Was talking to a distant relative the other day and he was telling me a rock his mate found once in WA outback and gave one to him he said I can have. Having no experience in raw gold what do you think is it gold or something else? Gave it a test with Acid and still tests strong at 22k but im not sure of limitations of a acid test when it may come to other minerals. Ideas?
Clawhammer! He'd have an idea just by looking at the host rock, looks like there's some coppery stuff in there maybe with the blueness. I think there was a similar thread a few months back and the host rock had some blue in it and it turned out to not be gold. But I'd be interested to hear what he says. ^^^^ and there's the other guy who might have an idea.
Ill give it a clean see what it looks like. Im not interested in keeping it what is easiest way to extract gold or maybe sell it to a rock/gold collector on ebay?
If selling on ebay best to leave as is. Specimens are rarer than nuggets and removing the quartz will only leave an average quality nugget, still with a lot of impurities. Dunno about listing it as containing gold if your unsure. My opinion is not a fact so you cant list it as a gold specimen "because EM thinks so".
Thats what I was going to suggest but assumed that you didnt have access to one due to acid testing. Oh, and the acid can discolour and damage the quartz...not the ideal way to test specimans.
Gave it a clean all blue came off just the quartz and the goldy colour left and a few darker patches. Ill be able to xrf it on Friday when i run some scrap gold to Sydney altho not holding my breath after reading other thread. I can see it going in the bin
Great photos. The problem with Macros is you loose depth of field. Looks like pretty much just Chalcopyrite and buck quartz. There's no apparent crystal structure to indicate pyrite or marcasite. When you see gold in these kind of rocks its unmistakeable, it's a really gold colour like the spot I highlighted with the arrow... not the 'brassy yellow' of 'fools gold'. (and No, I'm not suggesting that that spot is gold... just a trick of the light) Also, you'll be able to feel the sample is denser than normal. And old rule of thumb is that by the point that the ore grade reaches visible specks you're at or above 30gms per tonne, or nearly an ounce per tonne, which is pretty rich these days. You'll be able to feel the sample is heavy for its size. Remember, gold is twice as 'heavy' as lead... you can't mistake it.
It's actually quite a nice specimen you have there. What size is it approximately? Unfortunately it is a form of molten pyrite and will not contain gold. Nice none the less though...
