Curiosity
Gold on trees in Australia, No For Reals!
Scientists have found gold in the leaves of eucalyptus trees. The particles are too small to be seen with the naked eye but have been detected using a type of X-ray that is good at picking up trace amounts of metals and minerals
Australian scientists have discovered something special about certain eucalyptus trees growing in that country’s Outback. Their leaves contain gold deposits, disproving the oft-quoted belief that money doesn’t grow on trees.
It is believed that these newly discovered trees possess very deep roots that have made their way into underground gold deposits during their search for water. There is one catch, however.
The gold that these scientists are reporting on are in such small concentrations that they are not visible by simply looking at the tree.
The leaves of the gold-imbued eucalyptus trees have only 80 parts per billion concentration, with their bark containing an even smaller concentration of only 4 parts per billion of pure gold.
Although these scientific findings are not likely to make anyone rich or to start a new gold rush into Australia, they do prove that the biogeochemical absorption of certain minerals such as gold into the leaves and barks of trees is entirely possible.
“There is no unequivocal evidence that Au is actually absorbed by plants over mineral deposits and that currently measured Au is not merely a result of dust contamination of samples,” writes Lintern, who works for the CSIRO Earth Science and Resource Engineering.
“Thus explorers are reticent to embrace an important emerging technique in which they lack confidence in its applicability, data quality and interpretation of results.”
The scientists who made the unusual discovery hope that their research will be helpful in discovering new methods of gold prospecting that will prove to be more successful than current methods. Specific information about their findings have been published in the online Nature Communications journal.
On The Web:
Scientists have found gold in the leaves of eucalyptus trees
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/22/world/gold-growing-on-trees/
