the horsetail plant...a pathway/vegetation gold indicator The horsetail plant (Equisetum arvense), also called shavegrass, is the descendant of a large Equisetum species that grew millions of years ago in the Paleozoic era. Growing as massive horsetail forests reaching heights of close to 100 feet (30m), the plant is a living fossil of an earlier time before human existence.
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It tends to grow in spot where there are heavy metal concentration,
and it has the ability to adsorb gold out of the ground.
In the old days miner would look for these plants and others to indicate the presents of gold and other metals
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Ancient wisdom could still be used by modern geologists as an aid in identifying prospective areas for mineral accumulation.
Some of the most useful plants for mineral prospecting are:
- Gold - Equisetum arvense & confusa (horsetail)
- Silver - Eriogonum ovalifolium (the buckwheat family) and Lonicera confusa
- Copper - Eschscholtzia mexicana (Mexican golden poppy) and Hyptis suaveolens
- Zinc - Viola calaminaria and Philadelphus sp.
- Nickel - Alyssum bertolonii; Berkheya coddii and Thlaspi L. (Ni & Zn)
- Cobalt - Crotalaria cobalticola
- Uranium - Astragalus sp. and Aster venusta.
Numerous references regarding indicator plants could be found on the web including the use of remote sensing images of vegetation cover for deciphering the hidden strata and ore deposits. Vegetation and soil maps of northern Canada and Alaska could also be useful for those involved in arctic mineral prospecting.
Keeping an open eye for subtle changes in plant types and characteristics might provide the modern prospector with the same benefits that the old miners reaped for millennia: a new mine.