Rockhounding in California – What Rocks You Can Find and Where

Gold

Streak: Golden, Yellow

Hardness: 2.5 – 3

Chemical Formula: Au

Native gold is an element and a mineral. It is highly prized by people because of its attractive color, its rarity, resistance to tarnish, and its many special properties – some of which are unique to gold. No other element has more uses than gold. All of these factors help support a price of gold that is higher than all but a few other metals.

Trace amounts of gold are found almost everywhere, but large deposits are found in only a few locations. Although there are about twenty different gold minerals, all of them are quite rare. Therefore, most gold found in nature is in the form of the native metal.

Photo: Gold by Robert M. Lavinsky is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Agate

Streak: White

Hardness: 7

Chemical Formula: SiO₂

Agate is a common form of chalcedony, a microcrystalline form of quartz. It’s banded, colorful appearance has lead to its widespread use throughout human history.

Most varieties of agate are named for its visual appearance, such as fire agate which has inclusions of red or brown hematite. Agate can also vary in its banding appearance, some agates have a dendritic habit or lace-like patterns with eyes, swirls, and other patterns.

Because this mineral is a form of quartz, it’s hardness lends itself to uses not commonly associated with such visually appealing minerals. Agate has been used to create precision pendulums, mortars and pestles, and fine knife-bearing edges for laboratory balances.

Photo: Agate by James St. John is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Tourmaline

Streak: colorless

Hardness: 7 – 7.5

Tourmaline is the name given to a family of minerals sharing the same basic crystal structure. Some of the minerals in this group are elbaite, schorl, dravite, and liddicoacite. Gemstone varieties based on their color are also recognized such as rubellite, pink or red, and verdelite, green.

Most tourmaline is dark and opaque but many of its varieties are valued as gems.

Photo: Tourmaline by Robert M Lavinsky is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.