Abstract: Abstract: Sagebrush and Geochemical Exploration in East Tintic District, Utah

Willis H. Brimhall, Alan K. Chamberlain

Sagebrush, Artimisia tridentata, widely distributed in the mountain states, may be useful in geochemical exploration for base metals. Common to most western mining districts, sagebrush is easily identified, and concentrations of copper, lead, and zinc can be measured in the plant. Anomalies of these elements in sagebrush, growing over blind orebodies in the East Tintic district, Utah, are easily recognized. Corresponding anomalies of these elements in soils over the same ore bodies are much less easily recognized.

Collection of plant samples can be made any time of year, and they can be ashed in the field. The smaller twigs are easiest to sample and also yield the best results.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90969©1977 AAPG-SEPM Rocky Mountain Sections Meeting, Denver, Colorado