Story: Mining and underground resources
A small number of unusual plants absorb metals through their roots. Massey University scientist Robert Brooks (1926–2001) studied these plants, which he called hyperaccumulators, and realised that they could be used to clean up areas polluted by metal wastes.
These plants are being grown in an experimental plot near the Tui mine in Coromandel, in an attempt to find which plants would most effectively clean up this polluted area.
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Photograph by Chris Anderson
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