Preliminary report on geobotanical exploration in the Yellow Cat District, Grand County, Utah
Two geobotanical methods of prospecting have been applied to the search for uranium deposits in the Yellow Cat district, Grand County, Utah. The first method is based on the absorption and accumulation of uranium by plants from underlying uranium deposits. To demonstrate this method, several hundred samples of Juniperus monosperma, Atriplex confert ifolia, and Cowania mexicana were collected in the district and analyzed for their uranium content. Plants containing significant amounts of uranium are considered to indicate mineralized ground. The second method of prospecting is based on the relation of selenium-indicator plants of the genera Astragalus and Stanleya to mineralized ground. Chemical analyses show that selenium is associated with the uranium and vanadium in the ore deposits. Distribution maps of the selenium-indicator plants, Astragalus confertiflorus. A. Pattersonii, A. Preussii var. arctus, and Stanleya pinnata, are included in this report. Outlines of favorable ground in the Yellow Cat district determined by these data are drawn on the maps.