Mica

Fool’s gold can be one of three minerals, which include iron pyrite, iron copper pyrite or a form of yellowish brown mica. When it is first seen it looks a lot like gold, especially when strong light hits it such as the sun, or when it is seen under water. However, once you have seen what real gold looks like it will not be too difficult to identify which is the real deal and which is the fake. 

Just remember that mica will look like little yellow flakes of one type lying in a stream bed, but in most cases placer gold does not lay on the surface to reflect the sun. If you need to test it to make sure simply crush it with a knife and if it crushed down into a fine white powder you will know that what you have found is fool’s gold or mica. Mica comes from a family of minerals out of which only a couple are important to prospectors. Muscovite is a crystalline in structure and it has a great cleavage. It is used commercially a lot and there are various deposits in the U.S.A. In order for it to be of value it needs to have crystals split into sheets that are not smaller then 1 and ½ by two inches. When it is found in nature the color of it differs and can either be white to yellowish however light red and green specimens have also been seen. It has a glassy luster to it, a hardness of 2 to 2.5 and a specific gravity of 2.8 to 3.1. Another type of commercially exploitable mica is known as lepidolite and this consists of an ore of lithium. This is a very rare mineral but it is regularly found in pegmatite. Lepidolite can be found in a number of pretty colors that range from gray, green, lilac and yellow, and it is sometimes confused with muscovite. An assay by a professional is a must if this is found. This mineral has a pearly and silky luster to it, a hardness of 2 to 4 and a specific gravity of 2.8 to 3.3.