Gold Crystals on Arsinoprite and Quartz
Black Diamond Mine, Gibsonville District, Plumas County, California, USA
This gold specimen is from an interesting locality and initially the mine was discovered my Peruvian gold miners during the California Gold Rush. Today very seldom do we see any specimens from this historical gold mine. The gold runs through the arsenopyrite as a rich vein and surrounding the gold crystals is arsenopyrite. The top end of the gold specimen are visible dendritic crystals with perfect octahedral growth while the bottom half the gold is enclosed in arsenopyrite, the darker mineral. The gold runs all the way down touching the white quartz matrix and at this intercept the gold formed into spinel twin cubic crystals. The white quartz matrix also provides a great contrast to the native gold crystals and arsenopyrite. The gold crystals are visible on all sides and display good luster with bright buttery yellow color.
22 x 10 x 8 
2.23 grams