BDers: This reminded me of the potential for abuse when science stumbles onto yet another more efficient means of doing human bidding by a more direct Life-process. Let them not discover too quickly/unqualifiedly the various plant/colour/metal/planet correlations... ....manfred
----- Original Message ----- From: "Lon J. Rombough" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2002 9:09 AM Subject: FW: New Crop Can Mine Nickel at a Low Cost > ---------- > From: "ARS News Service" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "ARS News List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: New Crop Can Mine Nickel at a Low Cost > Date: Wed, Jan 9, 2002, 7:04 AM > > > STORY LEAD: > New Crop Can Mine Nickel at a Low Cost > > ___________________________________________ > > ARS News Service > Agricultural Research Service, USDA > Lupe Chavez, (301) 504-1627, [EMAIL PROTECTED] > January 9, 2002 > ___________________________________________ > > Mining for nickel now requires little more than a green thumb, thanks to a > patented process created by the Agricultural Research Service and Viridian > Resources, L.L.C., of Houston, Texas. Metal-loving plants can extract nickel > and other metals from the earth without machinery. > > ARS and Viridian partnered with the University of Maryland, Oregon State > University and the United Kingdom's University of Sheffield to show that > phytomining--the use of plants to extract useful amounts of metal from > soil--is commercially feasible. Utilizing certain plant species that > accumulate nickel from contaminated soils, scientists developed an > environmentally friendly alternative to traditional mining techniques. > > ARS agronomist Rufus Chaney, working with Scott Angle (Maryland), Alan J.M. > Baker (Sheffield), Yin Li (Viridian), and Richard Roseberg (OSU), targeted a > number of plant species that hyperaccumulate, or recover unusually high > amounts of metals through their roots. By evaluating several hundred strains > of hyperaccumulating plants for favorable genetic characteristics, the team > developed the first commercial crop capable of hyperaccumulating nickel, > cobalt and other metals. This hay like crop is burned after harvest to > create an energy byproduct, and the ash is a lucrative source of metal. > > Phytomining creates a win-win scenario: the inexpensive cleansing of > contaminated soil and the production of a valuable cash crop. Phytomining on > contaminated soils is more lucrative than growing traditional crops on the > same land. Harvests from low-grade pastures or forests grown on such land > would fetch about $50 to $100 per hectare per year. But a phytomining crop > growing on the same land would produce an annual 400 kilograms of nickel per > hectare worth more than $2,000 even at today's depressed market price for > nickel. After selling the byproduct energy, the annual per-hectare value of > a phytomining crop exceeds $3,000. > > Additionally, the crop can tap the vast mineral deposits in the United > States and other countries that are unavailable through today's conventional > mining techniques. > > ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research > agency. > > ___________________________________________ > This item is one of the news releases and story leads that ARS Information > distributes on weekdays to fax and e-mail subscribers. You can also get the > latest ARS news on the World Wide Web at > www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/thelatest.htm. > * Feedback and questions to ARS News Service via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > * ARS Information Staff, 5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD > 20705-5128, (301) 504-1617, fax 504-1648. >
