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GOLD QUARTZ SPECIMEN from COLORADO, USA
Ruler is 1/4" wide (6 mm). U.S. 10 cent coin is 17 mm in diameter. Specimen weight: 1.34 Gram - 20.7 Grains
Size: 16.1X11.8X7.3 mm Here's a rock ripped from the Rocky Mtns. The host is predominantly silicate. Another mineral, possibly manganese oxide, creates the grey quartz effect. XRF analysis shows 7.8 parts Au. This chunk is all of that. What appears to be yellow, high-purity gold is just that and the occurrence is a natural one. No one salted it. In years past, two major mines, the Monarch and the Diamond produced a wealth of mineral riches from a mining district situated in Mosquito Pass not far from Leadville, Colorado. For those who've kept track of my store these past several years, you'll know I don't sell low-grade or simulated (man-made) specimens. If it shows genuine VG (visible gold), it can't be low grade. FYI- Man-made specimens sold as natural gold quartz is just one more form of counterfeiting. I say nix on such practices. Collectors looking for authentic, naturally-occurring gold specimens deserve the real deal, not fakes. My prices aren't based on the amount of gold contained, but on the authenticity, rarity and collectability of these unique pieces. S & H Discounted for combined shipments.
U.S. BUYERS & INTNL.
PAYMENTS Payment must be made within 7 days from close of auction. We ship as soon as funds clear. If you have questions, please ask them before bidding.
REFUNDS
We leave no stones unturned insuring our customers get what they bargained for. If you're not satisfied with this item, contact me. Then, if the problem can't be fixed, return product within 30 days in 'as purchased' condition for a full refund
VIRGIN PAY AND PLACER REDEPOSITS Whether you're hunting for redeposits or virgin ground, it takes testing. The
onis is on you, the prospector, to make that happen. To be successful, sediments must be sampled i.e. the dirt, sand, clay, caliche, whatever manner of loose aggregate has settled in the area. It's the only way to know if gold lies within. While metal detectors are adept at locating coarse gold, a gold pan remains one of a prospector's most important tools. A pan
sample now and then, however, doesn't cut it. In creeks, drywashes, canyons, etc., pay-streaks tend to be irregular. They meander this way and that. Some lie hidden in ancient terraces stranded high above the valley floor. Others rest far below in some riverbottom entombed amongst mobs of tightly-packed boulders. In some regions, paystreaks are buried in bedded alluvium at intermediate levels high above bedrock. In spite of one's best guesses about where to dig, leads of placer gold are easily overlooked. On many claims, one prospecting technique is to cut a trench all the way across the drainage. This exposes the sedimentary rock where it meets with the hard, resistant country rock or true bedrock. If a paystreak exists, thorough sampling at this bedrock/gravel interface should reveal them. Incomplete
sampling is the bane of the impatient prospector. Placer deposits can hide almost anywhere. Sometimes, the best chance of finding virgin ground is to search alongside major riverbottoms or creekbeds. Oftimes, it's undisturbed in ancient first, second, and third level alluvial terraces. Several creeks I've worked yielded gold mostly from benches running alongside hydrologically-active drainages. Gold might also be moving downhill from high-elevation channel remnants. This is 'clip zone' gold which becomes an attractive target for MDers and miners to focus their searches on. Uprooted from it's original deposit, gold is, once again, in-transit, moving downhill. Upon reaching the bottom of a canyon or ravine, it washes further downstream looking for new honey holes where it can again seek temporary lodging. Another entirely different type of placer model is the massive, surficial gold deposits of Australia and Alaska. In the flat outback country Down Under, nuggets seem randomly scattered all across the landscape. What rhyme or reason would cause so much gold to be buried this close to the surface? With the advent of the electronic gold rush, prospectors are confirming the presence of extensive reefs; surface outcroppings which release enormous amounts of placer gold into the ecosystem. In the states, we tend to call this 'pocket gold'. Much the same could be said for the enormous Bering Sea gold deposit spread over hundreds of square miles of seabed. We know glaciers were instrumental, but one almost has to witness their dynamic movements via a time capsule to comprehend such forces at work in nature. In other regions, intermediate level alluvial deposits carry fabulous amounts of gold. Research the famous blue leads of Canada's western provinces. I've seen stratified blue clays in the Monashee and the Cariboo goldfields give up impressive amounts of oro. In desert country, including here in the states, it's possible to find similar deposits high up in the alluvial column. What and where it's found all depends on how much gold was released from local lodes over the epochs and how hard those deposits were hammered by miners in relatively- recent times. Millenial climate change causes irregular water flows. Water plays the most important role as it transports and drops gold during the ever-changing sedimentary cycles of an active watershed. Moving northward into Canada and the western states, one encounters lengthy river systems where seasonal
flooding leaves behind rich surface redeposits on gravel bars. One wonders, if the ground pays this well up close to the surface, what
would a prospector find on bedrock at those sites? There's no set cut and dried rules about gold's haunts. Mining districts tend to be highly nuanced. Only sampling can tell where the gold is. Problem is, at many locations, there's no way to reach bedrock for testing. I worked beneath a
six inch suction dredge for many years. Only rarely were attempts made to mine deeper alluvial deposits containing more than five feet of overburden. Dredgers in the Bering Sea only mine the top two or three feet. If gold's in the area, they don't need to go any deeper. What a luxury, mate. In mountainous terrain containing canyon systems, comprehensive sampling is a tall order. Most of the time, it's virtually impossible. Only operators outfitted with monster excavators,
cats, front-end loaders, and such can open up such deep alluvial masses to test the ground effectively. I'm referring, of course, to dry-land, above-water gravel
deposits. If ground as side pay lies adjacent to active watersheds and sits at the same elevation as the running water, good luck keeping it out of your excavation pit. In geoexploration, little is certain without analysis and nothing comes easy in this gold-finding business. Generally, the best
pay-dirt will be concentrated on, in, and just above bedrock of rivers and creek
channels. In other regions, excellent
flood gold re-deposits exist in the uppermost strata of the most
recently-deposited stream/river gravels. Anything goes in desert and
pediment-type deposits. In drier climes and areas where shallow-seated lode
deposits continue to shed gold, placer gold is found lying very close to the
surface. These present readily-available targets to MDers hunting the many dry
regions of the world.
Thanks for checking out our digs. Gold of Eldorado 1-14-13
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