Found this in a creek, need opinions

[happycamper]

Did all the home tests the internet suggested. Passed the scratching on back of a ceramic tile, vinegar, and magnet test. I took it to the local coin shop and they tested it with nitric acid and they said "it held". He told me to melt it down or collect all the flakes in a vile and bring it back. They also offered to have it melted down and analyzed by their gold guy. He wasn't very straightforward as to to whether or not it was legitimate, only said it "was enought to encourage him to go back and get some more". I'm sure that his test and vague info confirmed that it is at least partly gold. I am just still questioning it because the info online says that it should be bendable but not break, however this is very flakey stuff and when pressed hard between my fingers will disperse into smaller flakes. It does however shine both in and outside of direct sunlight which i read was a positive sign. I hardly invested any time collecting it when i found it maybe a couple of hours but there was plenty more, just didn't wanna waste time if it was fake. It's a 75 mile drive and requires some off-roading to get to but if this is legitimate gold I'll definitely go back. Hoping i can get some opinions from people with experience. This picture is of about 5 grams. Thanks for any wisdom.

[russau]

theres not enough there to do anything with it. finish panning it out and save it!

[happycamper]

theres not enough there to do anything with it. finish panning it out and save it!

So it looks legitimate to you?
should i worry about the fact that it is breakable?
I hardly skimmed the surface as i did not have a pan when i found it it.. there has to be larger pieces further underneath.
wasn't questioning what i could do with it, just if its worth going back for more as there is PLENTY, its practically everywhere in this creek, thinking the spring floods brought it out. Just didn't wanna waste my time if its mica or pyrite.

[Joe S (AK)]

Hey there Happy Camper,

Take a small pinch of this stuff, put it on a very hard surface and lightly hit it with a hammer. If Gold it will just flatten out. If Mica (it kind of seems like that to me) it will shatter into little, tiny plates. The same should happen by crushing a flake in a pair of pliars.

An alternative to that is to pick a big flake, put it on a piece of wood and carefully attempt to cut it in half with a knife. If it severs (breaks) quite easily I would also suspect Mica.

The fact that you found this 'Stuff' on the surface of the ground is a big warning sign. Gold is 19 times heavier than water which means it is almost always covered by lighter 'Stuff'. Mica is very light and often covers the surface of a streambank.

Joe S

[CalGoldDredger]

In your pictures appears to be Mica, another easy test.
Take it in the sun or bright light and it will shine, I see a piece in the picture doing just this, then shade it with your hand if it's gold it will still shine the same. (old trick)

[El Dorado]

looks like mica to me.... stay away from that jeweler if he did not know it was not gold

[old gold miner]

Mica is brittle, gold is malleable like lead.
That appears to be mica.
Set some on thick metal & smack it with a hammer.
If it shatters, its mica.

[happycamper]

Its hard to tell, when i hit it with the hammer on a metal surface it seems to flatten and a couple of times it stuck to the hammer, after a few good smacks it will start to come apart but thats after like solid 5 hits and its more of a splitting at the edges then complete flaking. When i squeezed it with my needle nose pliers it actually took on the shape of the diamond pattern that is on the pliers, when i tried to remove it it came apart but not in brittle flakes. It is definitely malleable to an extent, however I am able to break them after a bit of bending. The shop where i took it has been there for years, and have a wide collection of gold and silver so I'm hoping they would have been able to tell me if it was fake right away, which they didn't. I'm going to take it to another jewler today. Does the fact that I am able to break the gold alone equal a strong possibility that is mica, or is it possible that something like other present metals are making me able to do so?

[WildernessAU]

Certainly looks like mica or biotite to me. This stuff should settle on top in your pan and wash out very easily.

[happycamper]

Took it to another jewler, tested it again with nitric acid and it didnt turn green he said that was a good sign. Figured I have nothing to lose it was only 5 grams so I went ahead and took it back to the first coin shop i went to and the guy said it definitely looks like theres mica in there but also that it definitely looked like theres gold as well, a mixture of both ... so not a total waste of time i suppose. I left it with him to take his gold guy tommorow, he said although it is a small amount he will be able to get the guy to check it out, he does melting and refining. Expecting to hear back by friday. If at least some of it is gold then I'm thinking its not a bad idea to go back to the site with a proper pan and do some real searching. I'll post when i get the results from the coin shop. Thanks for all the replies.