Ore Detector

Prospecting with sagebrush

Since 1972, geologists have studied Landsat satellite images of the earth's landscape to choose areas to explore for oil, gas, copper and other minerals. Now a scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey has studied such pictures and found that concentrations of sagebrush may indicate deposits of uranium.

Geologist Gary Raines reached that conclusion in 1977 when he studied images of a 13,000-sq.-km (5,000-sq.-mi.) section of the Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana, taken from 920 km (570 miles) above the earth. He noted that clusters of medium density sagebrush on the photographic maps fell in the same area as known uranium deposits. Further study showed that this type of vegetation pattern coincided with the kind of sandy shale rock formations that often accompany uranium deposits.

While his discovery is a valuable shortcut to mapping such rock formations, Raines says that deposits would not be found under every sagebrush patch.

"This is only a geological mapping tool," he says. The technique has not yet uncovered new uranium deposits in the Powder River Basin, but Raines believes it may help to identify minerally rich areas in other parts of the-- U.S., which private industry could explore.

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