Who do you go to to verify you've actually got gold in your hands?

[bush-buggy]

Hi there good people.

I'm still in BC, Canada and I have been doing some prospecting and fitness at the same time. I came across what the you tube videos say try to find. I found this creek that flows down between two hills. There's a bedrock exposed sheet, which is bloody slippery when it's raining. Then it goes down into a V shape funnel where there's some small cobble material and then there's a sandbar. There's a continuation of fallen logs over the water but I can visually see other sand bars down beyond where I have hiked. Elk tracks and deer tracks right on that sandbar. Anyway I am washing myself down thinking that this is exactly what they say try to find on streams and creeks. I stare down into the 4 to 8 inch depth of water and I am see yellow reflective shiny bits every few inches. Half a mm typically or smaller. I managed to get some out in my hand and found it reflected on both sides. I had some small zip locks so I filled them where-ever I saw the yellow/golden flakes. I got enough of the sandbar to fill three small zip-locks and now they're drying out on a cooking tray out in the sun.

There's yellow and it's reflective. You can see the shine when you move the tray and get sun on the material. That's all I know I have. So who do I take this stuff to to verify if what I have found is gold or some other mineral?

Thanks for your insights and recomendations!

Have a good day too...

 

[Guest]

Hey mate, Its incredibly rare to simply see gold in the creek and just pick it up, especially that much. Sounds like Mica or Pyrite to me, pretty common mistake by first-timers. Hit a piece with a hammer, if it breaks it aint gold, if it flattens out or "smooshes" it may be gold. Once you get to 10 posts you can post a pic for us. Cheers mate Balx

 

[bush-buggy]

Thanks Balx. I was thinking it might be another mineral. But shiny golden got my attention in that sandbar. So much to learn. Cheers man.

 

[Guest]

No drama, and if its on a sandbar its 100% "fools gold", Real gold sinks as low as it can. Like I said it happens all the time. Not to many months go by on the forum without it tricking someone. Doesnt mean there is no real gold in that creek. Cheers mate Balx

 

[Beagleboy]

Sounds like mica. Gold is heavy.

 

[Ryan27]

The sun and reflection....
Your answer is there. Gold no matter what angle it is exposed to sunlight will radiate the same colour usually bright yellow.
Fools gold will sparkle and then lose its shine when you change the angle you are viewing it in reference to the sun.

 

[bush-buggy]

Thanks for the education. I dried out the sand and I can't see any sparkly gold so it must be the fools gold or mica. I also checked out dredges as soon as I saw the shiny stuff in that sand bar. I came across Keene Engineering and there backpack model that you can hike in. That would be sweet to have in the bush in Australia! Cheers eh!

 

[Teemore]

Awesome country bush-buggy, as dredging is illegal in Oz we can't use them in our creeks/rivers, the Keene products seem pretty popular over here I'm sure a small dredge would increase your chances over there.
Cheers Tom

 

[tika]

Dont be put off-I had a similar experience when I started-I thought I had hit it rich but it was only mica. Usually easy to spot because it flicks around in a pan of water all over the place unlike gold which tends to stay in one place. But I later recovered the real thing in exactly the same spot so there may be gold there.