For many decades, scientists were aware that earthquakes could help gold nuggets form in quartz.
Now, a remarkable new study has uncovered how, exactly, seismic activity allows this to happen. Scientists have explained that this study could even result in the formation of gold nuggets in a science laboratory.
A Mystery Finally Solved
A new study published in the journal Nature Geoscience has revealed how this decades-long mystery has officially been solved.
According to this study, an electric charge is created within the quartz through stress caused by seismic activity, such as earthquakes.
Gold Forming in Quartz
For decades, scientists have known that gold naturally forms inside quartz, which is the second most abundant mineral found in Earth’s crust. Feldspar is the most common.
Scientists have also known that the gold found in quartz is often quite large — and much larger than other types of gold that are found.
Uncovering the Mysteries of Gold and Quartz
Chris Voisey, the lead author of this study and a geologist at Monash University in Australia, opened up about these mysteries.
“Gold forms in quartz all the time,” Voisey explained. “The thing that’s weird is really, really large gold nugget formation. We didn’t know how that worked — how you get a large volume of gold to mineralize in one discreet little place.
Incredibly Valuable Gold
Voisey and other scientists wanted to find out why gold forms in large nuggets in quartz, particularly because this form of gold is incredibly valuable.
Gold formed in quartz is often giant — and is also about 75% of all the gold that is ever mined around the world.
The Largest Gold Nuggets and Earthquakes
Once this study began, scientists realized that they had a few clues to help them solve this decades-long mystery.
According to Voisey, the largest gold nuggets from quartz found tend to occur in orogenic gold deposits, which are formed during earthquakes.
Creating an Electric Charge
Meanwhile, researchers also analyzed the fact that quartz can create its own electric charge when it is responding to geologic stress.
Therefore, during an earthquake, the stress put on the quartz results in an electric charge being formed — and then giant gold nuggets being created.
The Formation of Gold From Earthquakes
Through this study, researchers were able to find that earthquakes help to fracture rocks, and then force hydrothermal fluids into quartz veins.
This fills the quartz with dissolved gold. However, the electric charge within the quartz from the stress of the quake then allows the gold to solidify into huge nuggets.
Acting as an Electrode
Voisey explained that this entire process helps to explain how these giant nuggets found around the world are formed in quartz.
Voisey said, “Gold is essentially acting as an electrode for further reactions by adopting the voltage generated by the nearby quartz crystals.”
More Earthquakes Result in Larger Gold Nuggets
This study also confirms that the more earthquakes a region sees, the higher the chance incredibly large gold nuggets will be found in the vicinity.
So far, the largest gold nuggets found on Earth weighed a whopping 130 pounds.
Creating Gold in a Science Lab
Perhaps most remarkably, this study allowed scientists to run seismic tests in a lab — and then help with gold formation in quartz in the confines of said laboratory.
However, Voisey has explained that this is not “alchemy”, saying, “You’d have to have gold in a solution and then you just move it from basically being in a liquid to sticking to something else.”
Will This Help Miners?
Though this study is revolutionary, as it has helped solve a mystery that has existed for decades, scientists warn that this information won’t necessarily help miners find the biggest gold nuggets around.
Instead, miners will have to use existing technology when attempting to mine gold nuggets.
