Gold

A native metal that never tarnishes. In nature it occurs as nuggets, flakes in stream gravel and wires in quartz veins.

Gold specimen — Photo: Alchemist-hp (talk) www.pse-mendelejew.de, CC BY-SA 3.0 de, via Wikimedia Commons

How to identify gold

Extremely heavy — sinks instantly in a gold pan.
Bends and flattens instead of breaking.
Golden streak.
Stays bright yellow in shade and sun alike.

Often confused with

Pyrite
Pyrite is brittle, hard and leaves a black streak.
Compare side by side
Chalcopyrite
Chalcopyrite crumbles to a greenish-black powder.
Compare side by side
Biotite
Weathered mica flakes float and break apart.
Compare side by side

Where it's found

Witwatersrand, South Africa
Carlin Trend, Nevada
Western Australia
Klondike, Yukon

Uses

Jewelry, money, electronics and dentistry.

Rock tumbling

Not suitable for tumbling.

Did you know?

All the gold ever mined would fit in a cube about 22 meters on each side.

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