Is It Possible to Harvest Large Quantities of Gold from Plants and Animals?

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Written By Barry Lenson

Over the years, people have created a story – dare we say a myth – that it is possible to reclaim gold from plants and animals.

That legend usually goes something like this . . .

“The plants and animals that live around natural sources of gold like gold-containing streams and old gold mines absorb quantities of gold. If you harvest sufficient quantities of material from them, they contain gold that can be profitably recycled.”

A Kernel of Truth . . .

Like other legends, this one is based on truth.

  • The truth: Plants and animals, especially those that live near natural sources of gold, really do absorb measurable quantities of gold.

  • The harsh reality: Even though those animals and plants do absorb and retain gold, the quantities of that metal are so small that they cannot be practically recycled.

And Here’s the Proof!

Our researchers were able to obtain a definitive report from the U.S. Government that details exactly how much gold can be found in plants and animals. This report, “Gold Content of Water, Plants and Animals,” was written by Robert S. Jones in 1970. Although that was more than 50 years ago, the information contained in this report is still worth reviewing today.

You can view the report online by Clicking here.

This report, which was published by the U.S. Geological Survey, contains more than 14 pages of statistics about how much gold can be found in plants, animals, and water. If you’re as fascinated by the subject as we are, you will want to spend time poring through them.

Because we know you are curious, here are a small number of facts from the report:

  • Seaweed contains about 0.17 parts per million of gold

  • Corn mint plants from the former Czechoslovakia contain about 0.2 parts per million of gold

  • Sponges from Hawaii contain about 0.23 parts per million of gold

  • Starfish contain about 30 parts per million of gold

  • Antlers from deer harvested in gold-producing regions of the U.S. and Europe contain about 60 parts per million of gold

To Quote from the Report:

“The amount of gold occurring in animals varies greatly. Values obtained by neutron activation show as little as 0.0012 ppb gold has been found in the dry matter of fish muscle and as much as 430 ppb gold in human hair. Excluding the earlier work of Noddack and Noddack (1939), marine animals contain, by far, the least amount of gold and terrestrial animals contain the most gold. Bones, teeth, and phosphorite are calcium phosphates with comparable gold contents. Neutron activation analyses of composite samples of rock phosphorites from Morocco and the United States contained from 0.5 to 3.1 ppb gold (Z. S. Altschuler, oral commun., 1969), human teeth show 10 to 30 ppb gold, and the ash of deer antlers from 0.5 to 28.3 ppb gold. These naturally occurring calcium phosphate compounds appear to be similar in their gold content, irrespective of their origin, and probably reflect the gold level of their environment. The known content of gold in animals apparently supports Vinogradov's (1953) observation that the amount of gold found in animal organs is entirely casual and that there are no auriferous animals anywhere in the world.”

Gold Scrap Is a Better and More Profitable Source of Recyclable Gold

It won’t surprise you to learn that common types of gold scrap contain vastly larger amounts of gold that Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners can recycle for you. We are referring to jewelry, printed circuit boards, jeweler’s and dental scrap, and other kinds of material that are a lot more familiar to you than, say, Starfish.

How can you make money recycling those forms of scrap? It’s easy. Specialty Metals is ready to test your precious metal scrap and pay you for the gold it contains at current market prices.

Interested? Call Specialty Metals Smelters and Refiners at 800-426-2344 to learn more.

Barry Lenson
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