I found gold in potting soil!

[Shaftatplanetquake]

Well not really. I think it might be gold. There are these thin little flakes distributed throughout the soil. My mom who has been gardening for 35 years says she has never seen any flakes like that in the soil.

I am wondering if there is a website with illustrations that would let me either conclusively tell me this isn't gold or if it is gold.

Maybe a book at the libary or something?

 

[Krassus]

Just be careful who you tell. If's gold, the government will tax you to death.

 

[rgwalt]

It isn't gold. It is mica. Specifically, muscovite. Trust me.

Ryan

 

[Shaftatplanetquake]

I thought mica was big and hard like a rock

 

[AlienCraft]

Originally posted by: rgwalt
It isn't gold. It is mica. Specifically, muscovite. Trust me.

Ryan

It's Mica....
I thought the entire Granite Bay Beach @ Folsom Lake in NoCal was going to be my path to easy street.... when I was 7 !!!!!

 

[Shaftatplanetquake]

Originally posted by: AlienCraft

Originally posted by: rgwalt
It isn't gold. It is mica. Specifically, muscovite. Trust me.

Ryan

It's Mica....
I thought the entire Granite Bay Beach @ Folsom Lake in NoCal was going to be my path to easy street.... when I was 7 !!!!!

 

[rgwalt]

Originally posted by: Shaftatplanetquake
I thought mica was big and hard like a rock

Well, you can have large pieces of mica, too. Mica cleaves into very thin sheets, which are quite brittle in the direction perpendicular to lines of cleavage. As a result, large pieces of mica can be worn and broken down. The result are small, thin flecks of mica. These flecks are very reflective, so they can look like glinting yellow metal.

Many native americans in the southwest built their homes out of adobe, which is a mixture of straw and local clay/dirt. The local clay/dirt has lots of mica flecks in it. It made the homes look like the native americans mixed in gold dust with the adobe. When the Spanish arrived, they killed many people trying to find where the secret caches of gold were hidden. Of course, the native americans had no such caches of gold. Very sad story.

Ryan