It is common knowledge among treasure hunters and prospectors that native gold deposits are sometimes associated with veins of quartz, usually in conjunction with sulfides like pyrite. This picture from North Carolina shows a classically formed quartz vein. There are supposedly over 300 gold mines in North Carolina. Hence my fascination with quartz in veins. For years and years we have had two huge quartz rocks in our front yard. They don't have any gold, but they remind me of the possibility. You may not have associated North Carolina with gold, but in 1799 Conrad Reed found a 17 pound gold nugget in Little Meadow Creek. For years the family did not know what they had and used the rock for a doorstop. Once the family realized what they had, they established the nation's first gold mine, the Reed Gold Mine, now a national historic landmark, is located in Midland, North Carolina. There are reports of North Carolina gold nuggets weighing 28 pounds, 25 pounds and 15 pounds.
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