# Quartz and pyrite =gold?



## martymcfly (Aug 10, 2013)

Recently ive stumbled onto a stream thats full of sparkling pyrite and also has quartz. Almost every stone has speckles of pyrite in it. Would this be a good place to potentially pan out for gold or is this combination found in practically every stream?

thanks


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## Geo (Aug 10, 2013)

look for black sands. remember, there wont be gold everywhere there is black sand, but there will always be black sands where there is gold.


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## butcher (Aug 10, 2013)

I normally do not like working an area where I see a lot of pyrite, the pyrite is light, gold is heavy, pyrite will settle where the lighter material can settle, gold which will normally travel along the bottom of the stream or river, normally under the lighter sand and gravel traveling along the bedrock, until it gets caught in the bedrock, or hard pan, while the pyrite floats on down stream, until the water calms enough to deposit the pyrite and lighter sands, this is not to say that deep under all of that light pyrite and sand and gravel that you will not find any gold down at bedrock, or that you may find a little where you find the lighter sands, but the river acts like your pan or sluice box gold gets caught on the bottom or is last to pan off, while the pyrite light sands and gravel floats out of the pan early or is washed quickly out of the sluice box.


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## solarsmith (Sep 4, 2013)

pyuritic gold... a good find... get a fire assay and go from there... does the pyrite tend to be in with the last of the material in the pan?
are you in an area that has known pyuritic gold ore?
pyrite can contain gold or copper and other things as well..
the gold pyrite should be a verry small cube shape if it formed a cube at all. panning is not the way to pull out pyrite.. although a friend has done a good job of concentrating using a spiral wheel. good luck


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