Native Gold in Quartz - McLaughlin Mine, California 5.97 grams

A bright 5.97-gram window into a California gold rush of a different kind — elemental native gold tracing dendritic, tree-like patterns through glassy white quartz.

This cabochon was cut from rough mined at the McLaughlin Mine in the 1980s, originally part of the study collection assembled by the mine's geologist over his years on site. The gold occurs in its natural state within a hydrothermal vein, the arborescent growth set against black mudstone — a flow-breccia melange that cutters love. 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

A genuinely one-of-a-kind piece — the 5.97-gram cabochon shown is the one that ships to you.