Meanings
- uncountablebiotechnologyThe planting and harvesting of vegetation that selectively concentrates specific metals from the environment into its tissues, for the purpose of commercial exploitation of the extracted metal.
The three metals, nickel, thallium and gold were reported as candidates for phytomining in 1999 owing to the relatively high price that each metal commands on international commodity markets.
2013, Christopher W. N. Anderson, “Hyperaccumulation by Plants”, in Andrew J. Hunt, editor, Element Recovery and Sustainability (RSC Green Chemistry Series; no. 22), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: RSC Publishing, →ISBN, page 1212 more examples
Cultivation of hyperaccumulators on naturally enriched areas offers the greatest promise for use in phytomining. Phytomining is a more specific form of phytoremediation where the purpose of metal removal from soil is economic gain.
2005 May, J. Scott Angle, Nicholas A. Linacre, “Cultivation on Naturally Enriched Areas”, in Ecological Risks of Novel Environmental Crop Technologies Using Phytoremediation as an Example (EPT Discussion Paper; 133), Washington, D.C.: Environment and Production Technology Division, International Food Policy Research Institute, →OCLC, page 14Added value to the phytoextraction process could be obtained by combining the biomass produced as an energy source, resulting in an ore after incinerating the residual biomass. This would be possible in the case of phytomining, a particular example of phytoextraction. Phytomining involves the exploitation of subeconomic ore bodies using hyperaccumulating plants.
2013, Meri Barbafieri, Jan Japenga, Paul Romkens, Giannantonio Petruzzelli, Francesca Pedron, “Protocols for Applying Phytotechnologies in Metal-Contaminated Soils”, in Dharmendra Kumar Gupta, editor, Plant-Based Remediation Processes (Soil Biology), Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg; New York, N.Y.: Springer, →DOI, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 23Synonyms: agromining
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe planting and harvesting of vegetation that selectively concentrates specific metals from the environment into its tissues, for the purpose of commercial exploitation of the extracted metal.
Origin
From phyto- (prefix meaning ‘derived from or pertaining to plants’) + mining.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish fytolouhinta
- fytolouhintaplanting and harvesting of vegetation that selectively concentrates specific metals from the environment into their tissues, for the purpose of commercial exploitation of the extracted metal
French phytominage
- phytominageplanting and harvesting of vegetation that selectively concentrates specific metals from the environment into their tissues, for the purpose of commercial exploitation of the extracted metal
Portuguese fitomineração, agromineração
- fitomineraçãoplanting and harvesting of vegetation that selectively concentrates specific metals from the environment into their tissues, for the purpose of commercial exploitation of the extracted metal
- agromineraçãoplanting and harvesting of vegetation that selectively concentrates specific metals from the environment into their tissues, for the purpose of commercial exploitation of the extracted metal
Spanish fitominería
- fitomineríaplanting and harvesting of vegetation that selectively concentrates specific metals from the environment into their tissues, for the purpose of commercial exploitation of the extracted metal
Cite this entry
phytomining. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phytomining
“phytomining.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phytomining. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “phytomining,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phytomining.
Source: phytomining on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.