(08-03-2025, 12:08 PM)Michigan Swamp Buck Wrote: @"Ninurta"#2

Pyrite is easy to identify. It will have a crystal structure, cube-shaped I believe. It also flakes apart. You can perform the "pin test" by poking it with a pin, and if it breaks and flakes, it's pyrite. Gold will look like a glob worn by water and weathering, so no flat sides or cube shapes, and poking it with a pin will only dent it. Smashing it with a hammer will only flatten it, while that will shatter pyrite.

Also, gold is super heavy, and pyrite is much lighter in comparison. I have some very pretty samples from the creek, quartz with what looks like gold, but the little golden veins fall apart and float around in the water in the larger vial I use to hold it. It was the first thing I panned up when I got serious on my little creek. I knew it wasn't gold, but pyrite in quartz is a sign the real thing is nearby, so I saved it.

I just now looked at that quartz, when I poked it with a pin, it seemed like pyrite, but that was just one piece. I think I'd have to break it down and try to pan out the gold if that is what is in there, but then I'd destroy a nice looking rock specimen.