Sensational Transformation: From Nanoparticles into Gold.
We tell about a new scientific approach in gold mining with the help of bacteria.
Australian geologists made a breakthrough in the gold-mining industry. At the beginning of the year 2018, a new class of bacteria was discovered. These bacteria gather even the smallest traces of pre-recycled gold particles and turns them into solid gold nuggets.
A bacterial method of extracting the noble metal holds great promise for natural preservation and accumulation of gold volumes, as well as further development of existing and new-found gold mines around the world.
Technologists assure that many global companies are already showing interest in making use of helpful bacteria for extracting reprocessed gold from leftover electronics: old computers, smartphones and tablets.
Doctor of Biological Sciences Ollie Crush noted that a series of bacterial gold-cycling experiments has already been conducted within the context of the ongoing New Zealand Mint’s project.
Both efficacy and environmental safety of the bacterial gold-cycling method are proven by the fact that the highest degree of the gold’s fineness can be achieved mainly in a bacterial environment, where all sorts of alloys are processed. As one might know, gold fineness is primarily defined by its cleanliness.
Bacteria are actively synthesizing gold atoms - nanoparticles, which foster growth of the future gold nugget. The whole process takes quite a while, between 17 and 58 years.
If geologists could speed up the growth of "golden" bacteria to suit the industrial application, this will shorten the timing of gold-mining activities, whilst preserving the biodiversity of our planet.