How to Identify Gold in Quartz: A Beginner's Guide

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Geologist Sam Lagor, MsC, shares how to distinguish gold from pyrite in your piece of quartz

Co-authored by Sam Lagor, MSc and Elaine Heredia, BA

Last Updated: March 2, 2026 Fact Checked

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Quick Home Tests

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Crushing & Panning for Gold

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Finding Gold in Nature

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Video

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Expert Q&A

Real gold is a very rare and valuable metal. Because it's so rare, finding gold in quartz is unusual—but not unheard of! wikiHow spoke with an expert geologist to learn how to identify gold in a piece of quartz at home, and we’ll share three quick home tests with you below. We also explain how to crush and pan quartz for gold, or how to find gold in quartz in nature.

How do you identify gold in quartz at home?

Geologist Sam Lagor, MsC, says to examine the color. Pure gold looks like sunshine! You can also scratch the gold fleck or vein against a piece of glass. If it doesn't scratch the glass, it might be real gold. Lastly, scratch it across unglazed ceramic. If it leaves a streak of gold color, it's probably gold.

Section 1 of 3:

Quick Home Tests to Find Gold in Quartz

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Hold your quartz up in the sunlight and look for bright gold veins or flecks. Real gold is "so brilliantly golden," says Lagor, that it "literally looks like sunshine." Meanwhile, iron sulfides like pyrite (also known as "fool's gold") look "pale in comparison," he adds.^{[1]
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Sam Lagor, MSc
Geologist

Expert Interview}

Meet the wikiHow Expert

Sam Lagor, MsC, is a geologist with over 8 years of experience in his field. He specializes in engineering geology (as it relates to dams, bridges, and tunnels) and mineral exploration.
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Scratch a piece of glass with the gold. According to Lagor, pure gold is "extremely soft," so it won't scratch glass.^{[2]
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Sam Lagor, MSc
Geologist

Expert Interview} But other minerals that look like gold, like pyrite, are harder and can cause real damage. If your piece of quartz has a corner or edge that looks like gold on it, scratch it against a piece of glass. If it doesn't leave a scratch, it might be gold!^{[3]
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- You can use any piece of broken glass or mirror for this test. Just be sure to use something that you don't mind scratching.
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Scratch unglazed ceramic with the gold to see if it leaves a streak. Real gold will leave a gold-colored streak when scratched against unglazed ceramic, such as the back of a bathroom tile. Pyrite leaves a greenish-black colored streak, so it's easy to tell the difference.^{[4]
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- Most ceramic dishes are glazed, so they won't work for this gold test.

Section 2 of 3:

Crushing and Panning Quartz for Gold

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Heat the quartz on a grill. Lay your quartz on top of a sheet of aluminum foil. Fold up the edges of the foil to form a makeshift tray. Heat a charcoal grill until the coals are smoking, then set the foil holding the quartz on the grate and close the lid. "Cook" the quartz overnight or for about 12 hours.^{[5]
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- This method gets messy later, so complete all the steps outside if possible!
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Submerge the hot quartz in vinegar for 24 hours. Fill a bucket with 4–5 in (10–13 cm) of distilled white vinegar, then use a pair of tongs to transfer the hot quartz from the foil to the vinegar. Let it soak for 24 hours.^{[6]
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- Why does this work? Gold tends to bind to sulfide minerals like pyrite, making it harder to see or identify. Heating up the quartz, then soaking it in vinegar, helps release the sulfides binding to any gold that might be hiding in your rock.^{[7]
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Crush the quartz into powder in a rock crusher. The easiest way to crush quartz and other ores at home is to use a heavy-duty rock crusher. If your crusher can handle it, try to break the quartz down into mostly powder. If it can't, aim for small pieces no bigger than your fingernail.
- This method will destroy your piece of quartz. If you want it to stay intact, identify gold in it using the visual clues we discussed above or by sending it to an assayer.
Choose a tub that's wide enough to fit your gold pan, but no deeper than 8–9 in (20–23 cm). Then fill it up to about 2 in (5.1 cm) from the top with water from the hose, bathtub, or kitchen sink. Finally, pour the quartz you crushed into the water.^{[8]
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Dip your pan in the water and swirl the powder vigorously. Swirl the water around several times in your gold pan using quick, circular motions. Then, slowly pour the water out little by little while checking the bottom of the pan. Real gold is heavy, so if it's present in the powder, it will settle at the bottom of the pan.^{[9]
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- You may have to pan for gold multiple times to get the gold to settle at the bottom. Have patience!
- If the gold-colored dust rises to the top of the gold pan with the other quartz powder, unfortunately, it was not real gold to begin with.
After sifting the powders, lift any gold particles and flakes you see out of the bottom of the pan with a pair of tweezers. Drop them in a glass jar or vial and cover it with a lid. If you want, take your findings to a gemologist or a jeweler to verify that they're real gold and assess their value.

