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Native gold

Gold

MNHN N°195.223

visu_533 infos
FROM : Hope's Nose, Devonshire, UK
SIZE : 11 x 5 x 4 cm

general description

This sample is native gold on a matrix of white calcite. The gold here has an arborescent dendrite shape. Its colour is pale yellow and the growth of some of palladoan crystals in this deposit make us presum that this sample is not pur and might contain palladium (Pd).

This sample was found in 1988 in the mine deposit of Hope's Nose Devonshire in United Kingdom. Thanks to an exchange with a collector, this sample could be integrated to the collections of the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle.

It is currently exposed in the Treasure Room, within the Gallery of Mineralogy of the Muséum.

Photography: A. Dahmane / Photo Saint-Hilaire, © MNHN.
The Species page
Identity card
SPECIE : Native gold

HISTORY : Name derived from the Latin "aurum" who will give its chemical symbol (Au)

Species known since the Antiquity

Type-locality: unknown

CHEMICAL FORMULA : Au
CRYSTAL SYSTEM : Cubic
COLOR : Golden yellow, reddish yellow to silvery yellow
DIAPHANIETY : Opaque
LUSTER : Metallic
STREAK : Bright yellow
MORPHOLOGY : Octahedral crystals, dodecahedra, cubic. Dentritic, massive. As nuggets, en spangles
HARDNESS : 2,5-3,0
DENSITY : 19,302

CHEMICAL CLASS : I - Elements
GROUP : Copper
STRUNZ CLASS BEFORE 2001 : 1/A.01-40
STRUNZ CLASS AFTER 2001 : 1.AA.05
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