WHITE GOLD CALCITE SPECIMEN 4.2 GRAM NATURAL CALIFORNIA GOLD AND QUARTZ

Description

NATIVE GOLD QUARTZ SPECIMEN
from the
MOTHER LODE
R
uler is
1/4"
wide (6 mm). U.S. 10 cent coin is 17 mm in diameter.
S
pecimen weight:
4.2
G
ram -
64.8
G
rains
S
ize:
21.7X12.6X10.8
mm
W
hite silicate rock, a banded calcite-carbonate, plays host to two (2) sizable exposures of high-purity gold - one on either side. If you're dubious, just remember, this comes from California's Mother Lode where, seemingly, no limit exists to the diverse ores encountered in this crazy-rich cordillera. True gold aficionados need this one. Again, we have entered into the mystical, metallurgical realm of GOLD! Amongst countless mineral associations occurring in nature, this is but one. In my book, it's the most exciting discipline of all. There's no need for a pocket lens to see the gold protruding from this odd, calcitic reject from the subterranean caverns. The concretionary coating seems to be carbonaceous sandwiching quartz in between it in true, Oreo cookie-like fashion. Featured specimen was Born-in-the-U.S.A. and is naturally-occurring. I guarantee it.
All my rocks show visible gold and are
authentic
.
I don't sell low grade gold ores. I sell naturally-occurring gold quartz ores with visible gold. Most are from the U.S. These high-grade beauties are expensive to obtain and even harder to find. Prices aren't based upon the amount of gold contained, but on the authenticity, rarity and collectability of specimens.
U.S. SHIPPING - .00
(includes USPS tracking to all U.S. destinations)
INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS S&H
.00
FAST REFUND OFFERED
(If, for any reason, you're not happy with this item)
For years, I poured through old mining dumps inspecting orange-yellow-rust rock through a loupe. In all that time, I never found a solitary piece with visible gold. Doesn't that seem strange to you? It does to me, law of averages and all. Oh yeah! Tell me how easy it is to find gold. It's not! That's the reality of it, and yet, having spent eighteen years in the placer fields of North American, I still believe a person 'in the know' stands a respectable chance of hitting minable gold deposits provided they have the proper tools and the right claim.
Hydrothermal solutions carried gold and silica into fissures. As they cooled, these minerals hardened (i.e. crystallized) and gold veins came to be. That's how gold quartz, as it is known, is created. The specimen offered here comes from one of the many vein systems sourcing the immense placer deposits of the Sierra Nevada Mtns, the famed Mother Lode.
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.
U.S. BUYERS & INTNL.
PAYMENTS
For U.S. buyers: We accept paypal
For intnl. customers: We accept paypal.
Pay securely with
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.
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 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
OPENING UP A HOLE
T
oo much overburden is one of a gold dredger's worst laments. Much about successful dredging in large rivers (or creeks) depends upon the mining history of an area, luck, and an operator's hunch. I always figured chance favored the guy who liked to dig like a gopher. The dredger with no quit in him, the one prepared to keep punching holes until he finds what he's after. That's the guy who ultimately meets with success. Just ask 'Chile Joe'. He'll tell you about tenacity. When there's countless feet of gravel to penetrate, one has to believe they're in the right spot before committing to a hole which could conceivably take several days of sucking gravel before bedrock is ever reached. Confronted with twenty feet of overburden means terracing off large expanses of sediment one layer at a time. Once a layer is removed, the diver working the nozzle, proceeds on to the next layer and so on and so forth. Upon reaching bottom, this method eventually allows enough bedrock to be exposed so that any meandering paystreak inhabiting that stretch of creek or river-bottom might ultimately be intersected. It's easy to miss a paystreak entirely even with one close by. Punching your nozzle into the gravel and heading towards the bottom quickly reveals the pitfalls of such ill-advised techniques. Just watch the Gold Rush dredger blokes who demonstrate time and again exactly what I mean. How many times have we seen them break the cardinal rule of 'safety first' in developing one of their numerous excavations? You'd think they might have learned something by now. Of course, there's a million dollars worth of gold down there, so everybody's in a big rush to find it. A million dollars, my fanny! ha ha. I figure, by encouraging the miners to throw caution to the wind, the show's producers thereby create more drama and suspense. It's dumb and dangerous, plain and simple. 'Stupid is as stupid does."
Count on overburden to hold minimal gold, but you've really no choice but to pump all that barren dirt if you want to reach bedrock. Even when a hole is developed by the terracing method, there's no guarantee a paystreak's going to be waiting on country rock down in the basement. If you know what's good for you, don't work below boulders my friends. That's a careless recipe for disaster. A personal friend had his leg broken when a boulder plummeted down from behind him.
B
oulders are often encountered at or near the bottom. In narrow creeks, you're more likely to encounter boulders from top to bottom throughout the sedimentary strata. They're also hanging suspended from embankments waiting for something to jar them loose from sand and tangled root-systems. Boulders come in all sizes, shapes, weights, and compositions. Many times, good, paying ground awaits in their proximity. At the same time, boulders are a miner's fearful nemesis reminding one of just how dangerous gold dredging can be. But this is gold mining. Historically, miners are known to tackle just about any adversity one can think of to get at the gold.
Many of these big rocks concentrated down on bedrock can be nudged out of the way with a pry bar. Many can't. Using a come-a-long or powered winch, you generally need to open up space around bigger rocks so a choker cable can be secured. Nowadays, I see they've designed super-claws which clamp onto boulders which are then high-lined away. Pretty cool concept, really. Did I mention that boulders high in the overburden or suspended above you are extremely dangerous? I thought so. If you have a powered winch, yank them out of the hole and try to drag them some distance from your excavation. Whatever you do, always stay on top of boulders, not the other way around. If you're in good gold, it's definitely advisable to keep your hole and working face clear of larger rocks. With many miners, the discovery of gold sets off an instinctual 'shark feeding frenzy'. It's advisable to keep one's emotions in check and proceed cautiously, safely. Conditions are rarely the same from one dredge site to the next, from one drainage to another. Be careful, mates. Dredging is dangerous work.
Welcome to the wild, wacky world of gold mining!
Thanks for checking out our digs.
G
old of
E
ldorado
1-14-13