Doing a project at the moment, if anyone knows any info on quartz, especially why it's used in glass I'd be verrry happy.
All sand is made of quartz. It has nothing to do with gold. If you go to any beach the sand there is pure quartz that has been fragmented over time to tiny particules.
Some quartz, is associated with gold, silver and copper. The best way to approach your qwest would be to try and learn something about the local geology. Start with a bookstore or library where you will find something about the gology of your area. Look to see if there are mines in your area.. and what they were mining for Look to see if your local geology is mostly sedimentary, metamorphic or volcanic.. quite possible a combination of all three. If there are local gold-silver-copper mines and you are in igneous/volcanic and/or metamorhphic terrain then certainly it is possible that there is pyrite and gold. Generally anything that is cubic or some sort of angular geometry and gold looking may more likely be pyrite rather than gold which tends to be less crystalline appearing. Hard to say much else without knowing more about the area and local geology.. One thing I can warn you about is associating color with very much of anything.. especially in quartz.. color means next to nothing and has more to do with trace amounts of elements than it does any gross compositional indication
Gold is very often associated with quartz, particularly if the quartz is from intrusive reef structures. If there is associated mineralization the chance is even better. Pyrites are a good indication as is black slates close by, but the only accurate way of finding out is to collect about 25kg and have an assay done. This would probably cost in the region of 30-60 dollars.
