2.4 grams Gold ore in Quartz - known as Calaverite (item#518)

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A really beau tiful pi ece . This 2.4 grams of Iron Oxide Copper Gold Ore, also known as Calaverite, contains a tiny amount of Quartz and measures 1" x 1/4" x 1/4" (inches). Our assay tests reveal this type to gold ore to contain: copper, iron, gold , silver, platinum and rhodium. All the paperwork displayed in the photo, which includes a copy of the assay test from the area of discovery and other valuable information about this piece are also included. Found near Mount Shasta, California, ( Siskiyou County ) this type of specimen is generally considered to have been formed by extremely high pressure and temperatures. Mount Shasta is a large active volcano (erupting once every 800 to 4500 years) and is very near to where this gold was found. So what is Calaverite? Calaverite is a combination of tellurium and gold. Calaverite is the name of a tellurium bearing mineral that occurs in certain low temperature hydrothermal veins, but is also sometimes found in higher temperature veins. It is brittle and has a brassy gold to silver white metallic sheen. It’s appearance sometimes confounded old time prospectors who confused it with pyrite or arsenopyrite. It commonly occurs in the presence of sulfide minerals. Unlike most Pyrites, Calaverite contains significant gold - about 40% gold by weight. With a 40 percent gold content by weight, you can see it wouldn’t take much calaverite to make for some very rich ore. Calaverite is an uncommon and much sought after mineral by mineral collectors and those seeking fortunes. Calaverite is one of the few minerals that is an ore of gold, besides native gold itself. It is the most common gold bearing mineral besides native gold. The element gold is typically either found as native gold (in its elemental state), as an alloy with other metals such as silver and copper and as trace amounts in a few minerals. To be an actual significant part of a non-alloyed mineral is really quite uncommon for gold and this makes calaverite a unique mineral indeed ._____________________________________________________ A short history about Calaverite and the acclaimed Gold Rush: Calaverite was first recognized and obtained in 1861 from the Stanislaus Mine, Carson Hill, Angels Camp, in Calaveras County, California. In the initial phase of the Kalgoorlie gold rush in Western Australia in 1893, large amounts of calaverite were initially mistaken for fool's gold, and were discarded. The mineral deposits were used as a building material, and for the filling of potholes and ruts. Several years later, the nature of the mineral was identified, leading to a second gold rush of 1896 that included excavating the town's streets. _____________________________________________________ Tellurium has a rich history, if anything, having played a role in every stage of mining and materials science since 1849. During the space race, mining and metallurgy eventually became materials science, an interdisciplinary field of science and engineering incorporating physics and chemistry. Any engineer will tell you that looks aren't everything. Tellurium, in the throws of its own fifteen minutes, has the potential to become similarly priced to Gold in the long term due to its increasing use in the highest tech applications!_____________________________________________________ Gold Bearing Quartz is one of the world's rarest forms of natural gold. It is found underground by hard rock miners in only a few locations in the world. Most of the World's production comes from a handful of mines in Northern California. This unique formation of very difficult to find "POCKETS" of GOLD in QUARTZ is being mined 1500 to 2500 feet below the earth's surface. Veins of gold bearing quartz are well known in California, and historically they have produced millions of dollars worth of gold. Their formation and the gold they contain are of interest. Quartz mines are found and worked in a great many counties in California, from Siskiyou on the north to San Diego on the south. __________________________... read more

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