Question
Hello, I live in The Valley in California and in my basement the ground is covered with gold flakes the dirt is everywhere and even inside the chimney there's like gold sandstone flakes in it. How can I tell if it's real gold or not or if I'm just digging up fools gold because the ground is got alot of gold in it. Jessica
Answer
Jessica,
A more likely candidate is biotite. Biotite is a common platy mineral that when oxidized takes on a gold sheen. Try scratching one gently with your fingernail. Biotite is very soft and platy. You should have no trouble scratching or leaving an indentation.
If you want to take some high quality pics and send them to me, I'll eyeball them.
Mike