Please Help Me Out On This Rock!

[chuck_turner]

First of all, I want to let everyone know I am very ignorant about gold and minerals. I live in the foothills of Northeast Georgia and I found this on my property today. I know it is quartz. There are some beautifully terminated crystals on it and I think I see some gold in some of the veins. Any information anyone can give me about this rock would be greatly appreciated.

 

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[coinshooter]

That's part of a granitic pegmatite. Looks like part of a "pocket". If you find the source and dig into it you could find some nice crystals.
What you may think is gold is probably pyrite, but it could be gold. I think georgia is known for a litle gold isnt it?
Look up Granitic Pegmatite on google and you will have it explained in more detail.
Could be worth finding the source of those rocks and digging into it carefully.

 

[chuck_turner]

I don't know if I made it clear in my original post but these are all pictures of the same rock from different angles. We are known for some gold. Mostly north of here though. Nevertheless, I think it's a nice specimen for a beginner rock hound to find, especially on my own property. Your opinion coinshooter?

 

[g-olden years]

Very nice specimen! Several beautiful crystals there! If you do find the source and dig it slowly & gently, you may pull out some fully intact big loose crystals or some crystal clusters that radiate out from their base rock even farther than the ones you have here. In any case, a really groovy find which would delight any member of my very-amateur-four-generation-rockhound family. Gold & pyrite can definitely occur in the same areas. HAVE FUN! Andi

 

[CaptainPooka]

Yet another front yard find. That's a cool rock, I hope it is gold, that would be awesome!

 

[Blskypilot]

Over in the gold or prospecting there's a rock Id thread and I'm sure you'd get lots of info there. Ga is definitely known for having quite the gold belt up to the north but if you check around you can find a file someone put together that has all the mine sites in ga dropped on a map that gives coordinates, type of operation etc. you'd be surprised to see that there were placer mining operations quite some distance from the original north ga gold rush area.

If I'd found that rock I'd pulverize it to fine dust and pan it to see if there's gold. Pretty easy to tell the difference between pyrite and gold. Think there were quite a few stamp mill operations up there and that's what they were doing. I'm over on the east side in Bethlehem, love getting up to the mountain areas as time allows

 

[DIGDAWG]

Awesome find Dude!!



Hope you find more of that stuff.

 

[DIGDAWG]

Yup, Check it for G O L D !

 

[lab rat]

Here's something you can do: Go over that rock with your metal detector, or better yet a pinpointer. If it is gold, you'll probably get a strong signal. If it is pyrite, your detector won't sound off at all.

 

[mirage83]

I think georgia is known for a litle gold isnt it?

Oh yeah. Dahlonega saw the first US gold rush after the discovery of gold there in 1828, and the federal government eventually put an official US Mint there to replace the private minting which had been going on in Dahlonega. The mint there produced some of the most desirable gold coinage among current coin collectors.

There's still a decent amount of gold in that region, and with recent prices there was unofficial talk of some commercial operations cranking back up, but none of it panned out (so to speak).

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

What a nice piece.!! I see quartz rock and quartz crystal. With quartz rock, Gold could easily follow. I'd try an acid test on what you think is gold.
People are right, I'd go back to where you found it and look for more. Not only Quartz but look for GOLD!!
Get a metal detector and get back to that site !!

Keep @ it and HH !!

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Nice piece hope it does contain gold.

 

[bonuntr]

Try using the side of the blade of a knife. Put pressure on the "gold" with the side of the blade, and try to smear it. Gold will smear, pyrite will not. I have used this technique quite a few times, sorry to say, only twice was it gold. At any rate, it is a great specimen!

 

[wpsgta1000]

There's gold in North Georgia!
I used to live about 15 miles from Dahlonega, just outside of Dahlonega is the gold rush "ghost town" of Aurora. Not much left but the old hotel ruins that is on private property. There is or was a nearby camp/park called Blackburn Park with a number of small streams running through it that you were allowed to pan or sluice in. I spent two summers panning the streams and ended up finding a little over one ounce of gold in total. Mostly fine stuff but some small chunks and one nice picker the size of a pea. Ended up having the gold turned into a custom made 18k ring for my wife to use as a wedding ring.
The area was the scene of the first US gold rush in the early 1800's. Never found any old coins but did find lots of broken pottery and about a dozen old buttons from that era including a Carolina militia button.
I moved out of state in 1997 but I hope the area is still open to the public for panning and metal detecting. Good luck to all!

 

[chuck_turner]

It could be gold but dang, I hate to break this specimen apart to see. I know these aren't great colored crystals, I doubt I'd ever sell it, but can any of you tell me if this thing is worth anything?

 

[Bass]

IMO, don't break it apart. It's a nice piece in its present state. If it does contain gold, it's probably more valuable intact. Go back and look for more crystal and possibly gold. Congratulations and thanks for sharing

Sent from my iPhone using TreasureNet

 

[mirage83]

It could be gold but dang, I hate to break this specimen apart to see. I know these aren't great colored crystals, I doubt I'd ever sell it, but can any of you tell me if this thing is worth anything?

If you can have it tested to see if that's actually gold in amongst the quartz crystals and it tests out positive, I'd just clean it up real well and mount it on a plaque or something. Display it on a mantelpiece, coffee table, whatever. Not likely to be enough gold in it to make it worthwhile to trash it, but it will have a good amount of character left as-is.

 

[chuck_turner]

Found another today. Haven't cleaned it up yet but I'll post pics as soon as I do. I've really gotta find the source of these rocks. No telling what is there if they came from a pocket.