Gold from Aouint Ighoman, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco

Gold, one of the most important and well-known metals for human; crystallized gold specimens, wish for mineral collectors.

Three different growth mechanisms: direct nanoparticle aggregation, cluster aggregation, and heterogeneous aggregation. These mechanisms produce amorphous, single-crystalline, polycrystalline, and core−shell type clusters. Explain the basic observation of natural sample with different froms.

How gold concentrates to economic level and somehow crystallize to visible crystals ard unknown, or still on debating. Pressure, temperature, oxygen fugacity and chemistry all play a role in controlling gold enriching in the fluid. However, this post cannot fit hundreds of papers work lol. By fractional crystallization, low content of accessory oxides and sulfides, the absence of early Cl-bearing fluids, the volatile content in the melt, and a prolonged crystallization constitute important factors for extensive metal enrichment during this process. Moreover, gold precipitate could also be interesting, earthquake here is likely helpful.

Due to the lack of study and info of local geology, the petrogenesis and crystallization mechanism of these spinel twined gold are unknown. Gold here associates with amount of iron oxide, which covers quartz crystals from a few specimens. I saw. Potentially something cool to study.

Gold on Quartz, 2.8cm, Aouint Ighoman, Assa-Zag Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco

Jingnan Zhang Coll & Photo