Section 3 of 3:

Finding Gold in Quartz in Nature

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Look in places where gold and quartz naturally occur. Gold usually originates upstream from where it is panned or has been panned in the past. These regions include areas where volcanic hydrothermal activity has happened in the past, near old gold mines. Quartz veins are often formed in areas where the bedrock is fractured by tectonic and volcanic activity.^{[10]
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- Gold has been historically mined in certain areas of the US West Coast and Rocky Mountains, as well as in Australia, South America, and central Europe.
- Obtain permission from the owner of the land where you want to look for quartz before searching their property and removing rocks. Don't trespass!
Gold often occurs along the natural linear structures of quartz rock, or its cracks and lines. It's easiest to spot in white quartz, though quartz can come in a range of colors, including yellow, pink, purple, gray, and black.^{[11]
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Larger gold pieces will give off a strong signal on a metal detector. Just keep in mind that getting a positive metal detector signal could indicate other metals being present besides gold. If finding this specific precious metal (and nothing else) is your main objective, consider buying a metal detector calibrated to detect gold.

Expert Q&A

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Is gold always found in quartz?

Sam Lagor, MSc
Geologist
Sam Lagor is a Geologist with over eight years of experience. He specializes in engineering geology (dams, bridges, and tunnels) and mineral exploration (gold, lead/zinc, andindustrial minerals). Sam holds a BS in Geology from St. Lawrence University and an MS in Geology from The University of Vermont. He is also a member of the Geological Society of America and the American Institute of Professional Geologists.

Sam Lagor, MSc

Geologist

Expert Answer

Not at all—finding gold in quartz is incredibly rare. You should consider yourself very lucky if you find a piece of quartz with gold in it!

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What looks like gold but isn't gold?

Sam Lagor, MSc
Geologist
Sam Lagor is a Geologist with over eight years of experience. He specializes in engineering geology (dams, bridges, and tunnels) and mineral exploration (gold, lead/zinc, andindustrial minerals). Sam holds a BS in Geology from St. Lawrence University and an MS in Geology from The University of Vermont. He is also a member of the Geological Society of America and the American Institute of Professional Geologists.

Sam Lagor, MSc

Geologist

Expert Answer

Sulphide minerals and pyrite can sometimes be mistaken for gold. Suphide minerals are yellowish and shimmery, while pyrite is shiny and yellow. Still, these minerals all pale in comparison to pure gold, which is brilliantly golden.

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How do you identify quartz?

wikiHow Staff Editor
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This answer was written by one of our trained team of researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

wikiHow Staff Editor

Staff Answer

Quartz (silicone dioxide) is found in abundance around the world, being Earth’s second most common mineral after feldspar. Shape-wise, rock quartz forms crystals in hexagonal prisms with sharp ends of six-sided points looking like little pyramids; however, some quartz embedded in rock has an irregular mass, with no definite shape. Color-wise, while most quartz is colorless and transparent, it does come in a variety of colors as well, including purple, red, brown, pink, black, blue, green, etc.; the color depends on whether it's found in igneous, metamorphic or sedimentary rocks. You can test quartz: Since quartz is extremely hard (quartz has a hardness of 7 on the Mohs scale), it will be very hard to scratch if scraped with a blade, but take care not to injure yourself if you try this test.

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