Native Gold in Quartz - McLaughlin Mine, California 5.73 grams

Few materials feel as alive as native gold growing through quartz, and this 5.73-gram cabochon captures it beautifully — bright dendritic gold spreading in fine branches across a clear quartz field.

It was cut from elemental, naturally occurring gold mined at the McLaughlin Mine in California during the 1980s, saved by the mine's geologist as part of his personal study collection. The gold formed in a hydrothermal vein, its arborescent habit framed by black mudstone in a mineral-rich flow-breccia zone. Some pieces from this find fluoresce bright yellow to green under longwave UV light.

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 5.73-gram cabochon in the photos is the exact piece you'll receive — no two are alike.