earth Elements from Uranium Metallurgical Process Tailings

Vaughan

Tungpalan

Parbhakar-Fox

et al. 2020

JOM

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Rare earth elements are increasingly required for use in modern high-tech components, and primary production is necessary to meet the demand. Reprocessing legacy metallurgical tailings is advantageous, as the material has already been mined, beneficiated, upgraded, and contained in a single accessible location. The Mary Kathleen uranium process tailings in Queensland, Australia, provides an opportunity for this. The geology and historic process methods for the Mary Kathleen uranium mine are described along with known characteristics of the tailings material. Conventional and alternative REE processing options are reviewed, including phyto-extraction and other bio-technologies. Approaches to determining the appropriate pathway forward for Mary Kathleen tailings are then discussed.

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Phytoextraction of high value elements and contaminants from mining and mineral wastes: opportunities and limitations

Cited by 74 publications

References 233 publications

Use of machine learning to establish limits in the classification of hyperaccumulator plants growing on serpentine, gypsum and dolomite soils

Use of machine learning to establish limits in the classification of hyperaccumulator plants growing on serpentine, gypsum and dolomite soils

Semiarid bunchgrasses accumulate molybdenum on alkaline copper mine tailings: assessing phytostabilization in the greenhouse

Toward Closing a Loophole: Recovering Rare Earth Elements from Uranium Metallurgical Process Tailings

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