NATIVE Gold

Unknown Owner

This miniature matrix Native Gold is from the fascinating Tennant Creek gold deposits in Northern Territory, Australia. They are fascinating both for their history - as the location of the last Australian gold rush, during the 1930s - but also for their geology. At Tennant Creek the gold is associated with iron oxides, including Magnetite, which is why, despite gold having been identified there earlier in stream sediments the true source took longer to locate. This small but rich specimen displays plenty of bright metallic Native Gold as hackly sprigs within both white Quartz and dark grey Magnetite. Ex David Hardman collection.