Gold on Quartz (RARE locality specimen)

Item Description

We've only seen a select few specimens of Gold from the Navachab Mine in Namibia, and I feel like it's been well over a decade since we've had one to offer. This piece is a nice reference thumbnail featuring actual CRYSTALS of Gold (though slightly crude), which are sitting on Quartz matrix. The Gold crystals are small to be certain, and we've photographed them with a Canon MP-E 65 mm macro lens to better illustrate the quality. If you're a Gold collector, these specimens are virtually impossible to find on the market, as mostly everything that is mined in this deep (over 200 meters) open pit is crushed and processed. For reference, according to the entry on mindat.org, the Navachab Mine started in the 1980s and was estimated to contain over 10 millions tons of ore yielding 2.3 grams of gold per ton, so at today's prices that's well over $1 billion worth of gold. Don't miss out on this hard to find specimen from this lesser-known locality.
From the collection Dr. Robert ("Rob") Bowell, a geochemist and adjunct professor in Geochemistry and Mineralogy at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Rob has a background in applied geology in tropical and deeply weathered terrains, he also has done mining consulting in the fields of due diligence, financial and technical audits, process chemistry, environmental geochemistry, environmental engineering and mineralogy.