**NEW FIND** *Sahara Gold!*
In the beginning of September this year, during lockdown time, a small group of local miners discovered a new locality of gold in the Sahara mountains close to the city of Tan-Tan in the far southwestern part of Morocco. The new find is a big surprise and indeed very significant. Due to their beauty and size the newly mined pieces represent by far the best gold specimens ever found in Morocco. Shapes include straight, elongated aggregates of spinel twinned gold crystals up to a few inches in length, as well as a big variety of wonderfully curved gold wire shapes. What makes this find truly special and outstanding is the fact that most specimens represent a stunning mix of both spinel twins and wire shapes, a new style of gold that we have not seen from any other locality before. The majority of the specimens had formed as floaters in one large pocket and was collected as single crystal aggregates. A small number of pieces shows associated quartz and also minor calcite. One miniature sized piece (#GL28) features milky quartz crystals up to 2.5 cm in lenght serving as a wonderful matrix for the gold crystals, a clear indicator that the gold had formed in an open pocket within a quartz vein. Luckily, there was no big geological movement after the crystals had formed, and the majority of the pieces was found and collected in fantastic condition. The crystals were partly covered by a thin coating of iron-oxides like limonite and goethite, which could be removed with water, no further chemical treatment had to be applied. The specimens are complete floaters, sharp and well-formed all the way around, and the luster is just spectacular. Since September the mining process kept going, however, no more pockets of significance have been found. Just a few tiny bits of gold in 5-10 mm size range were collected in the dumps. This gallery represents a great selection of gold aggregates, both spinel twins and wire shapes, in excellent form and condition, representing some of the finest gold specimens ever to come form Morocco.
Aouint Ighoumane, Assa-Zag Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco
Size: 3 x 1.6 x 0.4 cm
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Aouint Ighoumane, Assa-Zag Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco
Size: 3.8 x 0.8 x 0.6 cm
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Aouint Ighoumane, Assa-Zag Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco
Size: 4.8 x 2.2 x 1.8 cm
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Aouint Ighoumane, Assa-Zag Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco
Size: 2.6 x 0.6 x 0.5 cm
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Aouint Ighoumane, Assa-Zag Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco
Size: 3.6 x 1.4 x 0.7 cm
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Aouint Ighoumane, Assa-Zag Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco
Size: 2.8 x 0.5 x 0.4 cm
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Aouint Ighoumane, Assa-Zag Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco
Size: 3.5 x 1 x 0.6 cm
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Aouint Ighoumane, Assa-Zag Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco
Size: 1.6 x 0.8 x 0.6 cm
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Aouint Ighoumane, Assa-Zag Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco
Size: 1.7 x 1.3 x 0.4 cm
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Aouint Ighoumane, Assa-Zag Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco
Size: 4 x 0.5 x 0.5 cm
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Aouint Ighoumane, Assa-Zag Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco
Size: 2.5 x 1 x 0.5 cm
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Aouint Ighoumane, Assa-Zag Province, Guelmim-Oued Noun Region, Morocco
Size: 3.8 x 0.7 x 0.5 cm
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