FMF - Friends of Minerals Forum, discussion and message board

[BChpman]

Found in a creek off a river in NC, I used a dental pick an made an impression on one of the nuggets. I also checked on my Minelab Metal Detector that indicated a very strong gold tone. Is there a way to extract the Gold from the quartz matrix?

[BChpman]

I have higher resolution if anyone wants to see them give me your email....

[Peter Megaw]

There are a number of ways to do this...most using pretty nasty chemicals...mercury, hydrofluoric acid, cyanide etc. Given the size of the rock and the amount of gold to recover it would probably cost more in time and chemicals than the gold is worth

You may be better off getting the piece polished ...it looks like the gold is dense enough to show up well. Getting the piece wet will give you a good idea of what it would look like either polished rough or cut into a shape and polished. A good lapidary could do this easily. More than one gold collector has found a nice piece of gold-rich quartz and had a heart-shaped piece cut and polished for giving to a sweetheart who has a "heart of gold" or needs one! Corny but very popular

[Goldfinger]

Better yet, just keep it as a specimen. Hard to see how much gold is in it though. There are formulas one can use to get a rough idea of the gold content without destroying the specimen.

Steve

[BChpman]

I have wet pictures at macro the gold is all throughout, I can get more pieces, I have a bigger than the one shown and many smaller.

[BChpman]

Wet close up

[BChpman]

Another Wet Close Up

[Pete Modreski]

That looks like a very rich piece (and good size too), and it's a real "treasure" of a find!

It is definitely much more valuable as a mineral specimen of natural North Carolina gold in quartz, than any extraction of the gold would be. And I think, it would be more prized in its natural state as is, than being polished in any way (though this might depend on your preference!).

Is the gold just on the one surface, or is it on the "bottom" too and all the way through?

Congratulations,
Pete

[Pierre Joubert]

Hi Bchpman, it looks like you found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I agree with others. I would sell them as specimens.

[gemlover]

Nice one Ben, unfortunately, most assayers are not located in NC. You might be able to locate someone who could evaluate the commercial value of your ore. Check with one of your local geology departments, they might be able to give you a referral to a competent economic geologist.

John

[BChpman]

I am actually in FL, the rocks are from a family vacation property in NC, there are many more still cleaning them up.

[BChpman]

A photo of the back, I will clean better and take more picture soon. I think I agree with the consensus of keeping it as a specimen.

[BChpman]

Last Picture.

[Mark Ost]

A very nice and unusual find. it would be a pity to extract the gold and as Pete said Mercury and Hydrofluoric acid are, to put it mildly, quite hazardous. Remember what happened to the character Dobs in the "Treasure of Sierra Madre" Better to have a really nice piece than succumb to greed! PS. Badges; We don't need no estinking badges!

[Tommy Varro]

Wow, nice recovery. It seem that the Quartz is good for gold hunting? Anyone want to go there with your gold detector? Or anyone buy detectors from detectorall?