Gooold! You must have heard or at least seen it by now – videos and photos circulating with scores of Hanover residents declaring that they have struck gold.

Yes, Hanover, as in the parish located on the western side of the island that borders Westmoreland and St James. Yup, that Hanover.

On Monday (January 9) videos and images of residents of a section of the Chester Calstle community in the parish, began making their rounds on social media. In the videos persons could be seen digging up what they believe was ‘gold’.

Ralston Cole, who occupies the land on which the ‘gold’ was discovered, shared with the media that a house is being constructed on the property for his niece, and that the discovery of the ‘gold mine’ was made when heavy duty equipment began excavating the area.

Well, based on the videos, that property owner certainly has a heart of gold. Did you see how he allowed every Tom, Dick and Harry to go treasure hunting? Resident equipped with buckets and shovels in hand, became overnight gold diggers.

It seems everyone was going for the gold except for the actual property owner. Some persons left with a pot of gold or crock of gold, but one thing was certain, everyone left with ‘gold’. Whether it was a handful or a bag, residents could be seen securing their golden ticket.

After all that excitement and joy came the shattering news – “It’s not gold”.

Geologists have determined the find was not gold but pyrite, more commonly known as fool’s gold.

In the end, the residents learnt a hard lesson, as you may already know, that not all that glitters is gold.

But it would have been great if the property owner was actually sitting on a gold mine. It would have been a golden opportunity for him to enjoy his golden years.

If it were real gold, he would have definitely got the golden handshake from several companies who would have wanted the go ahead to go for gold.

Gold is one of the most valuable currencies in the world that has stood the test of time. The value keeps on appreciating, which is why many people invest in it and, in this case, want to discover it.

The residents’ golden dreams were further shattered when news surfaced that, in the event that citizens should find any precious metals, they treasure would actually belong to the state. The Mines and Geology Division (MGD), of the Ministry of Transport and Mining has stated that the Minerals (Vesting) Act confers the right to all minerals to the State.

What is Fool’s Gold?

‘Fool’s gold’ is a common nickname for pyrite. Pyrite received that nickname because it is worth virtually nothing but has an appearance that fools people into believing that it is gold. 

Firstly, you must understand that fool’s gold is not a metal. On the other hand, real gold is pure metal.

Fool’s gold is a mineral with a crystalline structure that is composed of iron sulfide. However, it might have trace amounts of real gold.

Separating Fool’s Gold from Gold

With a little practice, there are many easy tests that anyone can use to quickly tell the difference between pyrite and gold. Here are a few golden rules to tell the two apart.

Colour

The main difference you can use to tell between fool’s gold and real gold is the colour. You will notice that real gold is bright and golden yellow.

However, fool’s gold has a brassy yellow colour that doesn’t resemble real gold. On the other hand, when you find gold in nature, it is mostly alloyed with silver. Most native gold is alloyed with silver, and if the silver content is high enough, the specimen will have a whitish yellow colour.

Shape

So, you are not going to find gold looking like those smooth golden bars you see on TV, unless…

Real gold can be found near streams, and they have a smooth edge. Some might even have a definite crystal shape. It is important to note that, real gold will always be smooth and shiny.

But, fool’s gold will have an angular shape. Most of these shapes will be distinct because you will find various shapes such as octahedrons, cuboids, and more.

If you find any of these unique shapes, then you have come across fool’s gold.

Striation

You will never find gold with lines on its surface, never! That is because the surface is smooth and doesn’t include any striations.

As for fool’s gold, the surface is not smooth like real gold. Fool’s gold has parallel lines running across its surface.

You can notice these striations when you closely examine the gold. So, don’t forget to look at these little details to understand if it is fool’s gold or real gold.

Residue

Many stones will leave a residue when you rub them against a certain object. For example, when you rub pure gold against white porcelain, it will leave a pure yellow residue.

On the other hand, when you rub fool’s gold against white porcelain, it will leave a black and green powdery residue.

You can use any white porcelain object and rub these substances against them. Once you do, you will easily figure out whether you have fool’s gold or real gold.

Here is a fun fact: All pieces of gold are valuable. However, any piece of gold with a nice crystal habit will have a premium value – often worth several times the value of its contained gold.

That premium value can be ruined by some of the tests explained above. So, all tests mentioned are ‘non-destructive tests’ exception for the residue test.

Be careful if you come across what you think is a valuable gold specimen but don’t let fool’s gold fool you.

Good luck and happy hunting!