Where there is muck there really is brass with scientists claiming that millions can be made by extracting gold from human waste . In fact as well as gold , faeces contains platinum , silver and other metals along with rare elements such as palladium and vanadium . Researchers now hope to 'mine ' sewage reducing the need to mine raw metals from the ground , while reducing pollution by recycling human waste . Scientists have discovered a literal goldmine of precious metals in human poo.The US researchers are investigating ways of flushing out the valuable minerals , including gold , silver and rare elements such as palladium and vanadium . Pictured are microscopic gold-rich and lead-rich particles in human waste . Taking a lesson from industrial mining , the scientists are experimenting with chemicals called leachates that are used to pull metals out of rock . Some of these chemicals have a bad reputation for damaging ecosystems when they leak or spill into the environment . But in controlled conditions , they could safely be used to recover metals from treated solid waste , Dr Smith claims . In the treated waste researchers already started to discover metals like platinum , silver and gold observing microscopic-sized metal particles in biosolids . Previous research estimated the waste from one million Americans could contain as much as $ 12 million ( £8.7 million ) worth of metals . In 1999 the UK produced over 1,130,000 tonnes of sludge dry solids , which averages to about 20kg generated by each person . If Britain 's waste was mined it could be worth $ 762 million ( £510 million ) a year . Dr Kathleen Smith of the US Geological Survey said : 'If you can get rid of some of the nuisance metals that currently limit how much of these biosolids we can use on fields and forests , and at the same time recover valuable metals and other elements , that 's a win-win . 'There are metals everywhere . They are in your hair care products , detergents , even nanoparticles that are put in socks to prevent bad odours . ' Yet all end up at the sewage works and many metals end up in the leftover solid waste . At treatment plants , wastewater goes through a series of physical , biological and chemical processes and the end products are treated water and biosolids . In the US alone seven million tons are leftover each year with half used as fertiliser on fields and in forests and the other half incinerated or sent to landfills . Dr Smith added : 'We have a two-pronged approach . 'In one part of the study , we are looking at removing some regulated metals from the biosolids that limit their use for land application . If Britain 's waste was mined it could be worth $ 762 million ( £510 million ) a year . Previous research estimated the waste from one million Americans could contain as much as $ 12 million ( £8.7 million ) worth of metals . 'In the other part of the project , we 're interested in collecting valuable metals that could be sold , including some of the more technologically important metals , such as vanadium and copper that are in cell phones , computers and alloys . ' The study aims to use the same chemicals , called leachates , which the mining industry uses to pull metals out of rock . While some of these leachates have a bad reputation for damaging ecosystems when they leak or spill into the environment , in a controlled setting , they could safely be used to recover metals in treated solid waste . In the treated waste researchers already started to discover metals like platinum , silver and gold observing microscopic-sized metal particles in biosolids using a scanning electron microscope . 'The gold we found was at the level of a minimal mineral deposit ' meaning if that amount were in rock , it might be commercially viable to mine it . Dr Smith added that 'the economic and technical feasibility of metal recovery from biosolids needs to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis . ' The study presented at the 249th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society ( ACS ) involved collecting samples from small towns in the Rocky Mountains , rural communities and big cities . For a more comprehensive picture , they plan to combine their information with many years ' worth of existing data collected by the Environmental Protection Agency and other groups at the Geological Survey .
Scientists looking for ways to flush out the valuable minerals from waste . These include gold , silver and elements such as palladium and vanadium . Waste from a million Americans could contain £8.7 million ( $ 12 million ) Britain 's waste is worth an estimated $ 762 million ( £510 million ) a year .