Gold flakes

[Anthonyvanv]

I've been digging holes for posts for our new dog fence and I came across this really neat rock that has gold flakes in it. I'm curious as to what it is. When I put a torch on the rock, the gold flakes popped off the rock like a small firework. It's easy to scrape the gold flakes off and they are all throughout the rock. Can someone help out a newbie?

 

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[et1955]

The rock is either granite or schist, simple way to know if the flakes are gold or mica is to block the light going to the rock and if the flakes go dark ,mica . Gold will always stay bright even in partial light.

 

[minerjosh]

Put the flakes that you scraped off in a pan and pan it. It looks yellow in the first pic...

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[IMAUDIGGER]

Hard telling from just a photo, but based on that alone...I'd guess it looks like a decent specimen of Leavearite (found throughout North America).

Put a few of your flakes in a bowl of water with a pinch of dirt...mica is light and will swirl around easily with the rest of the light sands...whereas gold will be one of the last things to wash away due to the high specific gravity.

 

[pcampbell]

In the first pic there is some yellow color but none in the second pic. This leads me to believe the yellow color is just a play of light off the mica.

Mica fools many beginner prospectors, but it is unfortunately not gold.