OLD SPESSIE - Guaranteed Gold Paydirt Plus One Gold Specimen
1 gram
$250.00
Skip to product information
OLD SPESSIE - Guaranteed Gold Paydirt Plus One Gold Specimen
$250.00
Old Spessie is curated paydirt, full of specimen gold from a certain mine. No two bags are the same. Old Spessie will only be auctioned, due to the unique contents of each bag.
This bag: ~0.5 grams of crystalline specimens with different crystal habits, plus 0.5+ grams of small Round Mountain "scraps" purchased from Bryan Thomas.
AI Summary
Specimen Summary: Crystal Habits & Morphology
The micro specimens in this batch showcase the iconic crystal habits that make Round Mountain gold globally famous among mineralogists:
0.08g Specimen (Far Left): Classic spinel-law twin / dendritic skeletal habit. It displays distinct branching parallel growth (herringbone pattern) with sharp micro-octahedral edges along the edges.
0.16g Specimen (Middle Left): Dense dendritic plate / micro-octahedral cluster. A tight aggregate of intergrown micro-crystals exhibiting high luster and complex 3D surface geometry.
0.13g Specimen (Middle Right): Micro-crystalline gold on white quartz matrix. Features a bright gold ribbon wrapping across a clean quartz grain, offering high visual contrast.
0.14g Specimen (Far Right): Arborescent gold on matrix. Exhibits feather-like crystal growth emerging directly from a quartz base.
Placer / Micro Crystals (Top Tray): A loose batch of classic micro-dendritic leaves, flattened micro-octahedrons, and crystalline flakes.
History & Locality Highlights: Round Mountain Mine
Discovery & Hardrock Beginnings: Gold was first discovered at Round Mountain in Nye County, Nevada, in 1906. Early miners pursued high-grade underground quartz veins, uncovering some of the most intricate native gold crystal habits ever documented.
Geological Marvel: The deposit formed within an epithermal quartz-adularia vein system hosted in volcanic rhyolite tuff. Rapid precipitation of gold from high-temperature fluids allowed free-standing, skeletal, herringbone, and octahedral twin crystals to form in open vugs without being crushed by rock pressure.
Modern Mega-Mine: In 1977, the site transitioned into a massive open-pit heap-leach operation. Over its lifetime, Round Mountain has produced over 10 million ounces of gold, making it one of the largest and longest-running gold mines in North American history.
The Specimen Rarity: Because modern industrial open-pit mining uses heavy machinery and chemical leaching (crushing ore to fine dust), true preserved crystalline specimens from Round Mountain—especially hand-picked, pocket-recovered material—are increasingly scarce and highly sought after by collectors.