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Element Case Studies: Nickel (Tropical Regions)

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Agromining: Farming for Metals

Part of the book series: Mineral Resource Reviews ((MIRERE))

Abstract

Substantial unrealized opportunities exist for economic Ni agromining in the tropics. However, until recently this technology has remained relatively unexploited in this part of the world. In this chapter, we discuss the progress of tropical Ni agromining in two regions, namely Southeast Asia and the neotropical region. Significant advances have been made in Ni agromining operations in Southeast Asia, particularly Sabah (Malaysia), in the past few years: (i) exploring for suitable locations, (ii) screening for hyperaccumulator plants in native flora, (iii) selecting candidate hyperaccumulator species with high biomass production and shoot Ni concentrations (‘metal crops’), (iv) testing the agronomy of ‘metal crops’ to be used in viable agromining operations, and (v) demonstration of real-life agromining operations at field scale. The two most promising ‘metal crops’ in Sabah are Phyllanthus rufuschaneyi and Rinorea cf. bengalensis. However, Ni agromining developments in neotropical regions are still in their infant stages. Preliminary investigations have led to the discovery of a potential ‘metal crop’, Blepharidium guatemalense, having highly desirable attributes for possible Ni agromining. It is envisaged that tropical Ni agromining could be a productive alternative land use in these regions, and as such will significantly improve the livelihood of potential local ‘metal farmers’.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, 4072, Australia

    Philip Nti Nkrumah, Antony van der Ent & Guillaume Echevarria

  2. Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, Université de Lorraine, INRAE, UMR 1120, 54518, Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy, France

    Dulce M. Navarrete Gutiérrez, Romane Tisserand, Antony van der Ent, Guillaume Echevarria & Jean Louis Morel

  3. Department of Biology, Furman University, Greenville, SC, 29613, USA

    A. Joseph Pollard

  4. Chaney Environmental, Beltsville, MD, 20705, USA

    Rufus L. Chaney

Authors
  1. Philip Nti Nkrumah
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  2. Dulce M. Navarrete Gutiérrez
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  3. Romane Tisserand
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  4. Antony van der Ent
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  5. Guillaume Echevarria
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  6. A. Joseph Pollard
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  7. Rufus L. Chaney
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  8. Jean Louis Morel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Philip Nti Nkrumah .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation, Sustainable Minerals Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Antony van der Ent

  2. School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Alan J.M. Baker

  3. Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, Université de Lorraine, INRAE, Nancy, France

    Guillaume Echevarria

  4. Laboratoire Réactions et Génie des Procédés, Université de Lorraine, CNRS, Nancy, France

    Marie-Odile Simonnot

  5. Laboratoire Sols et Environnement, Université de Lorraine, INRAE, Nancy, France

    Jean Louis Morel

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Nkrumah, P.N. et al. (2021). Element Case Studies: Nickel (Tropical Regions). In: van der Ent, A., Baker, A.J., Echevarria, G., Simonnot, MO., Morel, J.L. (eds) Agromining: Farming for Metals. Mineral Resource Reviews. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58904-2_17

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