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NATIVE GOLD QUARTZ from the MOTHER LODE Ruler is 1/4" wide (6 mm). U.S. 10 cent coin is 17 mm in diameter. Specimen weight: 20 Grains (Troy) - 1.29 Gram
Size: 13.3X9.1X8.8 mm Here's another cool gold quartz specimen from the Sierra Nevada Mtns. of California. Brilliant yellow gold (Au) can be seen filling one end of this angular chunk. The Au is splendidly-colored and is of excellent karatage. My prices aren't based on how much gold there is but on the fact that it's there; raw and natural, formed by nature, not by someone's hand. Featured rock contains embryonic gold still inside it's mother's womb. The silicate host is quartz. All my specimens show visible gold and are authentic nuggets or gold+matrix specimens.
S&H Discounted for combined shipments.
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 un-turned 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 FINDING A GOOD
CLAIM
At the beginning, many claims give up a little color. That's generally the reason somebody located the claim or bought it. They see gold and get excited. Regrettably, over the long haul, lots of claims don't pan out. Many are just teaser properties. Some weren't very rich to begin with. Others, having been hammered by the old timers, simply petered out. Despite claims to the contrary, most claims don't replenish themselves. Another class, due mostly to difficult terrain, renders itself impenetrable and/or inaccessible. It takes time, effort, and access to prove up mining claims. Still, even played-out ground produces decent gold every now and then. Promising early signs often suck unsuspecting claim-holders into a game they've no legitimate chance of winning. Yet, in defense of poor dirt, any claim with minable gold on it is a good claim to have. With today's stratospheric gold prices, a pennyweight suddenly has become a respectable day's haul. Back in the 80s and 90s, twenty four grains (Troy), a pennyweight, was worth around $17.50. Today, it's valued at around $200. Many recorded claims contain no gold anyone could profitably mine. Try not to throw your money away on those. I was a cheechako once, naive about gold, and remember how excited I got seeing a little color for a change. One clear method for avoiding that mistake is by sampling extensively. If tempted to buy a claim and the owner's given you the go-ahead, break out your pan and use it. Do some serious testing. Back in the early 1980s, my thirst for gold led me to southwestern Arizona districts near Quartzsite and Yuma. Once I got there, it became obvious that many claims were serving only as winter-long snowbird encampments and little else. This doesn't necessarily disqualify un-mined claims lying there lived on. 'Plaster miners' who own the mineral rights, in all likelihood, haven't even tested the ground. My own gold thirst kept me on the hunt for 'bona fide' claims, i.e. claims with recoverable gold waiting to be found. Finding a smidgeon of gold is almost as much fun as finding a lot. Making consistent pay, however,
is high on every serious miner's wish list. It's a sketchy trade, but mining gets into your blood. Anyone who tackles it could be outdoors every day possibly doing something he really loves. The clock's unplugged. You've thrown off that other fellow's collar. Each day feels like you're a country kid playing in the dirt again. I'm retired, but here I sit, sharing my passion for gold with the world. It's good work when you can find it. Running a business which deals in oro in no way compares with hacking a pickaxe against hard-packed ground. Did I tell you mining's rugged work? At least it is if you're doing it right. I enjoyed the work. It's satisfying in a perverse sort of way. I took pride in my callouses; the bone-jarring exhaustion felt after a day of slinging dirt. I learned plenty about gold's haunts and hiding places. Tracing a lead through some meandering creekbed or drywash, repetitive patterns appear. Being observant and following signposts scattered around the terrain, sometimes your quarry and you intersect. Through decades spent in the trade, I found respectable color; 20 oz seasons and nuggets over 2 oz. There were many more seasons where a single ounce was hard to come by. Every iota of work was by hand or using a suction dredge which is, basically, just a lot more of the same. During my years spent in the goldfields, an important ethos was imparted. I learned it's imperative we clean up after ourselves. Patch up any messes you're about to leave. Don't be a slob miner. There's far too many of those already. The world is rife with mankind's carelessness and if you think that's cool, well I'll debate you on that point. Leave as small a footprint on the earth as you can. "Of the many paths a man might follow, one thing's true...many sets of tracks are left, but one footprint was you." (Rivers of Gold, G. Ralph). I also believe one's word should amount to something that's honorable.
If a claim or property owner asks for 20%
royalty and you agree to those terms, 20% is what they should get. If you're the type who keeps an extra 10% out of the claimowner's share, who jumps somebody else's claim, or isn't true to his word, you reap what you sow. Chances are, in time, you will receive your just desserts. They won't be the mouth-watering variety. Integrity matters.
If
there's one lesson about
prospecting a guy who's been
there
might pass on,
it’s "go where the gold is,
not where it
isn't". Lesson number two - "live an honorable life." Thanks for checking out my digs. Gold of Eldorado 8-13-17
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