Need to know if this is gold? New at this prospecting stuff:)

Found these pieces in the larger rocks in pics, smashed up most of the rocks, this is what I had left after panning, any ideas on what type of metal?[img][/img][img][/img]

looks like gold to me

Awesome, I thought gold was real bright yellow, this is very pale.

hard to say now that you have the big picture up could be pyrites...but the smaller pic looks like gold

ok, no smart comments please cos this is a serious question.....

Julzngemz, Do the pieces have clevage? As in, when broken, does the metal have a flat surface?

cheers

some bits do

Looks like Mica to me. Mica/Pyrites are often associated with gold/goldfields though Pyrites can show up anywhere. There might be some gold in there mixed in but it looks too 'silvery' to me. Gold is very heavy so by panning it, the gold should move much slower in the pan when you swirl the water at the end of the process.

If you can flake the material with very little effort then it's probably Mica. If it's hard but crumbles it may be Pyrites. To be certain, strike a small fragment with a hammer... Gold will flatten out due to its malleable properties. You'll know immediately if it's gold. Pyrites should crush and Mica should do the same.

Gday


Yes definately pyrites, very often silvery in colour with some being rather brassy (gold) looking, as nero suggests crushing it will give you the answer, pyrites will turn to dust where gold will just flatten out, however there may be some gold in those specimens but I doubt it, once you have crushed it up try panning it off and see what you get, and gold will leave a tail in the pan where the rest will float out of the pan.

cheers

stayyerAU

Arsenopyrite..................

Julzngems,
Pyrites for sure, which as mentioned is mostly associated with gold, hence the common name, Fools Gold, arose because of this.
Full description here;
http://www.geology.neab.net/minerals/pyrite.htm

Cheers

If you have a metal detector put a small coil on and see if you get a signal.No signal ,not gold.

fools gold! but can be an indicator that your in gold country

I'm with the sampler........Arsenopyrite (FeAsS).

Edit: From Wikipedia.....Arsenopyrite also can be associated with significant amounts of gold. Consequently it serves as an indicator of gold bearing reefs. Many arsenopyrite gold ores are refractory, i.e. the gold is not easily liberated from the mineral matrix.

Arsenopyrite is found in high temperature hydrothermal veins, in pegmatites, and in areas of contact metamorphism or metasomatism.

Soluble in Nitric acid...Garlic odour when struck.!

put it in sunlight, if it sparkles bright gold, then it's pyrite.

if it remains it's dull look, then possibly gold.

Thanks all, will hammer it and pan it:)

If you think it might be gold, just ditch it. It ain't. You will know gold the first time you see it without a shadow of a doubt.

I Concur, do you concur?

if that means agree, then yes:)

it looks like pyrites but I have found pyrites and gold in the same rock, smash it up fine , mix it with water and pan it, its not hard to tell the difference.
pour some hydrochloric acid on it and if it is affected in any way it is pyrites, gold is unaffected by acid.
Hydrophlouric acid is better, but because it is lethal, it is banned.

crushed it, panned it, found a tiny slither of gold, only tiny but somthing hehe

Well thats a great result Julzngemz, at least you have a definite indicator of the good stuff !

Only found lead today meself ..tomorrows another day might do better

cheers stevo

yeah have fun

The fact that you broke the rock and attained such irregular shaped pieces would suggest if not gold with a lot of other elements than it will be pyrite, If it's pyrite it will smell like "Sulfur", If you have no idea what sulfur smells like, just imagine something with a high amount of
unpleasantness about it, Gold won't smell at all!
Cheers
Chris.