Researchers at Curtin University in Australia have found small traces of gold inside pyrite aka ‘fool’s gold’. Here’s the scientific definition:
Gold hosted in sulfide minerals has been proposed to be structurally bound in the crystal lattice as a sulfide-gold alloy and/or to occur as discrete metallic nanoparticles. Using a combination of microstructural quantification and nanoscale geochemical analyses on a pyrite crystal from an orogenic gold deposit, we show that dislocations hosted in a deformation low-angle boundary can be enriched in Ni, Cu, As, Pb, Sb, Bi, and Au.
The trace elements of gold were found in nanoscale dislocations and are being called “invisible gold”. Suddenly, fool’s gold is a bit of a misnomer. Maybe it should be called “gold in fool’s clothing” or “foolish gold” or “goldish”.
(via GeoScienceWorld)
Filed under: geology gold metals mineralogy minerals