Have You Found Gold? How To Identify Gold in The Wild.
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We are often sent pictures of golden rocks with the same question:
“Does my rock have gold in it?”
Most of the time the answer is no. But once in a while you do find gold specimens inside rocks, as nuggets, or (more likely) as flakes or flour gold here. As well as finding flakes, clinkers, nuggets, and flour gold, you can also find gold webbed through the rock in veins.
Is There Gold in Your Rock?
The problem with gold identification is that there are many minerals in the wild that sparkle just like gold does. The most obvious that spring to mind include:
Copper
Chalcopyrite, Pyrite (fool’s gold), and related minerals.
Mica and Micaceous rocks
Rocks which display light plays such as labradorescence and the Schiller effect can also shine gold.
How to Verify That Your Rock Holds Gold?
On the bright side, each of these minerals can be easily ruled out when we are seeking an ID for a gold ore or gold bearing rocks. Following these simple steps will help you eliminate the possibilities and test your rock for gold!
How To Test Your Rock For Gold in 4 Steps
Is the golden mineral hard or soft? If you can jab it with a pin, is it moveable? If it is NOT soft and is brittle or breaks, then you have a pyrite instead of a golden rock.
Is it light or heavy? Mica is so light that it floats on water when it flakes. Gold is multiple times heavier than water. While the gold will sink into the bottom of the river, the mica will float in the water.
Is it flaky? If it is mica schist it might well sink to the bottom of the pan in big clumps. In this case, see if you can separate it into flakes. They resemble fish scales. Micaceous Schist will almost always separate into flakes. Gold will not.
What colour is the streak? If hardness testing doesn’t work and you can’t see any flakes, then you can depend on a streak test to reveal your gold. The underside of your toilet lid is unglazed porcelain. To perform a streak test, draw the gold part of your rock down that unglazed porcelain to reveal the colour that the rock leaves behind. Gold will ALWAYS streak golden. There is no mistaking it. Iron pyrite will have a greenish gold and is the only one that comes close.
You can Buy a Streak Test Kit if your toilet lid is glazed. Pick up a streak test on Amazon UK, Amazon US, or eBay UK.
Fun Fact: Old Timers would bite gold coins in the movies to test if the gold was fool’s gold or not quickly. You can bite gold without breaking it. Not so with pyrite!
Can You Find Gold in Scotland?
Yes, you can. Mainly you will find flour gold with small flakes, the occasional clinker (that’s a small nugget big enough to make a clinking noise when you drop it into your gold pan, and small nuggets.
You can ALWAYS find gold if you pick up a bag of paydirt. Our buddies at Goldwise do Scottish gold which they pan themselves from our rivers and burns, and then seed the dirt with. It's a good way to get in on the hobby. Read about it in our previous blog or visit the Goldwise page and pick up a wee treat for yourself.
Where Do You Find Gold in Scotland?
There are three main areas in Scotland for gold panning. You can find it in the Southern Upland hills, in the far north in Helmsdale, and in the hills surrounding Tyndrum and Connonish in the eastern part of the Southern Highlands.
You can find gold in the Ochil hills but the farmer does not permit it. The man who owns the estate there lost a prized animal down a gold panner’s hole years ago and outright banned the panners altogether. It is not worth the risk of potentially being chased off his land with a shotgun.
Where Do You Get Your License to Pan for Gold in Scotland?
Unfortunately, the long answer is that there is no blanket license for gold panning in Scotland. Added to this, all the gold in the ground in Scotland technically belongs to the crown estates. This is why if you find a huge nugget, you have to declare it. The treasury here in the UK requires every found treasure worth over £5k to be declared. Otherwise, you get people accused of robbing landowners or destroying heritage.
The short answer is that you can buy a seasonal gold panning license for both the Leadhills and the Wanlockhead areas. Speak to the people at the Lead Mining Museum to pan in the Southern Uplands.
To pan in Helmsdale, speak with the Suisgill Estate. They have strict rules that you can pan only for a total of two weeks there in a year.
To pan in Tyndrum you just show up with a pan and hope. The villagers don’t like to have to see panners all day long so it is considered good manners to stay out of sight of the village. I have heard the river behind the Green Welly Stop (currently up for sale, by the way) is a good place to start.
You can’t really pan the Ochils. You could always try and befriend a landowner and bribe them for a shot in their burn. Otherwise just leave it be. It is not worth the potential for law breaking.
The Thing About Gold Panning in Scotland is…
…If we mess it up, more rules will be introduced to tighten restrictions. If you are responsible for messing it up for the rest of the gold panning community, you will be ostracized. Panners tend to police each other for this very reason.
We are already seeing the results of over-eager panners in Wales having extra restrictions on rivers because certain people were taking the P. Don’t be one of them.
And if you are one of them, for the love of all that is holy, don’t tell them we sent you.
Buy a Full gold Panning Set Here on Amazon UK, Amazon US, or eBay UK
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