Looks to me like Granite and Quartz with some iron what do y'all think ? Is there gold in this rock ?
Any thoughts on if this ore is gold bearing ?
- Thread starter FranklinDonnelly
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Yes there would be gold In it.
Trouble is that there is gold in almost any rock on earth. The question is how much? For most rocks very little. Gold is very widespread in the earths rocks and indeed seawater contains very small amounts.
Your question really is “Is there enough gold in this rock to make it worthwhile trying to extract it?”.
Gold is usually only worth extracting from rocks and veins that have formed from magmatic fluid movements in conditions which concentrate their gold values over eons of activity.
Agree with you it looks like a granitoid/plutonic rock, however such rocks form in conditions that would not normally allow for concentration of gold values.
Trouble is that there is gold in almost any rock on earth. The question is how much? For most rocks very little. Gold is very widespread in the earths rocks and indeed seawater contains very small amounts.
Your question really is “Is there enough gold in this rock to make it worthwhile trying to extract it?”.
Gold is usually only worth extracting from rocks and veins that have formed from magmatic fluid movements in conditions which concentrate their gold values over eons of activity.
Agree with you it looks like a granitoid/plutonic rock, however such rocks form in conditions that would not normally allow for concentration of gold values.
Cool thanks. So best way to find out would be crush to powder and pan it material ? Or Crush and smelt in a small crucible ?
Hawkear has said it well. My answer to such a question would normally be that such a rock will contain no visible gold, such as he implies. Chances are very low. I would ask questions like "why do I think this rock will contain gold rather than any other old rock"? "Why do I want to do all this hard yacka on this rock rather than on another rock that is more likely to contain gold"? "Why do I want to crush ANY rock up when it is much easier to pan or detect gold"?
If I cannot see coarse gold in a rock, or the detector is not screaming over it, it does not interest me. Hard work for negligible return as a rule.
Gold is not all that hard to find - in an hour or so at worst if panning in an old goldfield (usually no fortune but at least you get to see it and feel some sense of achievement). You might have to spend a few days on an old field to get the first bit with a detector, but when you do it is more likely to be coarser and not alone.
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Thanks Goldierocks, I always feel I can make a fool out of myself if I post something on geology / mineralogy before you have had a chance for a go.
Just adding to the topic, even if one were to crush and pan it, any gold that it might contain would most likely be so microscopic as to be invisible to the naked eye in a pan.
But then again FranklinDonnell I never truly learned as much from listening to what other people told me, I learned more from doing things myself.
Yeah, have a go crush it up and pan it off. Don’t die wondering.
Let us know what you find.
Just adding to the topic, even if one were to crush and pan it, any gold that it might contain would most likely be so microscopic as to be invisible to the naked eye in a pan.
But then again FranklinDonnell I never truly learned as much from listening to what other people told me, I learned more from doing things myself.
Yeah, have a go crush it up and pan it off. Don’t die wondering.
Let us know what you find.
No, I find your comments mostly well-informed and wise. If I disagree I will always say so, because I know you have the same aim of providing accurate info to others.
Good point about just having a go. It is the best way to learn what works for you. I started at 14 and spent a lot of time on samples that contained little or nothing, but learnt - and I mostly enjoyed doing it regardless.
Whoa thank you all for your replies! I had no idea the community was so strong here
