Hidden Gold

Piece #002 - Comprised of eight individual stones, it stands 5 inches high, 7-1/2 inches wide and 6 inches deep. Retail price, $44.95; plus packing and shipping. Purchase information can be obtained by e-mailing me directly at kccandcj@yahoo.com. Description: Though I'm not sure where I picked up the base, the majority of the quartz rock specimens found in this table-top rock collage were gathered near the Cresent Mine off Cresent Peak Road near Nipton, California on a hike with the rock hounds from the Heritage Park Senior Facility on 02/24/2011. Each collage has a felt-like base made of Eco-fi, a high quality polyester fiber made from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic bottles. Quartz Background: In its original form, gold appears in igneous volcanic hydrothermal (hot water) veins where it is deposited along with quartz, amethyst, other minerals and heavy metal ores. The "Mother Lode" of gold in California is a region crisscrossed by many such quartz-and-gold-filled hydrothermal veins. Nearly all hydrothermal quartz veins everywhere contain some amount of gold. Find the quartz first and then find the gold.