Native Gold in Quartz - McLaughlin Mine, California 7.54 grams

A collector's gem in the truest sense — this 7.54-gram cabochon shows native gold growing in delicate, branching dendrites through bright white quartz.

The gold is elemental and natural, cut from rough mined at the McLaughlin Mine in California in the 1980s and preserved by the mine's geologist from his own study collection. It formed in a hydrothermal vein, the arborescent growth set against black mudstone within a mineral-rich flow-breccia zone that lapidary artists treasure. Some of this material fluoresces 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 7.54-gram cabochon in the photos is the exact piece you'll receive — one of a kind.