‘Invisible’ nanominerals uncovered – clues to the formation of rich gold deposits

A new book which explores naturally occurring nanomaterials also sheds light on ‘invisible’ gold particles and nanoparticles of iron oxides. Nature’s Nanostructures edited by CSIRO scientists Dr Amanda Barnard and Dr Haibo Guo looks at how nature’s own laboratory has been producing some of the world’s most advanced nanomaterials for millions of years. We are now starting to see where these particles reside in the environment. In fact, research on gold nanoparticles is helping to explain how rich gold deposits could have formed in the first place. (more…)