Is this really gold?

[Bobadilla]

Hello,

After long time I went to the mountains again. A local friend of mine, who has been living his whole life in the mountains, told me that there were "strange" minerals with glints of gold up there. It was sufficient for me. I convinced my friend to join me and to show me the spot. We found couple of stones with green quartz inside and with gold and silver flakes on it. On some of them there are also red and blue spots there. As I stated here before, I am amateur in this branch, so I would like to ask you for your opinion. Could be gold in this stone? Would it be worth exploring this spot?

An expert in gold prospecting once told me that gold could be extracted by melting the mineral to 2,000 Degrees of Celsium. What kind of portable furnace should I buy for this purpose if this stone really contains gold particles? Thanks a lot for your advice in advance...

Best regards,
Bobadilla

 

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[Gravelwasher]

peacock pyrite most likely from the oil slick colors, other wise smash it up and pan it or take a super magnet to it to see if it has any attraction. good luck

 

[Astrobouncer]

I see copper sulfides (chalcocite (black + grey) chalcopyrite (yellow-gold), bornite (red, orange to purple iridescent), copper carbonates (malachite (the greens) and serpentine group (also green but finer grained)) and the white crystals look like calcite. The blue could be azurite or possibly larimar. It is possible to have gold associated with these, but likely only in trace amounts.

 

[Bobadilla]

Hello Astrobouncer,

Thanks a lot for your opinion, of course you could be right, thought there are different shades of yellow on the stone, from almost white till brightly yellow. I put these spots on the stone under the Nitric Acid, being sure that if it is gold, it would stay yellow, everything else would turn black or it would dissolve. Some of these spot went really black but most of the bright yellow remained there with full colour. What do you think?

Best reagards,
Lobo

 

[Goodyguy]

Hello,

After long time I went to the mountains again. A local friend of mine, who has been living his whole life in the mountains, told me that there were "strange" minerals with glints of gold up there. It was sufficient for me. I convinced my friend to join me and to show me the spot. We found couple of stones with green quartz inside and with gold and silver flakes on it. On some of them there are also red and blue spots there. As I stated here before, I am amateur in this branch, so I would like to ask you for your opinion. Could be gold in this stone? Would it be worth exploring this spot?

An expert in gold prospecting once told me that gold could be extracted by melting the mineral to 2,000 Degrees of Celsium. What kind of portable furnace should I buy for this purpose if this stone really contains gold particles? Thanks a lot for your advice in advance...

Best regards,
Bobadilla

Cannot really tell if that's gold from the photo but if it were mine I'd crush it and pan it.


If you have a portable propane torch you could melt it in a heavy cast iron pot. A mapp gas torch will burn hotter than propane but either one will do it. Just don't breath the fumes.

1,948°F (1,064°C) is the melting point of gold.

GG~

 

[Astrobouncer]

I put these spots on the stone under the Nitric Acid, being sure that if it is gold, it would stay yellow, everything else would turn black or it would dissolve. Some of these spot went really black but most of the bright yellow remained there with full colour. What do you think?

Best reagards,
Lobo

Hey Lobo, Chalcopyrite is quite stable in nitric acid so you might not see any color change with it. However, if you add some iron powder to the nitric solution you will get a reaction. The iron in the chalcopyrite will go into solution which creates hydrogen sulfide (which is highly toxic, dangerous and can kill almost instantly!) and the remaining chalcopyrite will be reduced to copper sulfides.(* From Hydrometallurgy In Extraction Processes, Volume 1, 1990)

Let me mention again that the hydrogen sulfide produced from this reaction is highly toxic. I do not recommend you or anyone try this unless under supervision of a professional or at a lab with all necessary safety equipment (flume hood, ventilator etc).


I would do what Goodyguy suggested, and crush + pan. Chalcopyrite moves easily in the pan whereas the gold hangs behind due to its significant density. And of course once you have it in the pan you can test its malleability and so forth.

 

[Bobadilla]

Hello Astrobouncer,
Thanks a lot one more time for your help! I will crush it, then pan it, I might use a huge magnet and then I will see.... I will let you know.

Best regards,
Lobo