Microscopic gold-rich and lead-rich particles in a municipal biosolids sample. Image: Heather Lowers, USGS Denver Microbeam Laboratory.
A team of U.S. researchers has given the expression “where there’s muck there’s brass” a whole new meaning by claiming you can extract gold and other precious metals from human faeces.
According to their research, presented at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society, the microscopic particles of gold, lead, copper and other valuable metals found in biosolids could be worth “mining.”
So far the group has already identified gold in waste from American sewage treatment plants at levels which if found in rock would be seen as commercially viable by traditional prospectors.
Lead by Kathleen Smith of the U.S. Geological Survey, the team of researchers initially set out to find better ways of extracting foreign particles from human waste. They realized that once it is treated, about half of it (3.5 million tons in the U.S. to be exact) is used to fertilize farms and forests across the country.
What Smith and her team want is to get those metals — which get into our waste by way of their presence in cleaning agents, beauty and hygiene products, and clothing — out of this end-product and instead, turn them into fertilizer and reusable metals.
The team has a two-pronged approach. In one part of the study, they will continue looking at removing some regulated metals from the biosolids that limit their use for land application.
In the other phase, they are interested in collecting valuable metals that could be sold, including some of the more technologically important metals, such as vanadium and copper that are in cell phones, computers and alloys.
A similar study published earlier this year in the journal Environmental Science and Technology estimated that the waste from one million Americans could contain as much as US$13 million worth of metals.
6 Comments
PC
The Indians have been extraction gold from slum’s sewage systems for ages (watch welcome to India). Its no rocket science to figure out that all the matals from jewellery and food ends up accummulated at the bottom levels of any sewarage thicheners…
Mike Failla
So lets mine the poop!
poopymcpooperson
who publishes this crap?
guerry mcclellan
This clearly shows the high level of professional geology work carried out by the USGS. It is a mockery of its name to present the “data” collected by these geoscientists. A name invented to hire people who know nothing about geology, but fill some short term political or social expediency. Look at the names of former Departments of Geology around the country and see how the study of excrement fits perfectly with the qualifications of these faculties of the geosciences.
ImperialCrab
I am captivated by this! But not constipated… No sireee! I’m getting rid of my toilet, and from now on I’m gonna… wait… oh no… that won’t do will it? Sorry.
isalexus
USGS in their finest hour!