A screen of some native Australian flora and exotic agricultural species for their potential application in cyanide-induced phytoextraction of gold

Abstract

The phytoextraction of gold is an exciting new area of research involving the use of plants to extract gold from a low grade ore and waste products. The aim of this study was to screen some Australian native plant species and exotic agricultural species for their potential use in cyanide-induced phytoextraction of gold from a crushed ore body. Plants were grown in an ore body with a gold grade of 1.75 g/ton gold and treated with 0.1 g/kg and 1 g/kg cyanide as aqueous NaCN. The above-ground biomass was harvested one week after treatment and the gold concentration determined. Mean gold concentrations of up to 27 g/ton (d.w.) were found in the plant tissue of Trifolium repens cv. Prestige. High..