Native Gold in Quartz - McLaughlin Mine, California 10.73 grams

This 10.73-gram cabochon is a display-worthy slice of California gold history — rich arborescent native gold branching boldly through bright white quartz.

Cut from rough mined at the McLaughlin Mine in the 1980s, it comes from the study samples the mine's geologist kept from his years working the deposit. The gold is elemental and natural, formed in a hydrothermal vein with its tree-like growth set against black mudstone in a flow-breccia zone where many minerals mingle. Some of this material glows bright yellow to green under longwave UV.

Mineral: Native (elemental) gold in quartz with mudstone
Locality: McLaughlin Mine, California, USA
Color: Bright gold in white quartz with black mudstone
Formation: Arborescent/dendritic gold in a hydrothermal vein deposit

The exact 10.73-gram piece shown is the one you'll receive — completely one-of-a-kind.