Discussions

💬 Home 🔎 Search 📅 Latest

╳Discussions

💬 Home 🔎 Search 📅 Latest

Groups

Recent Images in Discussions

Identity HelpDrift Mine???, Nevada, USA; native gold specimen

21st Sep 2018 00:27 UTCMichael C. Michayluk

Greetings,

I was given this specimen of native gold by an unknown prospector while selling minerals at the Las Cruces (New Mexico) Farmers and Crafts Market a couple years ago. I just got around to taking a photograph of it and wanted to upload it to Mindat. The gentlemen said it was from the "Drift Mine" and was near Las Vegas. I could find no such mine in Nevada on Mindat. I have no idea what "near Las Vegas" means.... could be 20 or 200 miles away. It is also possible it was a name he had given to one of his properties.... I'm not sure. The specimen consists of barely visible, submillimeter grains of native gold on what appears to be iron-oxide stained quartz. Despite the small size, I was able to observe the largest grain acting malleable when i gently touched it with a steel needle under the microscope, so I do believe it is native gold.

Any suggestions are appreciated. See attached image for a picture of the specimen... FOV 2 mm.

21st Sep 2018 00:46 UTCPaul Brandes 🌟 Manager

Michael,

Don't forget about Las Vegas, New Mexico as well.

Could it have possibly came from that area?

21st Sep 2018 02:15 UTCKevin Conroy Manager

The miner could have meant it was from a drift mine, but he didn't know the name of the mine.

21st Sep 2018 03:23 UTCJon Aurich

I haven’t heard of that mine, but it could have possibly existed. Many prospects in Nevada have produced high grade ore, but only in small amounts as most veins were fairly shallow and the mines or prospects were soon abandoned...

21st Sep 2018 03:24 UTCJon Aurich

The specimen looks like it has Native Gold.

21st Sep 2018 05:54 UTCStephan Wolfsried Expert

I think it is Bird Nest Drift mine in California.

It is not so far from Las Vegas.

Cheers Stephan

21st Sep 2018 16:02 UTCMichael C. Michayluk

Paul and Stephan,

I forgot to mention in more detail that the prospector made it clear it was from Nevada and also from one of his current claims (at the time a couple years ago).

Thanks everyone for your replies!

21st Sep 2018 16:03 UTCJon Aurich

It could be from the mining district of Johnnie Nevada, it does look close to a lot of specimens that I have seen through the years.

21st Sep 2018 18:25 UTCDavid Von Bargen Manager

I tried a search for "drift" in nevada for the BLM LR2000 system (active and closed mining claims) and it didn't find anything with that name. If you knew the man's name, you could search by that. https://reports.blm.gov/reports/LR2000/

24th Sep 2018 16:22 UTCMichael C. Michayluk

Thank you for the info John and David.... Looks like the label will stay with just Nevada for now

Mindat.org is an outreach project of the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Copyright © mindat.org and the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy 1993-2024, except where stated. Most political location boundaries are © OpenStreetMap contributors. Mindat.org relies on the contributions of thousands of members and supporters. Founded in 2000 by Jolyon Ralph.
Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Contact Us / DMCA issues - Report a bug/vulnerability Current server date and time: May 10, 2024 10:57:59

Go to top of page