Gold in Quartz Valuation? Worth anything?

Hello all,
I have a approx 5” x 4” x 3” piece of quartz with gold ore running through/around it. The piece weighs 1lb 10oz. The gold is concentrated in a few areas, as well as sprinkled all over the quartz. I measured the largest gold section and it was 2”x 1.5” of solid gold (at least on top, I can’t tell how far in it goes). My question is if anyone might be able to estimate what this might be worth. I’ve had an offer from a man who wanted to purchase it for $100, but I just didn’t know what to say on price. Any help on what this gold in quartz might be valued at would be appreciated.

Thank you!

Current gold prices are about 40 to 45 dollars per gram. Looking at the size of the stone, and the surface, I would estimate about 1-3 grams worth of gold. Gold usually deposits on the surface of the stone in the manner currently visible, so I doubt you have any substantial veins within. As a result, you are looking at 45-135 dollars worth of gold in weight with a median value of 68 dollars. The greater value falls into the novelty of the piece. It is a large, visually striking stone if kept as is could fetch 150-300 dollars… However, if it was carved, while keeping the majority fo the gold intact, the value will increase substantially, easily into 500 plus. And if its a well known carver, I would say middle 4 digit realm.

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Thank you so much for your informatively succinct response. You’ve given me options. I love options. Now, i’m off to research well known…would it be lapidaries or “lapidiologists”? Heh.

Thanks again!

Hello, As an ex-gold miner, and a prospecting store owner, I can advise that this is not something you base the price with the gold content. This is a great looking specimen piece, and should be sold as such. It is great for display in a jewelry store, or school, or even a museum. . I would probably sell this in a store for $200. That being said, it would take a while to sell, but it would sell with all that visible gold.

If you ever want to know exactly how much gold is actually in the quartz, you can find that out with a specific gravity test, by weighing it in and out of water. If it were mine, I would do that, just in case there is a large pocket of gold inside. At over 1K per ounce, it ads up fast.

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Given the size of the specimen and the amount of actual gold showing, I would contact a few dealers in high end mineral collections. You might be surprised to find the piece would be worth several hundred dollars to a collector.

I agree with gemsbytim,
A specific gravity test needs to be calculated to give you a rough idea how much gold is actually in the specimen. Check out Gold in Quartz - How to Calculate the Gold Content for the details. It is not completely accurate but will give you a pretty good idea on a rough gold value. This is what collectors call a gold specimen and prices for these can vary depending on what the collector is willing to pay. The locality from where the specimen came from can also have an influence on the price.ie if the mine is now closed and specimens are no longer available then this influences the price. Is there any crystalline gold showing? Good crystalline gold can sell for much much higher than the gold spot price?? This can also influence the price. If your not desperate for money I would wait until you can gather as much info as you can. Location? Crystalline? Actual gold content? (Specific gravity test) Once you have as much info as possible then whack a crazy price on it and let people make you offers. Only accept if you are happy. Any native gold is very rare and should be priced accordingly. Kind regards Gregory

You can measure the specific gravity of the stone and then measure its volume via the amount of water displaced. Knowing the SG of quartz and of ~22kt gold (I’m guessing at the purity) you could arrive at a percentage or gold in it and then compute the weight of the gold. This tells you what that weight of gold would be worth, once extracted. As a specimen, it is worth what someone would pay for it, which might be somewhat more than the spot value of the gold, but you would need to take it to some mineral collectors to determine that. Of course, I’m assuming it is gold and not something else, like pyrites. I’d take this to a mineralogy professor for starters, or maybe your local gem and mineral club could put you onto someone who would help you evaluate it. I would not sell it for $100, since if it is gold and there’s half an ounce of it, that would be worth about $650 at spot. IDK who would extract it or what they would charge to do that, tho. I’d say you could certainly end up with 50-75% of the value of the gold, though, maybe more. A hundred dollars worth of gold is about 2.5 gms.

Good luck!

Also as a gold miner by profession, to have visible gold such as this is rare, and the value is more than the gold value alone. If you knew the deposit this came from it would help put this piece in context both as rarity, purity, and a range of gold concentration of the material. There does seem to be some smearing of the gold on the surface from drilling or some other mechanical means which decreases the gold from a specimen stand point. If you do have a large run seem mass of gold inside the stone, and it displays gold crystals your value should go up dramatically. Nice piece, I have seen many cabons cut for vg in qtz. Good luck I would be one that would not sell something like that. It is a nice piece for any gold collection.

Thank you all so much. I have found a professor at a university closeby who may be willing to look the specimen over for me. I can update with what he says.

Cheers!

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I was thinking this is also quartz with some gold… I did only the streak test and it looked like a gold streak but I worry about my lack of knowledge on similar streak colors of gold color minerals… And I don’t want to keep streak testing in case…

I’m wondering if the little guy next to it may be a Moonstone?