Gold

Item Description

The attractive and distinctive Gold specimens from the Alta Gold Mine in the Olinghouse District of Nevada are some of the most recognizable and beautifully well-crystallized pieces of Gold from any US locality. These specimens made their way into collections all over the world, and for good reason. This is a nice example of this famous material from the old finds of the 1990s. This miniature specimen hosts a 4 mm patch of small, brilliant, sharp, lustrous, light yellow, highly compressed crystals which resemble thin "leaves" of Gold sitting on matrix. With some magnification, you can see how beautiful and delicate the little Gold "leaves" are with wonderful luster and eye-catching formations. There are a few other spots where additional micro Gold can be seen. The crystals are best seen under the microscope, but you can get a good idea of their quality with a loupe, and I've photographed them with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate their quality. We also found a tiny patch of pistachio green colored Epidote crystals as well, which is very hard to find from this locality! This mine is now closed, with further specimen production unlikely, so if you're a fan of Gold specimens or fine crystallized examples (albeit micro) of native elements, don't miss out on this one.