Au huntersneed only confab the tree if they require to track down some of that sweet Au . Why ? Because when certain trees take Au with their ancestor , the chemical component ends up in their parting . It seems in Australia , Au quite literally grow on trees .
The gold leaves are found oneucalyptus treesthat are able to transport microscopic particle of amber from cryptical deposition thanks to their incredibly prospicient roots . The roots ofEucalyptus marginatacan stretch 40 meters ( 130 feet ) into the ground in hunting of water in an arid landscape , and it seems they pick up a few thing along the way .
We ’ve known about Australia ’s amber - leaved tree diagram for a while now thanks to a2013 paperthat explores the use of flora sample distribution as a means of searching for mineral . At one point it was thought that discover gold in plant sample distribution was to do with surface taint rather than it having been plunge from the surround , but their inquiry evince it ’s potential for finical Au to ride the eucalyptus tree stem condition all the way to the surface .
As this slinky long boy of a diagram demonstrates, the roots of eucalyptus trees are uniquely positioned at a depth where gold lurks. Image credit: M Lintern et al 2013, Nature Communications,CC BY-NC 3.0(cropped)
bear witness that eucalyptus tree diagram could do this meant finding gold country , so they headed for the Freddo Gold Prospect north of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia . On top of its bass - dwelling Au layer are large eucalyptus tree diagram whose leaves , branchlet , and bark discover importantly high-pitched Au ( the chemic element symbol for atomic number 79 ) message .
The findings were mirrored in a nursery experiment that grew seedlings in sand pots dosed with Au . Just like their wild relatives , scanning electron microscopy let out Au particles in their leaves .
In 2019 , a society hit atomic number 79 in South Australia thanks to a gratuity - off from trees that it was hiding deep below the open . The 6 - m ( 20 - foot ) vein of Au was pack 3.4 grams of gold per long ton , according toNew Scientist , at a clumsy depth of 44 meters ( 144 foot ) . It was a remarkable find as the deposition was 450 meters ( 1,476 feet ) away from any other known gold sources .
It might not be theweight - of - a - man nuggetthat hunters dream of , but line up trees with expensive leaves is a less invasive fashion to go prospecting . At least , until the digging start .
