Jakarta –
Indonesia is known as a country that has many natural resources (SDA), including the wealth of flora (plants) it has. It is so rich that Indonesia is said to have plants that can produce gold.
This was stated by Prof. Hamim, Plant Biology Expert at the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) at the IPB Permanent Professor’s Scientific Oration, some time ago. According to him, precious metals can be extracted from plants that absorb heavy metals.
Hamim explained that heavy metals are components that are not easily degraded. It is able to survive in the soil for hundreds of years.
However, there are several types of plants that are able to absorb large amounts of heavy metals in their tissues. Thanks to this ability, the plant can be used as an environmental cleaning agent, known as phytoremediation.
“Some types of plants can absorb large amounts of heavy metals in their tissues, which are called hyperaccumulator plants,” said the Permanent Professor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences (FMIPA) IPB University.
“Apart from being used in phytoremediation, this plant can also be used to mine metals that have high economic value such as nickel, silver, it’s notplatinum and thallium or an activity known as phytomining,” he added.
Hamim explained that hyperaccumulator plants are usually found in areas with high metal content such as serpentine and ultramafic soils. Indonesia is one of the countries with the largest ultrabasic land in the world, covering Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua.
However, he believes that the potential of hyperaccumulator plants there has not been exploited optimally. There needs to be attention from various parties so that the potential can be explored and utilized for phytoremediation and phytomining.
For example, as a result of plant exploration around the tailings dam (the location of waste left over from separating precious metal ore from non-economic materials) of the PT Antam UBPE Pongkor gold mine, almost all types of plants there are capable of accumulating gold, even at low levels.
“The spinach (Amaranthus) group that grows around the tailings has the highest ability to accumulate gold, but because of its low bio mass, its phytomining potential is low. Lembang plants (Typha angustifolia) are also quite high in accumulating gold metal (Au). Typha can produce “5-7 grams of gold per hectare. This certainly requires further investigation,” explained Hamim.
Typha Angustifolia Photo: LightRocket via Getty Images/Roberto Machado Noa
Meanwhile, in experiments, the use of dark septate endophytes and mycorrhizal fungi was proven to help plants adapt to environments polluted with heavy metals. This fungus can help phytoremediation programs.
“Use of ammonium thiocyanate (NH4SCN) as a solvent ligand it’s not can also increase gold uptake by plants and increase plant biomass. “This is a good potential for a phytomining program in gold mine tailings,” he concluded.
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(fdl/fdl)
2023-12-16 03:00:50
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