Image: Gold-74802

Description: Gold Locality: Mockingbird Mine (Talc & Lacy claim), Whitlock, Whitlock District, Bagby-Mariposa-Mount Bullion-Whitlock District, Mariposa County, California, USA (Locality at mindat.org) Size: 4.0 x 3.7 x 3.3 cm. This is, to me, a very unique specimen featuring the largest, well-crystallized, 3-dimensional spinel twin gold on matrix that I have ever seen available. This is not a flattenned crystalline gold as with Eagle's Nest material and it is not a typical octahedral crystal or cluster of such as some Mockingbird material occurs. Rather, this is a single thick, euhedral crystal, fully 3.5 cm tip-to-tip, just so nicely perched on a well-trimmed matrix. This crystal has a natural patina as the enclosing quartz was removed with physical means instead of the less elegant but easier method of hydrofluoric acid. It is complete-all-around and is equally fine from the other side. Ex. late Bill Forrest Collection: a longtime California collector, gold-miner, and co-owner of the Benitoite mine during much of its modern heyday. Photo on green background, by Joe Budd.
Title: Gold-74802
Credit: http://www.mindat.org/photo-74802.html
Author: Rob Lavinsky / iRocks.com
Usage Terms: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0
License: CC BY-SA 3.0
License Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0
Attribution Required?: Yes