Jakarta –
Indonesia is known as a country that has many natural resources (SDA), including its rich flora (plants). So rich, Indonesia is said to have plants that can produce gold.
This was disclosed by Prof. Hamim, Plant Biology Expert, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) at the IPB Permanent Professor 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 can survive underground 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, these plants can be used as environmental cleaning agents known as phytoremediation.
“Several types of plants can absorb large amounts of heavy metals in their tissues, which are called hyperaccumulator plants,” said the Permanent Professor of 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 activities known as phytomining,” he added.
Hamim explained that hyperaccumulator plants are usually found in areas with high metal content such as serpentine and ultrabasic soils. Indonesia is one of the countries with the largest ultramafic continents in the world, covering the regions of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua.
However, he assessed that the potential of the hyperaccumulator plants there had not been optimally exploited. There needs to be attention from various parties so that the potential can be explored and utilized for phytoremediation and phytomining.
As an example, from the exploration of plants around the tailings dam (location of waste left over from separating precious metal ores from non-economical materials) of PT Antam UBPE Pongkor’s gold mine, almost all types of plants there are capable of accumulating gold even at low levels.
“The amaranthus group that grows around tailings has the highest ability to accumulate gold, but due to its low bio mass, the potential for phytomining is low. The lembang plant (Typha angustifolia) also accumulates gold metal (Au) quite high. Typha can produce 5-7 grams of gold per hectare. This certainly requires further study,” explained Hamim.
Typha Angustifolia Photo: LightRocket via Getty Images/Roberto Machado Noa
Meanwhile, in his experiments, the use of dark septate endophytes and mycorrhizal fungi was proven to help plants adapt to heavy metal polluted environments. This mushroom can help the phytoremediation program.
“The use of ammonium thiocyanate (NH4SCN) as a solvent ligand it’s not also can increase the uptake of gold by plants and increase plant biomass. This is a good potential for the phytomining program in gold mine tailings,” he concluded.
(fdl/fdl)
2023-07-15 02:00:00
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