Rare Earth Elements Found Within Living Fern, offering Sustainable Extraction Method
GUANGZHOU, CHINA – A Chinese research team has announced the discovery of naturally occurring rare earth element minerals within a living fern, potentially revolutionizing how these critical materials are sourced. Researchers at the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry report finding monazite crystals – a phosphate mineral rich in rare earth elements like cerium, lanthanum, adn neodymium – in samples of Blechnum orientale, an evergreen fern, collected from rare earth element deposits in Guangzhou, China.
This marks the first documented instance of rare earth elements crystallizing as minerals inside a hyperaccumulator plant – a plant capable of absorbing metals at concentrations far exceeding typical levels. The discovery offers a promising new avenue for ”phytomining,” an environmentally kind method utilizing plants too extract metals from soil.
“The study confirms the feasibility of phytomining and offers a new plant-based approach,” researchers stated. Unlike traditional mining, phytomining reduces reliance on environmentally damaging excavation and mitigates geopolitical risks associated with rare earth element supply chains.
The research revealed that rare earth elements concentrate first in the fern’s leaflets, then the root and petiole, crystallizing in extracellular tissues – outside the plant’s cells - acting as a natural detoxification process. Scientists likened the mineral formation to a “chemical garden” process, where metal salts self-organize to create complex structures.
Monazite‘s unique properties – a high melting point, excellent optical emission, and resistance to corrosion and radiation – make it valuable in diverse applications, including coating materials, light-emitting devices, lasers, and radioactive waste management.
The guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry believes this discovery paves the way for a “green and circular model” where high-value elements are recovered, polluted soils are remediated, and ecosystems are restored simultaneously, achieving “cleaning and recycling [that] occur simultaneously.”
Source: Newspaper Oxygen
