EXTREMELY RARE GOLD CRYSTAL. ...

Description

EXTREMELY RARE GOLD CRYSTAL
Santa Floreta, Brazil
Whereas most gold nuggets exhibit familiar botryoidal growths, or are rubbed smooth as they travel from their host rock along waterways before being discovered by the prospector, some few form in clusters of distinctive crystals and are recovered unaltered in that form. Gold of this type is extremely rare, and this is a fine specimen from an unusual location. Known sometimes as a "skeletal hopper", this particular example grew around a section of the host rock, which then dissolved away leaving only the strange and unpredictable form of the metal, with crystalline folds, rods and ridges that reflect the light in all directions, heightening the brightness of the already strong yellow color and dazzling the eye. This specimen is 1 inch long and weighs 19.85 grams (0.64 troy ounces).

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