Plants growing around gold deposits

I've seen an old patch at Tarnagulla, where 30 ounces came from, the largest being 17oz, and there was a cherry tree pretty much right next to the patch.!!


cheers BOM

i'm sure their is some truth in gold and plants living in proximity to it. Some of the Moss and lichens, only seems to grow in gold bearing areas. i also use vegetative mapping not just to locate areas with gold but more to rule out areas without on a broad scale. As an examples, Forestry Tasmania and Gunns, love to plant trees on Basalt. so i know i dont have to look in any tree plantations in my area because they will have a covering of basalt that may be hundreds of meters thick. I overlay vegetative and geological maps to get a clearer picture of search areas. This is true on the North West.

Around Tullah on the West Coast going up to Mount Black the Swamp breaks into Rain forest. its a defined line and quite striking. The swampy area is actually glacial debris, moraines and scree etc. I know just by looking at the plants on it i have 10's of to 100's of meters of random rubble to get to bedrock, so leave it alone. Its hard wearing Quartzite and only contains trace Wolfram and black Tourmaline if lucky.

Some tell tale signs of past working that may help in SE Australia are Cutting grass, Gahnia Grandis, it grows readily in areas that have been disturbed. Its a pi Pioneer and stands out a mile. So can help locate areas other have been gone over in the past. The seeds are quite edible and tasty if your stuck in the bush and a bit hungry too.

The plant I think you are all groping for is the casuarina. It is an ancient variety of tree that tends to grow along old lines of drainage . It is sometimes referred to as sheaoak or bulloak. Hope this is helpfull.

G’day I had some time on my hands and the idea of Geobotany in relation to specific Australian trees, bushs and shrubs that grow on auriferous ground came to my mind. The info can be found in a book “Native Trees and Shrubs of south-eastern Australia” by Leon Costermans.
As the title implies, this Flora is found in the south-eastern parts of Australia, but in saying that, I’m sure that some of these will be found elsewhere in Australia.
All of these plants are known to grow on gold bearing ground
Cherry Ballart
Red Ironbark...also known as Mugga
Red Box
Red Stringybark
Wooly Wattle
Slender Bitter Pea
Rough Wattle
Fairy Wax Flower
Cats Claw
Grey Everlasting
Chinese Tea Scrub...also known as Drooping Cassinia
Bent Leaf Wattle

Cheers..Jon.