QUARTZ AND GOLD

[bcbjim]

hi guys, havent been here in a while. went with a friend to his hunting land and it is in the gold bearing area of eastern alabama. he gave me permission to prospect on it if i wanted. there is quartz everywhere. my question is whats the rule with gold and quartz? is there always quartz where you find gold? is there always gold where you find quartz? and also where should i start looking, where the quartz is on higher ground or in the creeks( most of the creeks on the property are dry)?

any info would be greatly appreciated.

thanks, jim

 

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[Hoser John]

Cracks and crevices in solid bedrock have taken millions of years to concentrate that gold as it has moved by rain and water for you-John

 

[loby]

Hiiiii...

In its original form, gold appears in igneous volcanic hydrothermal (hot water) veins where it is deposited along with quartz, amethyst, other minerals and heavy metal ores. The "Mother Lode" of gold in California is a region crisscrossed by many such quartz-and-gold-filled hydrothermal veins. Nearly all hydrothermal quartz veins everywhere contain some amount of gold. Find the quartz first and then find the gold.
Gold not found always near the quartz but it often is. Much of gold mined is taken from gold ore rather than pure gold. The ore is either iron-stained rock or white quartz. However, white quartz usually contains very small traces of gold. Gold can also be found in the form of gold nuggets, which are 70 to 95 percent gold and the rest being almost always silver. Therefore, gold is only some times found near quartz.

 

[Terry Soloman]

hi guys, havent been here in a while. went with a friend to his hunting land and it is in the gold bearing area of eastern alabama. he gave me permission to prospect on it if i wanted. there is quartz everywhere. my question is whats the rule with gold and quartz? is there always quartz where you find gold? is there always gold where you find quartz? and also where should i start looking, where the quartz is on higher ground or in the creeks( most of the creeks on the property are dry)?

any info would be greatly appreciated.

thanks, jim

Hello Jim! The answer is NO. Quartz does not always mean gold is about, and No, quartz is not always found with gold. John had good advice. Gold is 19-times heavier than anything else flowing downhill. It will sink until it hits bedrock. Get in those dry creeks and dig down to bedrock. Good Luck!

 

[TerryC]

Jim, gold can be found in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. Finding quartz in eastern Alabama, or anywhere else, for that matter, would not be hard to do as quartz is the most common element on earth. Gold is one of the rarest. And they are often found together.... go figure! To say gold and quartz are many times found together is to say gold veins and gold concentrations are usually formed by geothermal and siesmic activity. The most productive gold-bearing area in the U S is the Carlin trend area of NV. The gold ore found in that area would not have been "rich" enough to successfully mine if it were not for the cyanide heap leaching method that became popular in the '70s. The gold concentration in that area is formed by hydrothermal springs but is not found in veins. In fact, the gold found in the ore there cannot be seen with the unaided eye. It would be my opinion that to hunt down gold, look for the local host rock (other than quartz) that is associated with the lode mines in your area. Ike Tiener (KlondikeIke) gave me a rock containing arsenopyrite and shoryl (black tourmaline) that he found on his claim just west of Stanton, AZ. If a picture is worth a thousand words, that rock is worth a thousand books that try to describe what to look for when gold prospecting. If you want to find a Harley, look for the oil puddles! (tsk tsk) TTC