China extracts rare earth minerals from living plant in a first

A Chinese-led research team has made a groundbreaking discovery by identifying nanoscale monazite—a rare earth element (REE)-rich mineral—naturally crystallized within the tissues of a living plant, specifically the evergreen fern Blechnum orientale. This marks the first time such a mineral has been found forming biologically under ambient Earth-surface conditions, contrasting with the typical geological formation of monazite under high pressure and temperature. The study, conducted by the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry and Virginia Tech, highlights the fern’s ability to concentrate REEs like cerium, lanthanum, and neodymium in its leaflets, where the mineral crystallizes extracellularly as a detoxification mechanism. This discovery supports the feasibility of phytomining, a sustainable and environmentally friendly method that uses hyperaccumulator plants to extract valuable metals from soil. By cultivating these plants on metal-rich land and harvesting their biomass, rare earth metals can be recovered without the environmental and geopolitical risks associated with conventional mining. The