Help needed is this gold?

[budzag]

Hi all, Can anyone please advise a way to tell if this is gold?. The quartz samples are from a well known hard rock area here in New Zealand. the sample ore has been ground to -60 mesh then run through the bluebowl
after removing the magnetic's this is what i have been left with around the base of the cone. Also if it was pyrite it would be a lighter material that the black sand? is this correct. Any info would be great.

Cheers
Aaron

 

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[spaghettigold]

Thats an awful pic for judging what you might have there.
Get a goldpan and try to pan it down.
If what you have left is gold you should know when you see it.
You can poke it with a needle or hammer on it ,if it,s pyrite it will break ,if its gold it get,s flatter.

 

[budzag]

Hi, Spagettigold. Thanks for the advice i will order a gold pan soon to check. here are a few pics of the type of rock's where i am getting it from







Thanks
Aaron

 

[pczim]

Why not just send it to a lab? Or smelt it and if it looks like gold it is gold? Pics of the rock mean nothing.

 

[budzag]

Hi pczim, thanks for the help. No im not going to send to the lab as it is only a hobby and dont have the time. ill probably just smelt it one day when i get around to it and hope for the best. Thanks Aaron

 

[pczim]

Hi bud try crushing it and panning. Wish you luck!

 

[AnnaMountain]

I'll add a couple comments here:

1. Your "ore" is the right color, and material. Gold rides an iron horse on a trail of quartz.
2. Heaviness, is important. There are many Tellurides that look like pyrite, that aren't...one of the indicators is weight.

In other words, don't discount what you have just because nobody has ever seen gold like yours Ever heard of Calaverite? Not saying you have it, but research it. It's pretty well-known in your sister country of Oz

 

[smokeythecat]

Those are some good points. Pyrite will crush, easily. Gold will flatten. Try repanning it. Then use a magnet on it. Use a good triplet hand lens to see what you have left.

 

[budzag]

Hi guys thanks for all your feedback. I had removed all the magnetic's when it was in the bowl and this is what was left over around the bottom of the cone. It surely does look golden/silvery in the light. The old blue bowl does a fine job of getting the tiny specks it is just a slow process. Here are a coupe of different samples that now live on our coffee table haha