Trees growing above gold deposits 40 metres underground can indicate GOLD

[An Ri Rua]

Hi,

interesting read.

Gold leaves mark the spot for buried treasure - environment - 22 October 2013 - New Scientist

"It's not exactly 24-carat, but you could say some Australian eucalyptus trees are decorated with gold leaf. Trees growing above gold deposits 40 metres under ground incorporate the precious metal into their leaves.
Studying the leaves could point the way to gold deposits in remote areas difficult to assess using conventional tools."

 

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[Doitlaynstyle]

Crap thats cool. I wonder if that is true for more than just eucalyptus trees....

 

[Capricorn]

I wonder what it takes to see the gold in the leaves. Does it need to be something more then a standard microscope?

 

[FlatPack]

Detecting Gold in Leaves

I wonder what it takes to see the gold in the leaves. Does it need to be something more then a standard microscope?

The gold in the leaves (per the article) was detected at 100 parts per billion. This would not be visible (even with a microscope). My guess is that they used a mass spectrometer to measure gold at such low levels.

There are several spectrometer types that could do the job of easily detecting the gold at these levels. My thought on cost is probably $10-15/sample depending on the number of samples you have to test if you use a commercial lab.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Several plants show the presence of gold. Equisetum (Horsetail) are the best known.

Not much help to the small miner though because:
The equipment to detect it is bulky
Only microscopic particles are absorbed by the plant, a big nugget right below the surface would not show in the plant.
Digging down 130 feet to find microscopic gold isn't very useful.

All that being said I know of at least one junior exploration company that has used Horsetail (along with many other sampling methods) to trace microscopic gold deposits successfully.

 

[DesertNuggets]

I guess those guys burning pinecones weren't crazy after all.

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

View attachment 885868

 

[chlsbrns]

There are a lot of plants/trees that absorb & retain gold. The gold is collected (& discarded) in leaves, stems and bark. Gold cynanide has been found in flowering plants at over 300 parts per million.

You can do a Purple of Cassius test on decayed vegetation to determine if there is gold present. Decayed vegetation containing gold find their way into waterways. There are studies out there showing that most gold is less than 200 mesh. We don't get it because we don't see it!