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Element Case Studies: Thallium and Noble Metals

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Agromining: Farming for Metals

Part of the book series: Mineral Resource Reviews ((MIRERE))

Abstract

Thallium is a highly toxic and valuable element for which there are known fast-growing hyperaccumulator plants that have some of the greatest bioaccumulation coefficients (plant/soil concentration quotients) of any non-essential element. As with other elements, many hyperaccumulators discovered to date are in the Brassicaceae family. In contrast, hyperaccumulation of the precious metals Au, Pd, and Pt is not recorded for any plant species. To achieve uptake of these precious (noble) metals, chemicals must be added to the soil in order to induce metal solubilisation; and for these particular metals, cyanide has proven time and again to be the most effective agent to promote uptake. However, cyanide does not specifically target the noble metals. Increased solubility and uptake of more toxic Cu and Ag can limit the uptake efficiency of a phytomining or agromining crop (a co-metallic effect). Worldwide, numerous soils are known that have a high Tl burden (>1.5 μg g−1) and hence are unsuitable for safe food production, of low value, thus being ideal for agromining. Among all elements that could potentially be agromined, Tl has perhaps the greatest potential to be economically successful. Despite this promising technique, Tl has received relatively little attention. In contrast, the geographical scope for noble metal uptake is much more limited. Research is warranted for discovering new hyperaccumulators, the economics of recovering Tl and noble metals from biomass, and quantification of areas where agromining for valuable metals may be feasible.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Brett Robinson

  2. Institute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

    Chris Anderson

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  1. Brett Robinson
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  2. Chris Anderson
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Correspondence to Brett Robinson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, UMR 1120, Université de Lorraine-INRA, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    Antony Van der Ent

  2. Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, UMR 1120, Université de Lorraine-INRA, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    Guillaume Echevarria

  3. School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Alan J.M. Baker

  4. Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, UMR 1120, Université de Lorraine-INRA, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    Jean Louis Morel

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Robinson, B., Anderson, C. (2018). Element Case Studies: Thallium and Noble Metals. In: Van der Ent, A., Echevarria, G., Baker, A., Morel, J. (eds) Agromining: Farming for Metals. Mineral Resource Reviews. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61899-9_15

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