Newbie - Did I see something?

[curtiswthomas]

I live very near the GA gold belt and am going to buy a panning kit soon. I have been reading on a lot of websites and watching lots of YouTube videos about panning and finding gold in general. I am remembering back several months ago my family and I were visiting a large man-made lake, even nearer the GA gold belt, called Lake Lanier. On a beach area with a lot of rocks deposited I saw what looked like semi-petrified wood with what looked like tiny gold flakes on the surface. From what I have been reading lately, the shore of this man-made lake is not a likely place to find any gold. Could this have been gold?

 

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[419GottaMinute]

Hard to tell full you go pan it out, but if its on the surface there is a pretty good chance its mica, or "fools gold"... Mica crushes very easily, so when you get some of your golden flakes in your pan, use a coin or your finger nail and try to crush it. Gold DOES not crush. Good luck and happy hunting

 

[Goodyguy]

It's true when they say "All that glitters is not gold."
Easy to be fooled at first but once you get used to the real thing (and learn the distinguishing characteristics) getting easily fooled will be a thing of the past.

With that being said, there are cases where a coating or a staining on top of the real thing or if the specimen is heavily alloyed can make instant identification more troublesome even to some of the more experienced prospectors. However, the sourdoughs can pretty much identify gold in any of it's forms or conditions.

GG~

 

[vtgoldprospector]

That lake has some serious shoreline! Just grab some in a paper towel or vial and look at it under some magnification. You should be able to tell very quickly if it is gold. Often under magnification the shine or gold color will disappear if it is not gold. Also, if it easily moves with the waves on the shoreline or is sitting on top of soft soil then it is almost certainly not gold. But hey, you found a kick ass lake!