NATIVE GOLD QUARTZ from QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

Ruler is 1/4" wide (6 mm). U.S. 10 cent coin is 17 mm in diameter.

Specimen weight: .7 Gram - 10.9 Grains

Size: 10.8X9.3X6.2 mm

Featured calc-silicate host contains a rich filling of gold. As a matter of fact, Au permeates much of the host. Minor inclusions of greyish wall rock and black graphite are also associated. Origin is a historic hard-rock mine located in eastern Australia, Queensland's famed Gympie-Eldorado. Gold ores mined around the globe are diverse mineralogically. You've entered the mystical realm of gold, so there's no telling what might be encountered. In my book, gold inside host rock (usually quartz) is the most interesting mineral association of all. There's no need for a pocket lens to see the gold here. If you're dubious after reviewing the plethora of highly-placed rocks listed in this category, you have every right to be. Rest assured that all my gold specimens (and cabs) contain and show VG (visible gold). I don't and never will deal in 'leaverites' and faux (faked) specimens.

I don't deal in low grade ores, period. These high-grade beauties are difficult to find and expensive to boot. My prices aren't based on how much gold there is, but on the fact that it's there - authentic, rare, visible, valuable, and collectible.

U.S. SHIPPING - $4.00 (includes USPS tracking to all U.S. destinations) INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS S&H $16.00 (sorry about the increase)
FAST REFUND OFFERED (If, for any reason, you're not happy with this item) For years, I scoured through old mining dumps examining every manner of rock with my pocket lens, aka loupe. In all that time, I never found one piece with VG (visible gold). That's still hard to believe.
Hydrothermal solutions under intense pressure carry super-heated, dissolved gold, silica, and assorted minerals. These are injected into fissures, faults, shear zones, and other permeable rock formations. As these pregnant waters cool down, the minerals carried inside them crystallize and metal-bearing, hard rock ore bodies are born. That's basically how auriferous quartz veins come into being. In states like Nevada, even larger ore bodies have been discovered in recent years. These are currently being mined on a large scale.
Weight Conversions: 15.43 GRAINS = 1 GRAM 31.103 GRAMS = 1 TROY OUNCE 24 GRAINS = 1 PENNYWEIGHT (DWT) 20 DWT = 1 TROY OUNCE 480 GRAINS = 1 TROY OUNCE

S & H

Discounted for combined shipments.

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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

Geology of The Sixteen to One Mine

During the past 20 + years, geologic research in the fields of thermodynamics, geochemistry and plate tectonics has greatly improved our understanding of crustal evolution and the distribution of metals within the earth’s crust. Across the globe, whether in North America, South America, Canada, Asia, Africa, Europe, Australia, China, Russia, the Philippines, or one of many other regions where major gold deposits are found, a suite of rocks referred to as greenstones exist. The name greenstone refers to the color of the rock acquired during metamorphism: greenschist facies metamorphism.

In the state of California, the Mother Lode and Alleghany mining districts lie within a greenstone belt that contains world-class gold deposits, one of which is the Sixteen to One vein system. With past production of more than 31 metric tons of gold, it's renowned for producing high-grade pockets of gold.

For over 85 years, our understanding of how this deposit formed has been evolving. A process called carbonate metasomatism formed ribbon quartz veins along en echelon faults that are secondary to the crustal suture known as the Melones fault. These secondary veins (the Sixteen to One) form by replacement as aqueous fluids ascending through cracks in the earth’s crust, removed accessory cations from wall rock minerals.

The Melones fault is the remnant of a compressive or transpressional environment common to convergent plate margins. This fault marks the boundary along which oceanic crustal rock is emplaced against the continent. The fracture system along which the quartz veins formed is an expression of the forces and motion along the crustal suture. The Alleghany fracture system originates at the Melones fault which is the conduit for the large volume of fluid that formed the vein system. The volume of fluid can be calculated with reasonable accuracy because the fluid composition is known from fluid inclusion chemistry. The volume of the end product, which is quartz, is known from mining. Fluid chemistry assures us that there is vein continuity to the depth of the Melones fault. HS!!

Thanks for checking out our digs.

Gold of Eldorado 1-14-13

RICH GOLD QUARTZ SPECIMEN .7 GRAMS GYMPIE AUSTRALIA

Geology of The Sixteen to One Mine