That was a little bit of an exaggeration, but I was cleaning out the woods behind my house, digging up a stump, and ran into a quartz rock about the size of a volleyball. I pulled it out, and noticed some interesting rock that looks like gold on the side of it. I doubt it's really gold, but it does look like it warrants a little further investigation. I knocked it off with a hammer, and below are the pics. Any suggestions on where I can find out exactly what it is?? I figure it's probably just fools gold. Maybe it looks nothing like raw gold, I have no idea.

11/13/2011 7:27:26 PM

To me, looks like pyrite to me.

11/13/2011 7:37:43 PM

you should be able to take it into a pawn shop or jeweler and they can run some simple tests on it

11/13/2011 7:40:15 PM

^^Had to google that one. That's the fancy word for fools gold. Article says if it's fools gold, that usually means real gold is very close by, so might not be a total loss.

11/13/2011 7:45:40 PM

first picture kind of looks like pyrite but it's hard to tell by the picture (flash and whatnot)

the last picture looks like the shiny parts are bits of mica, but again, hard to tell.

where is your back yard?

11/13/2011 7:53:03 PM

yes, tell us where your gold mine is located

11/13/2011 8:03:10 PM

^^Definitely not mica. I'm just west of Charlotte.

11/13/2011 8:06:02 PM

It's pyrite. I have like infinity of those in my driveway.

fwiw: http://jwprospect.tripod.com/goldprospecting/pyrite.html

[Edited on November 13, 2011 at 8:13 PM. Reason : -]

11/13/2011 8:11:49 PM

http://www.cash4gold.com/

11/13/2011 8:13:38 PM

2011 gold rush, woo!!! Now UNC Charlotte is going to have to change their name to the 11ers.

11/13/2011 8:14:12 PM

^^^Yep, based on that website, it's definitely pyrite. thanks for the info, guess i'll have to stick the powerball tickets.

11/13/2011 8:23:29 PM

Bite it and see if you can leave teeth marks in it.

11/13/2011 10:07:38 PM

that is absolutely pyrite

11/13/2011 10:12:18 PM

</thread>

11/13/2011 10:22:38 PM

they don't call it fool's gold for nothing



apparently this shit forms in cubes?!? I thought that was a sculpture, a pretty awesome one at that.

11/14/2011 7:17:33 AM

yep.

11/14/2011 8:08:57 AM

Smash it with a hammer.

If it shatters, it is fool's gold.

If it dents, it is real gold.

11/14/2011 9:27:11 AM

11/14/2011 9:28:48 AM

^^I smashed it with a hammer when I was knocking it off the large quartz rock, and it didn't break at all, but based on the pics that other dude posted, I'm not breaking my neck to get to the jewelry store. It says that raw gold is actually not shiny, it's dull. This is shiny, and it's not a yellow enough color. Definitely not gold. Still looks cool.

11/14/2011 7:47:17 PM

well this countries first gold rush was in the carolinas near charlotte, so good luck man

11/14/2011 7:58:33 PM

I'll check back in if I find a worthwhile nugget

11/14/2011 8:04:23 PM

dig some mo and set up yo wash plant

11/14/2011 8:43:06 PM

I found gold in my backyard when i stumbled upon The Wolf Web

11/15/2011 9:33:24 AM

^

11/15/2011 9:38:01 AM

11/15/2011 9:39:03 AM

reminded me of pot of gold

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SESy3p21OKU&feature=related

[Edited on November 15, 2011 at 11:38 AM. Reason : f]

11/15/2011 11:37:27 AM

there is a huge slate bed that runs through your area and gold can be found all the shaded area

11/15/2011 3:48:37 PM

11/15/2011 4:10:12 PM

I always thought the gold would have been in the mountains. This is why I work in weather and not rocks.

11/15/2011 4:28:20 PM

gold in the franklin co area is what brought my family to NC just after the "late unpleasantness"

11/16/2011 1:14:06 AM

i found some little $30 piece of gold at Reed's (Reid's?) Gold Mine back in elementary school

back when gold was like $300/oz

11/16/2011 6:39:20 AM

still, that musta been kinda exciting. I've done plenty of prospecting but never hit gold other than a swirl of dust in the sediment.

11/16/2011 8:29:40 AM

Quote :

"I've done plenty of prospecting "

11/16/2011 10:20:40 AM

11/17/2011 3:21:19 PM

11/17/2011 3:22:43 PM

11/17/2011 3:46:36 PM

I should go to Reed's Gold Mine sometime since it's right near my house.

11/17/2011 4:33:22 PM

I was thinking about getting a metal detector b/c a lot of what I read said that real gold in usually in the same vicinity as fools gold. Same conditions present to produce both, but metal detectors are expensive as shit. Plus my wife hasn't stopped making fun of me since I mentioned a metal detector. We'll see who's laughing when I discover enough to get her the gold fronts she wanted for a push present.

11/17/2011 7:38:07 PM

lol

11/17/2011 8:31:58 PM

^^ lol

I still think you should send that giant rock into one of the gold liquidators, like http://www.cash4gold.com. Tell them you want $1700/oz X 5 lbs returned.

11/17/2011 11:40:10 PM

Ain't no party like a pyrite partaaaaaaay.

11/17/2011 11:54:44 PM

If I were to find actual gold in my backyard, the last thing I would do is tell anyone about it, much less post it online.

11/18/2011 11:30:12 AM

^I love this community

11/18/2011 7:13:24 PM