Gold
Species
Rare · Au
Native metal resistant to oxidation and most acids. Deposits form in hydrothermal quartz veins or by concentration in alluvial gravels. Malleable enough to be hammered into sheets thinner than a micrometre.
Identity
- Formula
- Au
- Chemical class
- Native element
- Mineral group
- Copper, Silver
- Also known as
- Native gold, Electrum (gold-silver alloy)
- Ore of
- Gold
Crystallography
- Crystal system
- Cubic
- Habits
- Massive, Granular, Dendritic, Octahedral
- Fracture
- Hackly
Physical properties
- Mohs hardness
- 2.5
- Density
- 19.3 g/cm³
- Luster
- Metallic
- Colors
- metallic yellow, orange-yellow
- Streak
- metallic yellow
- Transparency
- Opaque
Geology
- Origins
- Hydrothermal, Sedimentary, Igneous
- Host rocks
- Granite, River gravels and sands
- Associated minerals
- Quartz, Pyrite, Chalcopyrite, Arsenopyrite
- Found in
- Hydrothermal vein (lode), Placer deposit, Porphyry copper deposit
- Geography
- South Africa, Australia, Russia, USA, Canada
Classification
- Rarity
- Rare
- Gem quality
- No
Arcane properties
- Affinity
- Light, Life
- Effects
- Healing, Warding
- Planar origin
- Material Plane
Sources
- M. Pasero and others, IMA Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification, The New IMA List of Minerals, updated September 2026. International Mineralogical Association (CNMNC), 2026.
- Native Gold. Mindat.org (Hudson Institute of Mineralogy).
- J. W. Anthony, R. A. Bideaux, K. W. Bladh, M. C. Nichols, Gold. Mineral Data Publishing, Handbook of Mineralogy, 2001.
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