Is this gold?

[molgreg]

Hello all,

I found a piece that may be gold. It passes the streak test. I also have a specimen that might be silver which also passes the streak test.

What do y'all think?






Thank you.

 

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[Terry Soloman]

I don't think so. This is gold

 

[brianc053]

We all hope to find a gold-bearing rock the size of those, molgreg, but it's not very likely. Where did you find the rocks? Is it a known gold-producing area? That's the first question you should ask.
Next, a lot of rocks will "streak". A better test is to use an acid test on the streaks. There's a cheap one available from Amazon (though I find the results of that cheap test somewhat hard to interpret).
Do those rocks flake apart? It looks like they might. If they do, pan the results. Have you panned for fine gold before? If you're experienced, you'll know what's fine gold and what's not.

If you want my opinion (and I'm not an expert), I think those rocks are pyrite. Pyrite could have some fine gold mixed in, but the vast majority of the rock is...just a rock. I hope I'm wrong and you found wonderful gold and silver, but...it's not very likely.
- Brian

 

[Mine Shaft]

Cool Gold rock Terry, is the Gold all over that stone ?

 

[Terry Soloman]

Cool Gold rock Terry, is the Gold all over that stone ?

Yes! I believe it was found in Gaines, Alaska by a nuggetshooter.

 

[H-2 CHARLIE]

Crush it and pan it out .
To me its mica and pyrite . not gold

 

[Lanny in AB]

Hi there,

It's awful hard to tell from pictures sometimes, and that's the issue with trying to tell exactly what you've got from your pictures.

As for highly obvious signs that what you have is gold, it doesn't look like it, but as H-2 Charlie has suggested, one way to find out (it would ruin your chunk of rock of course) is to finely crush the one you think is gold, then pan it out.

By doing that, you'll be able to check out how any gold-coloured particles in the pan move: if they are sluggish, and don't hardly want to move after you've panned the material down to the super-heavies, you've got a better chance of ID'ing gold by its specific gravity. For example, if your gold-coloured particles easily move in the pan, and if they exit the pan's crease quickly before the other heavies, they're not likely gold.

If you've never panned before, watch some good Youtube videos.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[TerryC]

Do not crush to PROVE gold. Allow an expert prove it and retain the specimen. What fun is showing a vial full of gold instead of a chunk. Everyone has a vial full. ╦╦Ç

 

[Lanny in AB]

Do not crush to PROVE gold. Allow an expert prove it and retain the specimen. What fun is showing a vial full of gold instead of a chunk. Everyone has a vial full. ╦╦Ç

Can't agree more Terry if a person truly thinks they have specimen gold, never crush it. Generally worth more as a specimen.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[AllenJ]

New guy's opinions: Can you take it into a pawn store? Pawn people do this kind of stuff for a living, I've always found them more than helpful.

 

[TerryC]

New guy's opinions: Can you take it into a pawn store? Pawn people do this kind of stuff for a living, I've always found them more than helpful.

No way! First, he has no idea what it is worth.... or even know how much gold is in it. Second, he cannot give you anything near what it's worth. Best to go to a dealer in raw gold for starters. ╦╦Ç

 

[AllenJ]

I agree you don't sell it to them, just use their expertise to determine if it is gold. You'd be lucky to get 90% of spot from a pawn store and if they're honest they'll tell you it is worth much more than that.

 

[arizau]

Hello all,

I found a piece that may be gold. It passes the streak test. I also have a specimen that might be silver which also passes the streak test.

What do y'all think?


View attachment 1583976 View attachment 1583977 View attachment 1583978

View attachment 1583979 View attachment 1583980 View attachment 1583981 View attachment 1583982

Thank you.

You say it passes the streak test for gold. For one who is unsure, a reliable visual test for gold is to see if it loses the gold color in shaded light. Gold looks like gold both in full and shaded light. Check both the rock and the streak.

Good luck.

 

[cpomike13]

First test I apply is the shade. If it still shines, then you might have something.

 

[Mine Shaft]

I say crush & pan it. If you found something close to what Terry Soloman posted i would say no. I have yet to see any color in my pan maybe that's why i say it gets the hammer lol.

 

[Assembler]

I say crush & pan it. If you found something close to what Terry Soloman posted i would say no. I have yet to see any color in my pan maybe that's why i say it gets the hammer lol.

A "Fire assay" will tell for sure if there is any values. However a 'Hammer and panning assay' will tell you the gravity recoverable values up to a point depending on the equipment used.

 

[Eyeball]

You can always ask a jeweller if he could test some of the traces with acid.
Or he may have other methods to try with. It'd be a shame to ruin a nice specimen or just a cool looking rock just to know.
There would be little Gold to get rich off in the examples shown in the first place.

 

[AZADAM]

New guy's opinions: Can you take it into a pawn store? Pawn people do this kind of stuff for a living, I've always found them more than helpful.

I doubt very much if the vast majority of pawn shops have even seen natural gold, ever! They also would not even know how to evaluate a nugget or a specimen.

 

[A2coins]

I agree with that

 

[RTR]

You'll know when you see it...it POPS