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Native metal
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<h2 id="occurrence">Occurrence</h2> <h3>Gold</h3> <p>Most gold is mined as native metal and can be found as nuggets, veins or wires of gold in a rock matrix, or fine grains of gold, mixed in with sediments or bound within rock. The iconic image of gold mining for many is <a href="/facts/Placer_mining/MkEd1lT9">gold panning</a>, which is a method of separating flakes and nuggets of pure gold from river sediments due to their great <a href="/facts/Density/92p6hh9I">density</a>. Native gold is the predominant gold mineral on the earth. It is sometimes found alloyed with silver and/or other metals, but true gold compound minerals are uncommon, mainly a handful of <a href="/facts/Selenide/vA9Ls4xH">selenides</a> and tellurides. </p> <h3>Silver</h3> <p>Native silver occurs as elongated <a href="/facts/Dendrite_(crystal)/KWcdmRJX">dendritic</a> coatings or irregular masses. It may also occur as cubic, octahedral, or dodecahedral crystals. It may occur alloyed with gold as <a href="/facts/Electrum/SEDNoRaK">electrum</a>. It often occurs with silver <a href="/facts/Sulfide_mineral/f8rxJpCW">sulfide</a> and <a href="/facts/Sulfosalt/MCe2ntmU">sulfosalt</a> minerals.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> Various <a href="/facts/Amalgam_(chemistry)/5dRXJyt3">amalgams</a> of silver and mercury or other metals and mercury do occur rarely as minerals in nature. An example is the mineral <a href="/facts/Eugenite/175BD6oT">eugenite</a> (Ag11Hg2) and related forms.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> Silver nuggets, wires, and grains are relatively common, but there are also a large number of silver compound minerals owing to silver being more reactive than gold. </p> <h3>Platinum group</h3> <p>Natural alloys of the <a href="/facts/Platinum_group_metal/pbDgst54">platinum group metals</a> include: native <a href="/facts/Osmium/1TjXD69n">osmium</a> (Os,Ir,Ru), <a href="/facts/Rutheniridosmine/eEgoaIQR">rutheniridosmine</a> (Ir,Os,Ru), <a href="/facts/Ruthenium/uzCm4ufn">ruthenium</a> (Ru,Ir), <a href="/facts/Palladium/AXMwDFxs">palladium</a> (Pd,Pt), <a href="/facts/Platinum/qJC6lQf7">platinum</a> Pt, and <a href="/facts/Rhodium/xmBd9aFG">rhodium</a> (Rh,Pt). In addition, gold, copper, iron, mercury, tin, and lead may occur in alloys of this group.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> As with gold, salts and other compounds of the platinum group metals are rare; native platinum and related metals and alloys are the predominant minerals bearing these metals. These metals occur associated with <a href="/facts/Ultramafic_intrusion/LVIhCsfC">ultramafic intrusions</a>, and <a href="/facts/Placer_deposit/rbAQIxgF">placer deposits</a> derived from those intrusions. </p> <h3>Copper</h3> <p class="note">Main article: <a href="/facts/Native_copper/GcXIbgkH">Native copper</a></p> <p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/Copper_mining_in_Michigan/Ajm4Unb9">Copper mining in Michigan</a></p> <p><a href="/facts/Native_copper/GcXIbgkH">Native copper</a> has been historically mined as an early source of the metal. The term <a href="/facts/Old_Copper_Complex/rPTnj5ez">Old Copper Complex</a> is used to describe an ancient North American civilization that utilized native copper deposits for weapons, tools, and decorative objects. This society existed around <a href="/facts/Lake_Superior/o6hh85hD">Lake Superior</a>, where they found sources of native copper and mined them between 6000 and 3000 BC.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a> Copper would have been especially useful to ancient humans as it was much stronger than gold, hard enough to be made into useful items such as fishhooks and woodworking tools, but still soft enough to be easily shaped, unlike <a href="/facts/Meteoric_iron/pRaMdRz6">meteoric iron</a>. </p><p>The same deposits of native copper on the <a href="/facts/Keweenaw_Peninsula/zsyr5SRY">Keweenaw Peninsula</a> and <a href="/facts/Isle_Royale/VmPGSjWK">Isle Royale</a> were later <a href="/facts/Copper_mining_in_Michigan/Ajm4Unb9">mined commercially</a>. From 1845 until 1887, the Michigan <a href="/facts/Copper_Country/cGmxrQ2C">Copper Country</a> was the leading producer of copper in the United States. Masses of native copper weighing hundreds of tons were sometimes found in the mines. </p><p>The spectrum of copper minerals closely resembles that of silver, ranging from oxides of its multiple oxidation states through sulfides and silicates to halides and chlorates, iodates, nitrates and others. Natural alloys of copper (particularly with silver; the two metals can also be found in separate but co-mingled masses) are also found. </p> <h3>Iron, nickel and cobalt</h3> <p><a href="/facts/Telluric_iron/xYgwowV9">Telluric iron</a> (Earth born) is very rare, with only one major deposit known in the world, located on or near <a