Next place to mine gold is from our Sewers say geologists

in #steemit8 years ago

Geologist suggests extracting precious metals from human waste would keep harmful substances out of the ground – and recover valuable objects

Fortunes could be saved from going down the drain by extracting gold and precious metals from human excrement, scientists suggest.

Sewage sludge contains traces of gold, silver and platinum at levels that would be seen as commercially viable by traditional prospectors. “The gold we found was at the level of a minimal mineral deposit,” said Kathleen Smith, of the US Geological Survey.

The task of sifting sewage for microscopic quantities of gold may sound grim, but it could have a variety of unexpected benefits over traditional gold mining. The use of powerful chemicals, called leachates, used by the industry to pull metals out of rock is controversial, because these chemicals can be devastating to ecosystems when they leak into the environment. In the controlled setting of a sewage plant, the chemicals could be used liberally without the ecological risks.
So I kid not you can poop gold.

gold throne

Thanks to the The Guardian

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I learned something new today. Fascinating.

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