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The mineralogy of Gold

General Properties
Symbol:Au
Commodity pages:Gold
Atomic Number:79
Standard atomic weight (Ar):196.966569(4)
Electron configuration:[Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s1
Photos
<
Native Gold - Au
>
Atomic Properties
Electronegativity (Pauling scale):2.54
Atomic Radius:174 pm
Ionic Radius:137 pm (+1)
Van der Waals Radius:166 pm
1st Ionization energy:890 kJ/mol
1st Electron affinity:-223 kJ/mol
Oxidation States:-1,1,2,3,5
Physical Properties
Standard State:solid
Bonding Type:metallic
Melting Point:1337 K
Boiling Point:3129 K
Density:19.3 g/cm3
Metal/Non-Metal:transition metal
Main isotopes of Gold
Isotope% in NatureHalf LifeDecay typeDecay product
195Ausynthetic186.10dε195Pt
196Ausynthetic6.183dε196Pt
β−196Hg
197Au100%-α ?193Ir
198Ausynthetic2.69517dβ−198Hg
199Ausynthetic3.169dβ−199Hg
Main ions of Gold
NameIonExample minerals
gold(I)Au+
gold(III)Au3+
aurideAu-
Other Information
Year Discovered:before 6000 BC
Discovered By:In the Middle East
Named For:Anglo-Saxon: "gold" (ghel) - "yellow/ bright"
CPK color coding:#FFD123
External Links:WikipediaWebElementsLos Alamos National LaboratoryTheodore Gray's PeriodicTable.com
Simple Compounds and Mineral Names
Sulfidesdigold sulfideAu2S+1
digold trisulfideAu2S3+3
Selenidesgold selenideAuSe+2
digold triselenideAu2Se3+3
Telluridesgold ditellurideAuTe2+4Calaverite
digold tritellurideAu2Te3+3Montbrayite
digold tetratellurideAu2Te4+4Sylvanite
Fluoridesgold trifluorideAuF3+3
gold pentafluorideAuF5+5
Chloridesgold chlorideAuCl+1
digold hexachloride[AuCl3]2+3
tetragold octachlorideAu4Cl8+1,+3
Bromidesgold bromideAuBr+2
digold hexabromide[AuBr3]2+3
Iodidesgold iodideAuI+1
gold triiodideAuI3+3
Oxidesdigold trioxideAu2O3+3
Mineral Diversity of Gold
1. Elements 11 valid mineral species
2. Sulfides And Sulfosalts 31 valid mineral species
Total:42 valid species containing essential Gold
Geochemistry of Gold
Goldschmidt classification:Siderophile
Elemental Abundance for Gold
Crust (CRC Handbook)4 x 10-9mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Kaye & Laby)2 x 10-9mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Greenwood)4 x 10-9mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)3.0 x 10-9mass fraction, kg/kg
Crust (Ahrens/Wänke)4.07 x 10-9mass fraction, kg/kg
Upper Crust (Ahrens/Taylor)1.8 x 10-9mass fraction, kg/kg
Sea Water (CRC Handbook)4 x 10-12mass per volume fraction, kg/L
Sea Water (Kaye & Laby)1.1 x 10-11mass per volume fraction, kg/L
The Sun (Kaye & Laby)3.0 x 10-7atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Kaye & Laby)1.9 x 10-7atom mole fraction relative to Si=1
Solar System (Ahrens)1.87 x 10-7 (15%)atom mole fraction relative to Si=1 (% uncertainty)
Element association of Gold in the Mineral World
This table compares the known valid mineral species listed listed with Gold and the other elements listed based on the official IMA formula. Note that unlike other sections on this page this includes non-essential elements.

The first data column contains the total number of minerals listed with Gold and the element listed for that row.

The second data column lists this number as a percentage of all minerals listed with Gold.

The final data column compares this percentage against the percentage of all minerals that contain the element listed in each row.

Click on a heading to sort.
ElementValid Minerals listed with element and Gold% of Au mineralsRelative to % in all minerals
Tellurium18 minerals with Au and Te41.86%1,077.78% higher
Silver16 minerals with Au and Ag37.21%852.13% higher
Sulfur14 minerals with Au and S32.56%47.56% higher
Lead10 minerals with Au and Pb23.26%114.55% higher
Copper9 minerals with Au and Cu20.93%54.57% higher
Antimony8 minerals with Au and Sb18.60%224.95% higher
Selenium5 minerals with Au and Se11.63%335.56% higher
Bismuth5 minerals with Au and Bi11.63%177.02% higher
Thallium3 minerals with Au and Tl6.98%366.47% higher
Tin2 minerals with Au and Sn4.65%153.69% higher
Mercury2 minerals with Au and Hg4.65%160.55% higher
Iron1 mineral with Au and Fe2.33%89.63% lower
Arsenic1 mineral with Au and As2.33%82.10% lower
Periodic Table
1H 2He
3Li 4Be 5B 6C 7N 8O 9F 10Ne
11Na 12Mg 13Al 14Si 15P 16S 17Cl 18Ar
19K 20Ca 21Sc 22Ti 23V 24Cr 25Mn 26Fe 27Co 28Ni 29Cu 30Zn 31Ga 32Ge 33As 34Se 35Br 36Kr
37Rb 38Sr 39Y 40Zr 41Nb 42Mo 43Tc 44Ru 45Rh 46Pd 47Ag 48Cd 49In 50Sn 51Sb 52Te 53I 54Xe
55Cs 56Ba 57La 72Hf 73Ta 74W 75Re 76Os 77Ir 78Pt 79Au 80Hg 81Tl 82Pb 83Bi 84Po 85At 86Rn
87Fr 88Ra 89Ac 104Rd 105Db 106Sg 107Bh 108Hs 109Mt 110Ds 111Rg 112Cn 113Nh 114Fl 115Mc 116Lv 117Ts 118Og
 
