Native gold is highly sought after by collectors for its brilliant metallic luster and malleable nature. It is typically found as nuggets, wires, or crystalline masses in quartz veins and stream-bed placer deposits.
Is this native gold?
5-step field checkRun through these checks against the specimen in your hand. The more boxes tick, the more confident the ID.
- 1Test the hardnessTry to scratch native gold with a known reference. Native Gold sits at Mohs 2.5-3 — softer than the next harder reference, harder than the previous one.
- 2Check the streakDrag the specimen across an unglazed porcelain plate. Native Gold leaves a golden yellow streak.
- 3Read the lusterHold the specimen under a strong light. Native Gold typically shows a metallic luster.
- 4Match the color rangeCompare against the expected color range: gold, brass-yellow.
- 5Look at form & habitCrystal system: cubic. Typical habit: nuggets, dendritic, wires, leaves, flakes.
Often confused with
Native Gold vs. its common look-alikes — and how to tell them apart in the field.
How to tell apart: Pyrite is the harder of the two (Mohs 6-6.5 vs. 2.5-3); streak differs — Native Gold leaves golden yellow, Pyrite leaves greenish-black to brownish-black.
How to tell apart: Streak differs — Native Gold leaves golden yellow, Chalcopyrite leaves greenish-black.
How to tell apart: Streak differs — Native Gold leaves golden yellow, Mica leaves white; luster reads metallic on Native Gold and pearly on Mica.
Often found alongside native gold
Minerals reported to co-occur with native gold. Spotting these in float or country rock is a strong cue you are in the right ground.
All properties
- Chemical formula
- Au
- Mohs hardness
- 2.5-3
- Density
- 15.0-19.3 g/cm³
- Colors
- Streak
- Golden Yellow
- Luster
- Metallic
- Transparency
- Opaque
- Crystal system
- Cubic
- Crystal habit
- Nuggets, Dendritic, Wires, Leaves, Flakes
- Cleavage
- None
- Rarity
- Common
- Uses
- Collector, Jewelry, Industrial, Investment
- Host rock
- Hydrothermal Quartz Veins, Alluvial Placer Deposits
- Typical price
- $50-500 thumbnail, $1000+ cabinet specimen
Where rockhounds find native gold
Classic worldwide localities
- Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa
- Kalgoorlie, Australia
- Carlin Trend, USA
- Muruntau, Uzbekistan
- Klondike, Canada
Field-hunting tip
Look in hydrothermal quartz veins, alluvial placer deposits country — that is the host setting where native gold typically forms. If you start seeing quartz, pyrite, arsenopyrite in float, you are in the right ground. Field specimens usually show a nuggets, dendritic, wires, leaves, flakes habit, so train your eye for that shape before scanning the outcrop.
Common questions
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Find native gold on the map
RockHoundR shows mapped rockhounding spots, access rules, and lets you log every find.
