okay so what rocks are common in australia? is sandstone rough and layery with rocks etc.. granite, basalt etc
Gold and quartz are found together but in the case of quartz crystals that would not be the case. To the best of my knowledge there is no natural gold found in South Carolina.
Gold deposits are frequently formed from the migration of hydrothermal fluids (very hot and generally but not necessarily salty deep groundwater). the chemistry of the how and why is a bit complicated for this place, but it is quite common to find quartz (and also carbonate) veins in close association with gold-enriched zones. The fluids responsible for transporting the gold are also usually saturated with silica and carbonate. These minerals (which are much more common and contained as dissolved solids at much higher concentrations than the gold) over time simply fill in the fractures in the rock where the water (and one should actually say fluid) is migrating. Quartz veins in rocks are extremely common. Rocks are composed primarily of silicate minerals and so the formation of quartz in veins is relatively easy under metamorphism or during water migration. Gold-bearing systems are extremely rare. My understanding is that gold in south carolina tends to be associated with the more upland (non-coastal plain) areas, much as is the case with Virginia and North Carolina, but I don,t know much about South Carolina mineral occurrences.