href="/facts/Disko_Island/LfSrPn5Q">Disko Island</a> in <a href="/facts/Greenland/aagXRTB7">Greenland</a>. Most of the native iron on earth is actually not in fact "native", in the traditional sense, to Earth. It mainly comes from <a href="/facts/Iron_meteorite/rjgT7fec">iron-nickel meteorites</a> that formed millions of years ago but were preserved from chemical attack by the vacuum of space, and fell to the earth a relatively short time ago. Metallic meteorites are composed primarily of the <a href="/facts/Iron-nickel_alloy/dqyln0KA">iron-nickel alloys</a>: <a href="/facts/Taenite/jwevbgJw">taenite</a> (high nickel content) and <a href="/facts/Kamacite/9JHfxXsL">kamacite</a> (low nickel content). However, there are a few areas on earth where truly native iron can be found.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p><p>Native nickel has been described in <a href="/facts/Serpentinite/CDfNaGF3">serpentinite</a> due to <a href="/facts/Hydrothermal_alteration/loQ477Ke">hydrothermal alteration</a> of <a href="/facts/Ultramafic/7qAapP1d">ultramafic</a> rocks in <a href="/facts/New_Caledonia/VI15kA61">New Caledonia</a> and elsewhere.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> </p><p>Metallic <a href="/facts/Cobalt/gqhScEw4">cobalt</a> has been reported in the Canadian Lorraine Mine, Cobalt-Gowganda region, the <a href="/facts/Timiskaming_District/JDVVafu9">Timiskaming District</a>, <a href="/facts/Ontario/HUkxk5Rf">Ontario</a>, Canada, and in the Aidyrlya gold deposit in <a href="/facts/Orenburg_Oblast/DNBAya6V">Orenburgskaya Oblast</a> of the Southern <a href="/facts/Urals/gzNoPkt6">Urals</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a> </p> <h3>Others</h3> <p>All other native metals occur only in small quantities or are found in geologically special regions. For example, metallic <a href="/facts/Cadmium/wXkV2eIX">cadmium</a> was only found at two locations including the <a href="/facts/Vilyuy_River/nVYHzjGe">Vilyuy River</a> basin in <a href="/facts/Siberia/oaCoPEjF">Siberia</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> Native <a href="/facts/Molybdenum/RX6vp2bF">molybdenum</a> has been found in <a href="/facts/Lunar_regolith/1eXW6nT7">lunar regolith</a> and in the <a href="/facts/Koryaksky/08UQe2RI">Koryakskii volcano</a> in <a href="/facts/Kamchatka_Oblast/LFBX1LaX">Kamchatka Oblast</a> of Russia.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a> Elsewhere in this region native indium, aluminium, tantalum, tellurium, and other metals have been reported. Native lead<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a> is quite rare but somewhat more widespread, as are tin,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a> mercury,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a> arsenic,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:20" href="#fn:20"><sup>20</sup></a> antimony,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:21" href="#fn:21"><sup>21</sup></a> and bismuth.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:22" href="#fn:22"><sup>22</sup></a> </p><p>Native chromium has been found in small grains in Sichuan, China<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:23" href="#fn:23"><sup>23</sup></a> and other locations.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:24" href="#fn:24"><sup>24</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Native_element_mineral/kWjWAus5">Native element mineral</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Noble_metal/Pe9EKIvU">Noble metal</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Gangue/SSCPAnH4">Gangue</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Free_element/dPTEISA9">Free element</a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Native_state_(metallurgy)/qolGsq6R">Native state</a></li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.galleries.com/minerals/elements/class.htm">The Native Elements Class</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"native metal". Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on January 31, 2018. Retrieved 30 January 2018. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20180131024203/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/native_metal" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20180131024203/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/native_metal</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Parker Cleaveland (1822). An elementary treatise on mineralogy and geology. Cummings and Hilliard. p. 521. <a href="https://archive.org/details/anelementarytre00cleagoog" target="_blank">https://archive.org/details/anelementarytre00cleagoog</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Barthelmy, D. "Aluminum Mineral Data". Mineralogy Database. Archived from the original on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2008. <a href="http://webmineral.com/data/Aluminum.shtml" target="_blank">http://webmineral.com/data/Aluminum.shtml</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Silicon, Mindat.org <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-3659.