Gold or pyrites?

[madaboutmike]

I was detecting where there used to be summer camps abandoned long ago. The area is surrounded by quarries. I working proximate and below a rock face I have repeatedly explored. Sitting on a rock sat a black stone. One side of the stone is infused with golden specks and flakes. At first I thought a rock hound had split it but I found no rock hammer marks. Since the stone weighs a good two pounds, I left it where I found it and wandered around the top of the rock face hoping to find rock that had broken off - that would explain the placement of the piece I discovered. Besides picking up a tick whose crater-like bite is healing on my right shoulder, I found scattered pieces of pure white quartz but in no particular concentrations. Nor could I locate a possible source where the quartz might have been washed down the hill.

A few years ago, I was exploring a tree at the base of the hill. It had grown around a large white quartz rock.

I retrieved the stone and ran my MXT over it. I didn't get ferrous readings nor did I get hot rock overload.

My copy of the Audibon Society Field Guide to Minerals indicates that the piece of granite I picked up can be gold infused.. At the top of the hill there are areas sectioned off with stone walls. Within these walls are massive rocks that were deposited when glaciers receeded. I am led to wonder if the white quartz I located is also a glacial traveler and came somewhere from the north.


Qustion: Is there a simple test that will determine whether I have fools gold or if I have stumbled across the real thing. Question: What is the mineralogical name for Gopher quartz?
Mike

 

[ColoradoGoldMan]

Hi Mike.
If it shatters like glass when struck with a hammer it is fools gold. If it flattens out and doesn't shatter it is gold or has a hi content of gold. Look at it with a 10x loop and see if has the crystalline structure of gold.it. If you are member of GPAA send in in for an assay. It may contain sulfide gold.
Good Luck.
CH

 

[Old Katz]

I shall lock that information away in my mind should I ever get lucky
enough to use it.
Katz

 

[vlad]

I was detecting where there used to be summer camps abandoned long ago. The area is surrounded by quarries. I working proximate and below a rock face I have repeatedly explored. Sitting on a rock sat a black stone. One side of the stone is infused with golden specks and flakes. At first I thought a rock hound had split it but I found no rock hammer marks. Since the stone weighs a good two pounds, I left it where I found it and wandered around the top of the rock face hoping to find rock that had broken off - that would explain the placement of the piece I discovered. Besides picking up a tick whose crater-like bite is healing on my right shoulder, I found scattered pieces of pure white quartz but in no particular concentrations. Nor could I locate a possible source where the quartz might have been washed down the hill.

A few years ago, I was exploring a tree at the base of the hill. It had grown around a large white quartz rock.

I retrieved the stone and ran my MXT over it. I didn't get ferrous readings nor did I get hot rock overload.

My copy of the Audibon Society Field Guide to Minerals indicates that the piece of granite I picked up can be gold infused.. At the top of the hill there are areas sectioned off with stone walls. Within these walls are massive rocks that were deposited when glaciers receeded. I am led to wonder if the white quartz I located is also a glacial traveler and came somewhere from the north.


Qustion: Is there a simple test that will determine whether I have fools gold or if I have stumbled across the real thing. Question: What is the mineralogical name for Gopher quartz?
Mike

Test the mineral's hardness. Use the blade of a pocketknife to slice the surface of the specimen. Brush away any dust and look closely for scratch marks. Iron pyrite is too hard for a knife blade to affect, but pure gold is soft and will show a scratch. Or, Hit the specimen with a hammer. If you strike a piece of pyrite against steel or flint, you will get a spark. (The color of iron pyrite is like pale brass, and it usually occurs in a crystal form that may look like a cube or an octahedron. The color of real gold is a metallic yellow. It's more often found in nugget form, rarely in a regular crystal shape. Give the specimen a good rubbing and take a whiff. Gold is odorless, but iron pyrite is an iron sulfide and will have a rotten-egg scent. Or scratch the nugget against a white ceramic tile. Look at the streak that the mineral leaves behind. If it is a greenish black color, you've found fool's gold. Real gold produces a golden yellow streak. Fools Gold has value to collectors too and the bigger specimens can bring some money. Fool’s gold scratches glass whereas real gold does not.) Also vinegar is an acid and will slowly dissolves quartz crystals surrounding gold, leaving only bits of quartz attached to the gold, and is not a hazardous acid. Some of Charles Garrett's books had a lot of things about gold vs Fools gold too.

 

[vlad]

Does the "gopher quartz" have a particular color or is it just white? Color is an identifier.

 

[Odanscoils]

Very interesting. Love to see how it plays out.