The saying money doesn’t grow on trees has been made redundant by CSIRO scientists after they discovered gold particles in gum tree leaves around the West Australian mining town of Kalgoorlie.
However another gold rush has been ruled out as the gold particles are only one-fifth the diameter of a human hair.
The CSIRO scientist published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.
“The eucalypt acts as a hydraulic pump, its roots extend tens of metres into the ground and draw up water containing the gold,” CSIRO geochemist Dr Mel Lintern said.
“As the gold is likely to be toxic to the plant, it’s moved to the leaves and branches where it can be released or shed to the ground,” Dr Lintern said.
The new findings can provide a golden opportunity for mineral exploration, as the leaves or soil beneath the trees could indicate gold ore deposits buried tens of metres underground.
Dr Lintern argued “the leaves could be used in combination with other tools as a more cost effective and environmentally friendly exploration technique.”
“By sampling and analysing vegetation for traces of minerals, we may get an idea of what’s happening below the surface without the need to drill.
“Eucalyptus trees are so common that this technique could be widely applied across Australia. It could also be used to find other metals such as zinc and copper.”
CSIRO used a detector for x-ray elemental imagining at the Australian Synchrotron to see the gold particles in the leaves, which otherwise would have been untraceable.
“Our advanced x-ray imaging enabled the researchers to examine the leaves and produce clear images of the traces of gold and other metals, nestled within their structure,” said principal scientist at the Australian Synchrotron, Dr David Paterson.