58Ce 59Pr 60Nd 61Pm 62Sm 63Eu 64Gd 65Tb 66Dy 67Ho 68Er 69Tm 70Yb 71Lu
90Th 91Pa 92U 93Np 94Pu 95Am 96Cm 97Bk 98Cf 99Es 100Fm 101Md 102No 103Lr
Default Categories CPK Electronegativity Atomic Radius Lowest Oxidation Highest Oxidation Crustal Abundance Goldschmidt Mineral Species Minerals with Au Relative Frequency
Platinum << Gold >> Mercury


Most widespread minerals containing Gold
This list of minerals containing Gold is built from the mindat.org locality database. This is based on the number of localities entered for mineral species and is therefore slanted towards minerals interesting to collectors with less coverage of common rock-forming-minerals so it does not give an undistorted distribution of Gold mineral species. It is more useful when comparing rare species rather than common species.
NameFormulaCrystal SystemMindat Localities
Native GoldAuIsometric35191
PetziteAg3AuTe2Isometric601
CalaveriteAuTe2Monoclinic508
SylvaniteAgAuTe4Monoclinic434
KrenneriteAu3AgTe8Orthorhombic154
MaldoniteAu2BiIsometric135
UytenbogaardtiteAg3AuS2Trigonal116
AurostibiteAuSb2Isometric110
Nagyágite[Pb3(Pb,Sb)3S6](Au,Te)3Monoclinic82
Tetra-auricuprideAuCuTetragonal47
Photos
02161850017271929222608.jpg
Native Gold

Eagle's Nest Mine, Sage Hill, Michigan Bluff Mining District, Placer County, California, USA
00736110017271925857384.jpg
Petzite, etc.

Bald Mountain, Sonora, Sonora Mining District, East Belt, Tuolumne County, California, USA
00644410017362128694425.jpg
Calaverite

Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine, Eclipse Gulch, Cripple Creek Mining District, Teller County, Colorado, USA
00545150017271926929675.jpg
Sylvanite

Emperor Mine, Vatukoula, Vatukoula Gold Field, Ba, Viti Levu, Fiji
05149910017362128697511.jpg
Native Gold

Eagle's Nest Mine, Sage Hill, Michigan Bluff Mining District, Placer County, California, USA
00736110017271925857384.jpg
Petzite, etc.

Bald Mountain, Sonora, Sonora Mining District, East Belt, Tuolumne County, California, USA
00644410017362128694425.jpg
Calaverite

Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine, Eclipse Gulch, Cripple Creek Mining District, Teller County, Colorado, USA
00545150017271926929675.jpg
Sylvanite

Emperor Mine, Vatukoula, Vatukoula Gold Field, Ba, Viti Levu, Fiji
04044950017271929275075.jpg
Native Gold

Eagle's Nest Mine, Sage Hill, Michigan Bluff Mining District, Placer County, California, USA
00736110017271925857384.jpg
Petzite, etc.

Bald Mountain, Sonora, Sonora Mining District, East Belt, Tuolumne County, California, USA
01106650017362128702471.jpg
Calaverite

Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mine, Eclipse Gulch, Cripple Creek Mining District, Teller County, Colorado, USA
00545150017271926929675.jpg
Sylvanite

Emperor Mine, Vatukoula, Vatukoula Gold Field, Ba, Viti Levu, Fiji

Localities with greatest number of different Gold mineral species
1Kockbulak mine (Kochbulak Au-Ag-Te deposit), Ohangaron District, Tashkent Region, Uzbekistan11 Au minerals
2Kairagach Au deposit, Ohangaron District, Tashkent Region, Uzbekistan11 Au minerals
3Aginskoe Au deposit (Aginskoye deposit), Central Kamchatka mining district, Bystrinsky District, Kamchatka Krai, Russia10 Au minerals
4Ozernovskoe deposit, Karaginsky District, Koryak Okrug, Kamchatka Krai, Russia10 Au minerals
5Gaching occurrence, Maletoyvayam ore field, Karaginsky District, Koryak Okrug, Kamchatka Krai, Russia10 Au minerals
6Manka Au deposit, Kurshim District, East Kazakhstan Region, Kazakhstan9 Au minerals
7Svetlinskoe Au deposit, Kochkar' District, Plast, Plastovsky District, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia9 Au minerals
8Săcărâmb, Certeju de Sus, Hunedoara County, Romania8 Au minerals
 
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To cite: Ralph, J., Von Bargen, D., Martynov, P., Zhang, J., Que, X., Prabhu, A., Morrison, S. M., Li, W., Chen, W., & Ma, X. (2025). Mindat.org: The open access mineralogy database to accelerate data-intensive geoscience research. American Mineralogist, 110(6), 833–844. doi:10.2138/am-2024-9486.
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