Chinese Scientists Discover Rare-Earth Mineral Production in Common Ferns

Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have made a groundbreaking discovery, finding that the common fern Blechnum orientale can naturally form the rare-earth mineral monazite within its tissues. This first-ever observation of rare-earth biomineralization in plants, led by Professor Zhu Jianxi, promises a revolutionary "green mining" technique that could clean up polluted soils while harvesting critical elements essential for AI, renewables, and defense technologies.

What if the key to a sustainable supply of critical high-tech elements was hiding in plain sight, in a common fern? Chinese scientists have just turned this possibility into reality with a discovery that could fundamentally change how we source rare-earth elements. A research team has, for the first time anywhere in the world, documented a plant naturally creating a rare-earth mineral inside its own body.

The breakthrough comes from a team at the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Led by Professor Zhu Jianxi, the researchers focused on an edible fern species known as Blechnum orientale.

They discovered that this plant doesn't just absorb rare-earth elements from the soil; it actually crystallizes them into a mineral called monazite within its own leaf tissues. This process of rare-earth biomineralization had never been witnessed in natural plants before, reported the Global Times.

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Why is this finding so significant? Rare-earth elements are often called the "vitamins of industry" because they are essential, albeit in small amounts, for a vast range of modern technologies. They are the hidden ingredients that make everything from smartphones and electric vehicle motors to wind turbines and advanced defense systems possible.

However, their supply is fraught with problems. Traditional mining is environmentally destructive, often contaminating water and soil, and the global supply chain is subject to geopolitical tensions.

This new discovery offers a path to a genuinely clean alternative. The process leverages phytomining—a green technique that uses special "hyperaccumulator" plants to pull metals from the earth. The fern Blechnum orientale acts like a "rare-earth vacuum cleaner," explained the researchers to the Global Times.

It efficiently soaks up these valuable elements dispersed in the soil and concentrates them in its leaves. Inside the plant, a natural self-protection mechanism kicks in. The plant neutralizes the potential toxicity of the rare-earth ions by locking them into a stable, crystalline mineral structure.

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"What's truly remarkable is that this 'biological monazite' formed by the fern is pure and non-radioactive," the team noted. This is a crucial advantage over geologically formed monazite, which typically contains radioactive elements like uranium and thorium, making its processing complicated and hazardous.

The plant achieves this purification and crystallization under normal, ambient conditions—a stark contrast to the high-temperature, high-energy geological processes that normally form such minerals.

He Liuqing, the first author of the research paper published in the international journal Environmental Science & Technology, put the discovery into a broader biological context. "In the past, we only knew that microorganisms and animals could 'produce minerals' in their bodies," she stated. "However, the 'mineral-producing ability' of plants has long been underestimated." This finding shatters that assumption and opens up an exciting new field of study.

The implications are profound for achieving a circular green economy. Imagine cultivating these ferns on old, contaminated mine tailings or polluted farmland. The plants would simultaneously perform two vital functions: phytoremediation, which is cleaning up the soil by extracting contaminants, and phytoextraction, which is harvesting valuable rare-earth elements. This creates a powerful model of "restoration alongside recovery," turning environmental liabilities into sources of strategic materials.

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Professor Zhu believes this is just the beginning. "The discovery... opens a new window for studying nearly a thousand known hyperaccumulator plants," he said. It prompts a thrilling question: what other valuable minerals might other plants be quietly producing? This single fern has revealed a hidden talent in the plant kingdom, offering a blueprint for a future where our most critical elements are grown, not just mined.