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Australia mulls fungi as potential exploration tool

7th June 2019

By: Nadine James

Features Deputy Editor

     

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Australia’s national research organisation, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), is looking into fungal biogeochemical cycling as a potential method for finding new gold deposits, the organisation noted in a press release last week.

They CSIRO explains that threadlike fungi attach gold to their strands by dissolving and precipitating particles from their surroundings, adding that the process might offer biological advantage, as the gold-coated fungi tend to grow larger and spread faster than those that do not interact with gold.

In the release, CSIRO lead author Dr Tsing Bohu explains: “Fungi can oxidise tiny particles of gold and precipitate them on their strands.” He adds that this cycling process may contribute to how gold and other elements are distributed around the earth’s surface.

“Fungi are well known for playing an essential role in the degradation and recycling of organic material . . . including aluminium, iron, manganese and calcium . . . but gold is so chemically inactive that this interaction is both unusual and surprising.”

The

CSIRO’s discovery was published in the Nature Communications journal, with the abstract noting that previous studies focused primarily on the influence of prokaryotes, while the CSIRO’s research focuses on how fungi can initiate gold oxidation under earth surface conditions.

“The presence of the gold-oxidising fungus . . . suggests fungi have the potential to substantially impact gold biogeochemical cycling.”

The discovery was made possible by the collaboration between the CSIRO, the University of Western Australia, Murdoch University and Curtin University.

The research involved a multidisciplinary approach harnessing geology, molecular biology, informatics analysis and astrobiology.

Bohu is undertaking further analysis and modelling to understand why the fungi interacts with gold, and whether or not, it is an indication of a larger deposit below the surface.

Australia is the world’s second-largest gold producer, but estimates show that production will decline relatively soon unless new gold deposits are found.

Thus, the Australian mining industry is looking into new, low-impact exploration tools to make the next generation of discoveries.

“The industry is actively using innovative exploration sampling techniques, such as gum leaves and termite mounds, which can store tiny traces of gold and can be linked to bigger deposits below the surface,” CSIRO chief research scientist Dr Ravi Anand explains.

“We want to understand if the fungi we studied, known as Fusarium oxsporum– and their functional genes – can be used in combination with these exploration tools to help industry to target prospective areas in a way that’s less impactful and more cost effective than drilling.”

The CSIRO notes that its researchers also want to highlight the potential to use fungi as a bioremediation tool to recover gold from waste.

While Fusarium oxsporum is commonly found in soils around the world and produces a pink mycelium, the CSIRO says prospectors should not go “foraging” for it, as the particles of gold can only be seen under a microscope.

Edited by Martin Zhuwakinyu
Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

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