White Quartz Rock With Gold

When gold is still encased in quartz rock it is called a gold specimen.

White quartz rock with gold. In most gold ore the gold is present in tiny specs either within minerals like pyrite or spread out free among the quartz. Gold quartz specimens are in a completely different league of their own. Use your geology hammer and sledge to break open quartz and potential gold bearing rocks. This chunk of vein quartz from mariposa is typical of gold quartz material from the mother lode district of california.

Look for large pieces of gold that you can collect manually or with tweezers. The photo at left shows small particles of metallic gold in quartz taken from the mountains of canada. The ore is often brown iron stained rock or massive white quartz and usually contains only minute traces of gold. To extract the gold the ore is crushed then the gold is separated from the ore by various methods.

These are a real treat for gold prospectors and collectors as well and are often valued at a premium due to their beauty and rarity. This page is dedicated to the gold that s still attached to quartz or a host rock. Place an iron or steel anvil in a large flat pan to prevent loss of rock powder and contained gold. Remember the specific gravity of quartz is 2 65 times heavier than water whereas pure.

Normally even good rich gold ore has no gold metal which is visible to the naked eye. Gold is easy to spot in white quartz. This type of gold is highly desired in the mineral collecting community.