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-3659.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Handbook of Mineralogy <a href="http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/silver.pdf" target="_blank">http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/silver.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Webmineral data <a href="http://www.webmineral.com/data/Silver.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.webmineral.com/data/Silver.shtml</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Eugenite on Mindat (see related minerals and localities) <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-1422.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-1422.html</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Iridium on Mindat, Relationship of Iridium to other Species – Nichel-Strunz <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-2045.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-2045.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Thomas C. Pleger (2000). "The Old Copper Complex of the Western Great Lakes". UW–Fox Valley Anthropology. Archived from the original on 2008-07-05. Retrieved 2007-08-15. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080705140930/http://www.uwfox.uwc.edu/academics/depts/tpleger/oldcopper.html" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20080705140930/http://www.uwfox.uwc.edu/academics/depts/tpleger/oldcopper.html</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Mindat with location data <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-2047.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-2047.html</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Native iron in the Handbook of Mineralogy <a href="http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/iron.pdf" target="_blank">http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/iron.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Nickel on Mindat with location data <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-2895.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-2895.html</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Native nickel in the Handbook of Mineralogy <a href="http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/nickel.pdf" target="_blank">http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/nickel.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Cobalt on Mindat <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-39300.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-39300.html</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Fleischer, Michael; Cabri, Louis J.; Chao, George Y.; Pabst, Adolf (1980). "New Mineral Names" (PDF). American Mineralogist. 65: 1065–1070. <a href="http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM65/AM65_1065.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.minsocam.org/ammin/AM65/AM65_1065.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>Native Molybdenum – Mindat.org <a href="http://mindat.org/min-10320.html" target="_blank">http://mindat.org/min-10320.html</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Lead on Mindat <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-2358.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-2358.html</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>Tin on Mindat <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-3965.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-3965.html</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>Mercury on Mindat <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-2647.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-2647.html</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:20"><p>Arsenic on Mindat <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-357.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-357.html</a> <a href="#fnref:20" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:21"><p>Antimony on Mindat <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-262.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-262.html</a> <a href="#fnref:21" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:22"><p>Bismuth on Mindat <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-684.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-684.html</a> <a href="#fnref:22" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:23"><p>"Chromium Mineral Data". Webmineral.com. Retrieved 2013-05-09. <a href="http://webmineral.com/data/Chromium.shtml" target="_blank">http://webmineral.com/data/Chromium.shtml</a> <a href="#fnref:23" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:24"><p>Chromium on Mindat <a href="http://www.mindat.org/min-1037.html" target="_blank">http://www.mindat.org/min-1037.html</a> <a href="#fnref:24" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>