Phytomined Jewellery: Metals Mined by Plants

Contention around the existing mining industry is growing. Depleting resources and consequential environmental strains are regularly being pitted against the benefits of extraction for supplying, powering and progressing our modern lives. Alternative extraction methods are gaining significance as a result.

Healy’s Phyona ring features elements that have been phytomined, a fairly nascent technology where special plants – known as hyperaccumulators – absorb metal ions through their roots. These plants are then typically burnt, and the metals chemically extracted from the ash.

To realise a piece of jewellery using this bio-mining technique, the designer partnered with British biotech start-up Phyona. The metals (encased in a decorative glass orb, rather than used in the band) were harvested at a regenerative garden project led by Phyona on an old coal mine in Barnsley, UK. Here at New Miners Garden, native plants, like foxgloves, thistles and grasses, are employed to obtain silver, nickel, copper, iron, titanium, chromium and zinc from the soil.

Phyona’s ongoing research is focused on identifying and optimising hyperaccumulator plant species, while also exploring cleaner and more efficient recovery techniques.

Phytomining is a technology to watch. While it is slow, with limited yields at present, the process offers potential for helping to recover finite sources. For instance, specific plant species could be implemented into locations to harvest one type of metal. 

Additionally, as a bioremediation process, phytomining can be used to clean up polluted land, and subsequently restore soil health. Some forward-thinking brands are already taking steps to ensure their processes have a positive (rather than low/reduced) impact on the planet.