MARIPOSITE QUARTZ AND GOLD SPECIMEN 2.47 GRAMS CALIFORNIA GOLD IN QUARTZ

Description: GOLD QUARTZ w/MARIPOSITE SPECIMEN from CALIFORNIA Ruler is 1/4" wide (6 mm). U.S. 10 cent coin is 17 mm in diameter. Specimen weight: 2.47 Gram - 38.2 Grains Size: 21.3X12.9X7.6 mm Here's a cool specimen from the Mother Lode. So this wicked rock might be re-homed to a 'true believer' in the esoteric species, I'm lowering the price again. I can't believe some true gold aficionado hasn't swooped this one up already. Inside the bedded, crusty, brown calcite at one end, a sizable zone of gold is visible. This Au covers an area measuring roughly 11X16 mm. The green mineral, Mariposite, inhabits this same zone. The gold wasn't 'salted' there. I didn't shotgun 'salt' it. No man planted, pasted, or painted it on. Since I didn't make the discovery, a California Mother Lode provenance is the only light to be shone on it's origin. I believe it's most likely from the southern Sierra Nevada Mtns., either Tuolumne or Calaveras Cty. For those who've kept track of my store these past twenty three years, you know I don't sell low-grade specimens. If it shows gold, it can't be low grade. This rock is bona fide authentic. I deal in naturally-occurring gold ores with visible gold. These high-grade beauties are hard to find and expensive to obtain. No, you won't get your money's worth in gold. That's because my prices aren't based on the amount of gold contained in these rocks, but on the fact that it's there. U.S. SHIPPING - $4.00 (includes USPS tracking to all U.S. destinations) INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS S&H $16.00 FAST REFUND OFFERED (If, for any reason, you're not happy with this item) I poured through old mining dumps for years looking at orange-yellow-rusty rock through a loupe, but I never found a piece with visible gold. Hydrothermal solutions carrying gold and silica crystallized into veins of gold quartz. This specimen comes from one of the many gold-bearing vein systems of California, The Golden State. 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 www.paypal. 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 MINERS, CLAIMS, AND THE CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH Rock this rich, containing visible gold as it does, isn't what a miner would consider ‘run-of-the-mill’ ore. The lion’s share of gold ore being mined now or in any other time period is much lower-in-tenor. Most tonnage produced from lode deposits assays less than an ounce of gold per ton. Many Mother Lode districts produced higher-grade ore as placer float, chunks of gold-bearing quartz which had broken off from richer sections of a vein. I suspect this is a piece of 'float rock' detected by someone. Of a similar nature was pocket gold dug from close-to-the-surface outcroppings. These epithermal deposits, characterized by the presence of 'caprock' or oxidized iron, have considerable gold mixed in. Featured rock fits that description. It’s well-known that hard rock miners, whenever an opportunity presented itself during the Gold Rush's early years, purloined, high-graded, flat-out stole rich ore from the mines where, in most cases, they were employees. Many finders of gold quartz, whether ‘high-graded’ or legally mined, undoubtedly milled it up. In that manner, they extracted gold from the rock themselves leaving few clues behind. Seeing un-milled ore intact, many locals could most likely have identified the source mine. Once separated from worthless gangue (useful as evidence), gold could be assayed, melted, weighed, and sold. Primitive methods of smelting and refining would have rendered gold unrecognizable from gold found anywhere in the world. Other miners, and one can but speculate on the particulars involved in such transactions, probably brought high grade rocks they found to assayers whose job it was to determine gold purity and to check for the ore's tenor (i.e. value). Seemingly, this would be an integral part of any major underground mining operation where it was imperative that values be known in advance before ore bodies were developed. Assayers may have free-lanced; had sidelines like, for instance, and this is pure conjecture, processing and/or buying high grade ore (rock like this). One might also surmise that likely as not every merchant and long-time local living in these Mother Lode towns would, by this time, have learned plenty about the ins and outs of gold mining. Chances are, they knew most miners and what diggings were being worked by whom. They would be educated on how well different mines and miners were faring. It stands to reason the majority of local towns-folk and business-owners would be acquainted with the area's mines and claim owners. One might think if they were stake-holders, all interested parties in Mother Lode communities would be exceedingly well-informed about claims and mine status, mine ownership, mining technologies, about buying and selling gold, processing ores, refining gold, assaying gold, et al. Thanks for checking out our digs. Gold of Eldorado 1-14-13

Price: 90 USD

Location: Banks, Oregon

End Time: 2024-12-22T23:35:48.000Z

Shipping Cost: 4 USD