Phytomining of gold: A review

Phytomining of gold involves extracting gold from soil substrates by harvesting specially selected hyperaccumulating plants. Phytomining has potential to allow economic exploitation of low grade ores or mineralized soils that are too poor for conventional mining of metals. Gold is the most promising option for phytomining as its market value is increasing continuously. This paper reviews various aspects of phytomining of gold, mechanism of gold uptake, economic analysis, and methodology of gold recovery from plant biomass. Future scopes of gold phytomining are also discussed.

► Gold phytomining is potential route for economic exploitation of precious metal.
► Metal extraction is by hyperaccumulating plant species from low grade ore bodies.
► Phytomining has potential to meet the increasing demand of gold in metal market.
► Economy depends on soil metal content, metal uptake, plant biomass, metal price.
► Technology is environment friendly, aesthetically pleasing and profitable.