Gold usually occurs in its metallic state, commonly associated with sulphide minerals such as pyrite, but it does not form a separate sulphide mineral itself. The only economically important occurrence of gold in chemical combination is with tellurium as telluride minerals.
In auriferous quartz lodes the minerals most commonly associated with gold are iron and copper pyrites, zinc blende, galena, and tetradymite. Tellurides of gold are very widely distributed. Other minerals occurring with gold are tourmaline, calcite, uranium ochre, roscoelite, vanadinite, crocoite, wollastonite, gypsum.
Victoria's gold-bearing rocks are sandstones, siltstones and mudstones, deposited in deep marine conditions some 400 million years ago. Today they form a bedrock spine that runs east to west through Victoria, with the Great Divide running along the crest of Victoria's Western and Eastern Uplands.
If the potential gold in your rock is in large enough pieces one of the easiest and most telling methods to test for gold is checking how ductile it is. Real gold is much softer and more malleable than pyrite or other possible minerals like chalcopyrite or biotite.
Victoria hosts one of the world's largest orogenic gold provinces. Orogenic gold deposits represent by far the most economically important primary gold mineralisation in Victoria, accounting for almost all primary gold production (more than 1100 tonnes) and include most of the known and potential resources.
Your finds
Minerals are the property of the Crown. If you discover gold or other minerals or gemstones on land not covered by a mining tenement, and the ground is Crown land (under the Mining Act 1978), then you are free to keep what you have found (as long as you hold a Miner's Right).
Rocks Containing Iron Stains
If you find yourself gold prospecting in a place that holds vast amounts of iron oxides, namely hematite, magnetite, and ironstone, then these are helpful signs that there is treasure in the area.
Color: Although gold and fool's gold are both metallic and yellowish, they are different shades of yellow. Real gold is a bright shade of yellow, whereas pyrite is a more brassy yellow. Fool's gold is also susceptible to tarnishing, which renders the surface an even duller, brassy color.
What to do: Hold the magnet up to the gold. If it's real gold it will not stick to the magnet. (Fun fact: Real gold is not magnetic.) Fake gold, on the other hand, will stick to the magnet.
Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie are the famous gold mining centres in Australia. Gold is also available in certain parts of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
We discovered that eucalyptus trees in the Kalgoorlie region of Western Australia draw up gold particles from the earth via their root system and depositing it in their leaves and branches.
Lucky Strike is not the biggest nugget found in Australia – that honour belongs to “the Welcome Stranger” found near Moliagul, Victoria, in 1869, which yielded 2,300 ounces of gold.
About 244,000 metric tons of gold has been discovered to date (187,000 metric tons historically produced plus current underground reserves of 57,000 metric tons). Most of that gold has come from just three countries: China, Australia, and South Africa.
The color of pure Gold is bright golden yellow, but the greater the silver content, the whiter its color is. Much of the gold mined is actually from gold ore rather then actual Gold specimens. The ore is often brown, iron-stained rock or massive white Quartz, and usually contains only minute traces of gold.
Gold is primarily found as the pure, native metal. Sylvanite and calaverite are gold-bearing minerals. Gold is usually found embedded in quartz veins, or placer stream gravel. It is mined in South Africa, the USA (Nevada, Alaska), Russia, Australia and Canada.
You can also fill a cup or glass with white vinegar, and drop your gold in it, let it soak for 5-8 minutes, take it out and rinse with water. If the metal has changed its color even slightly, then the gold is not pure but if it keeps shining, then the gold is pure.
The safest way to extract gold from rocks at home is to crush the rocks. However, you might use mercury to extract the gold if you're able to obtain some, though this is dangerous. While both mercury and cyanide can be used to extract gold from rock, it's hazardous to both your health and the environment to use them.
Rub your piece of jewellery on the stone and add nitric acid to the mark. The acid will dissolve any other metals other than pure gold. If the mark dissolves upon applying nitrohydrochloric acid, it confirms the gold is pure.
The most distinct difference between gold and pyrite is in their hardness. Gold is one of the most malleable and ductile metals on earth. The mineral can take any shape when flattened and is easily scratched with a pocket knife. Pyrite is noticeably harder with a hardness of 6 on Mohs scale while gold is at a 3.
Take a magnet with you. Iron pyrite will stick to the magnet because of its high iron content; gold will not. You can also use a drop of nitric acid to test your specimen.
You want to look for signs of gold like black sands, pyrite and small quartz, as these are all usually good indicators of gold being in the area. Garnets may also be present, often appearing in many shades of colors including red, orange and pink!
Rivers and streambeds are the best places to look for gold. However, there are also a number of other places where gold can be found. Beaches are another commonplace to find gold. Beaches usually have a lot of sand and sediment, so it is important to look for pure gold in the crevices and cracks.
The likelihood of a discovery leading to a mine being developed is very low - less than 0.1% of prospected sites will lead to a productive mine. And only 10% of global gold deposits contain sufficient gold to justify further development.