Posted on 01/14/2014 9:12:22 PM PST by Jet Jaguar
There's gold in them leaves!
They say money doesn't grow on trees, but gold and other precious metals can accumulate in plants. Researchers recently discovered relatively high levels of gold in the leaves of a eucalyptus tree in Western Australia, before uncovering a deposit of the metal more than 100 feet beneath it. “Finding such high concentrations of gold in the foliage of this tree growing over a gold deposit buried beneath 35 meters of weathered rock was a complete surprise,” Melvyn Lintern, a geochemist at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), told The Scientist.
Perhaps surprisingly, it's been known for more than a century that plants may accumulate gold and other valuable metals. In 1900, an inventor from Brooklyn named Emil Lungwitz reported that plants can accumulate gold, The Scientist noted. But it never caught on as a prospecting method, in part because it wasn't clear whether gold found in plants came from viable deposits, or if it ended up there from atmospheric dust.
But the study, published in Nature Communications, determined the gold found in the leaves derived from underground, which is the first time this has been definitively shown in a wild plant (not raised in a lab).
The finding suggests that it could make economic sense to "prospect" for gold with plants, sampling a small amount of leaf matter in trees to find precious metal deposits, according to the study. This method would also be more environmentally friendly than typical prospecting methods, The Scientist reported. And plant matter can also be sampled year-round and in many environments; it's difficult to dig or drill in some areas during the winter, or in certain soil types.
I had an acquaintance who would look for gold in Dahlonega, GA (where I think you are looking). He would look for gold in the streams in the early summer especially after a snowy (for Georgia, anyway) winter. It is (or was) OK for hobbyists to look for gold on Federal land, and he was finding with his (just under the “hobby” limit) equipment an ounce a weekend in the 90’s. I thought that this was a great, healthy (outdoor) and amazingly profitable hobby!
I wanted to get into this hobby and I was going to buy his old equipment but he moved.
When the California gold was found, everyone moved from Dahlonega, and the city almost became a ghost town. The congressman there pleased for them to stay, “There’s gold in them thar hills!”. There still is.
A century ago low grade ore was dumped as unprofitable waste but with modern extraction methods and high prices this “waste” has become a valuable resource.
Yep, everyone likes gold and I think there’s still a lot more to be found.
Yes, it is an amazing hobby. I prospect with Doctors, retired military, Ph.d.”s etc. It’s been a wonderful experience. Actually I pan near Allatoona. Dahlonega is difficult to find access. There’s nothing that stirs the imagination more than a gleaming “picker” at the bottom of your pan. You have your history right. The 1st gold Rush was in North Ga. The Cherokees were deprived of their tribal homelands because of it.
“The two I own could not”
The one we have will just pick up the gold 100 ft below the tree. :-)
They say only about 10% of the Dahlonego gold has ever been mined. The problem with it is its micron gold. Hard to mine on a small basis.
Mr. GG2’s friend knows a guy who is getting 3 ozs a month out of secret place he has discovered on Duke’s Creek. At $1,200 per oz thats a heck of a supplemental income.
I wuz just thunkin, a new reality show!!!!! “Tune in folks when the Axe Men teams up with the Alaska Gold Rushers”.
I was expecting a story about using wood for dowsing.
You’ll become ‘madder than a hatter’ or Algore.
Take your pick.
I’ve heard of nuggets being found the root-ball of fallen trees before.
“Mr. GG2’s friend knows a guy who is getting 3 ozs a month out of secret place he has discovered on Duke’s Creek. At $1,200 per oz thats a heck of a supplemental income.”
My friend would occasionally get nuggets where he was (in streams in the spring and early summer) and he could get more for those than the price of gold per ounce for their value as jewelry.
Goldbug ping.
Researchers recently discovered relatively high levels of gold in the leaves of a eucalyptus tree in Western Australia, before uncovering a deposit of the metal more than 100 feet beneath it. “Finding such high concentrations of gold in the foliage of this tree growing over a gold deposit buried beneath 35 meters of weathered rock was a complete surprise,” Melvyn Lintern, a geochemist at Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research OrganisationThanks Jet Jaguar.
What’s the hobby limit?
Yes the specimen value on big nuggets is way more than the spot gold price.
Thanks - interesting - talk about gold leaf....
“What’s the hobby limit?”
I don’t know, but it has something to do with the capacity of the equipment to sift/filter/sluice.
ok, thanks. Just curious.
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