Metalplant, a leading phytomining startup, and its partner Verinomics, a plant genetic editing firm, have been awarded $1.72 million by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) as part of its PHYTOMINES Exploratory Program.
The project aims to develop sterile, higher-nickel yielding hyperaccumulator cultivars to enable the development of a nickel phytomining industry in the United States.
Phytomining is the process of farming low-grade nickel soils with hyperaccumulator plants and then recovering pure nickel products from biomass using metallurgical processes. It is essentially mining with plants, allowing photosynthesis to power the purification of nickel from low to high grades.
Nickel hyperaccumulators accumulate nickel in their tissues at rates greater than 0.1% of dry weight. Metalplant utilizes a species that can already accumulate above 2% nickel by dry weight. When the biomass is harvested and processed with thermal treatment, the resulting ash can be as high as 20% nickel, comparable to some of the richest nickel ores in the world.
Nickel was classified as a critical mineral by the DoE in 2023 because it is a crucial component in stainless steel production and is increasingly important for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. With the rapid growth of the EV market, demand for nickel is expected to surge in the coming years.
The U.S. has limited conventional nickel resources and only one active primary nickel mine, which is scheduled to close by the end of the decade. However, the U.S. has vast areas of nickel-bearing soils that could be economically recovered through high-yield phytomining if a suitable hyperaccumulator were utilized.
A suitable hyperaccumulator is a species that is fast-growing, has high biomass, and a high percentage of nickel. The most widely studied and optimal plants known to date are from the Brassicaceae family and are native to Albania, where Metalplant (a U.S.-domiciled company with an Albanian subsidiary) operates phytomining farms.
Twenty years ago, a plant species related to the one Metalplant utilizes was brought to the United States, and successful trials were carried out. However, the plant was declared invasive, leading to a cessation of operations.
Metalplant’s selected proposal involves working with Verinomics to genetically modify the plants using a non-GMO method to introduce sterility in order to prevent invasive behavior and allow for modifications that can significantly increase nickel yields.
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The production of sterile, high-yielding nickel hyperaccumulator plants that can be safely cultivated on American soil is a breakthrough that could pave the way for a new, environmentally friendly nickel industry in the U.S. Unlocking previously uneconomic, domestic sources of nickel addresses national security risks in the critical mineral supply chain by reducing dependence on foreign sources.
The potential impact of this technology extends beyond just nickel production. The same principles could be applied to other critical metals, offering a blueprint for sustainable metal extraction that could shift global balances by opening up unconventional and even waste resources for use.
Metalplant thanks the DOE and ARPA-E for their foresight in developing this program, which provides crucial support to spur phytomining technology in the U.S., creating a secure, low-carbon domestic nickel supply chain. This program ensures that the United States can again become a leader in a technology originally developed here but no longer commercially implemented. Metalplant is excited to onshore their technology and lead the successful commercialization of nickel phytomining.
