Is This Gold? (Silver-Quartz w Possible Gold?)

[treasurewell]

I'm sorry if this kind of post has been made before. But I found this silver-quartz ore in the mountains and a retired prospector told me that the yellow is most likely gold. I found it on a convergence with lots of quartz and schist in the surrounding area, in an area with a bit of history- which makes me think there is a possibility that it might actually be gold.

My question is, does it look like gold to you guys? I am VERY new to this; It stays yellow regardless of the sun/shade and isn't brittle or flakey.

And if you think it's something else, or have any tips for telling the difference better in the future please let me know!

 

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[dave wiseman]

Pyrites....

 

[treasurewell]

Thanks bud! Any helpful tips?

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

Thanks bud! Any helpful tips?

Right? Just curious myself how it was so easy to determine this by the pic.

 

[treasurewell]

That's what I would LOVE to know! Because it sure would be helpful to have an eye that sharp

 

[xr7ator]

Is gold never found with pyrites? One way to know for sure, crush and pan.

 

[treasurewell]

I think I might just have to do that! Thank you man, happy hunting!

 

[arizau]

Of course crushing and panning will tell the tale.

Pictures are the worst way to identify minerals. That said, the no color change combined with not being brittle are good identifiers of gold. I would try once more by prodding it with force with an ice pick or other sharp object and then look, with a magnifier, for indications of denting..likely gold or worst case flaking or shattering....not gold. If it is gold then it could be a specimen piece worth keeping or selling.

Good luck.

 

[gold tramp]

That's what I would LOVE to know! Because it sure would be helpful to have an eye that sharp

Expieriance my friend.
GT,,,

 

[dave wiseman]

From the pic the silver part is likely arsenopyrite and the yellow chalcopyrite(copper pyrite).See the green on the quartz?Arsenopyrite is sometimes a good sign for gold in a vein.Was this float or from a vein in place?Get yourself a good book such as handbook for prospectors by Richard Pearl or older editions by VonBernewitz.You might be able to get them online for cheap if you search around or available from many public libraries.In the field time is the best teacher,especially with a partner who has experience.

 

[dave wiseman]

From the pic the silver part is likely arsenopyrite and the yellow chalcopyrite(copper pyrite).See the green on the quartz?Arsenopyrite is sometimes a good sign for gold in a vein.Was this float or from a vein in place?Get yourself a good book such as handbook for prospectors by Richard Pearl or older editions by VonBernewitz.You might be able to get them online for cheap if you search around or available from many public libraries.In the field time is the best teacher,especially with a partner who has experience....https://www.google.com/search?hl=en.....1ac.1.34.heirloom-hp..2.17.2803.UXMk30lu-vk

 

[dave wiseman]

As mentioned above seeing something in person is better thjan a pic.Be curious and keep looking.

 

[gold tramp]

One should use the copper colors as an indicator when prospecting, copper, gold, silver all like to hang out together, when i see the copper i start looking hard for gold values, not so much if i see pyrite but thats my area others may be differant.
Hope this helps your search.
GT,,,

 

[smokeythecat]

Gold an pyrite are found intermixed. It gets very problematic....

 

[N-Lionberger]

From the pic the silver part is likely arsenopyrite and the yellow chalcopyrite(copper pyrite).See the green on the quartz?Arsenopyrite is sometimes a good sign for gold in a vein.Was this float or from a vein in place?Get yourself a good book such as handbook for prospectors by Richard Pearl or older editions by VonBernewitz.You might be able to get them online for cheap if you search around or available from many public libraries.In the field time is the best teacher,especially with a partner who has experience.

I have a copy of Von Bernewitz handbook for prospectors and operators of small mines that is bound in snake skin and has a 4 leaf clover taped into the front cover, its like a good luck charm for me, my first copy was destroyed in a freak accident, my second copy was stolen third times the charm.

 

[treasurewell]

Awesome honestly thank you guys sooo much. (Sorry for late reply!) This helps me tremendously, It's in a very copper-silver rich area, the quartz even has lots of malachite and azurite running through it. Thank you for noting the relationship between copper colors and gold (especially chalcopyrite) this actually helps me alot. I'm gonna continue looking into what this is for a while. Sounds to me like it's most likely pyrite. (It's float by the way! But I think I know then exact outcrop it came from, there are a couple large visible quartz veins about 50 feet up the cliffside above where I found it. Gonna look into this, and if its gold I will look around for more and see if its worth going up!)

 

[RTR]

^^^ IF it "floats by the way"it sure isn't gold.A inexpensive gold detector would help you a ton.Or even borrow one.

 

[arizau]

^^^ IF it "floats by the way"it sure isn't gold.A inexpensive gold detector would help you a ton.Or even borrow one.

This is what he was talking about: https://www.mindat.org/glossary/float_ore

 

[beekbuster]

get a test kit. looks like gold to me. let us know

 

[Gavinsdiscoveries]

Pyrite tends to look like gold-