This article was originally published by The-Vug.com in January, 2016

The-Vug.com brings you this article of the new discovery of Crystallized Gold
from Mockingbird Mine by Tom Gressman.

An extradinary group of approxamately 26 crystaline gold specimens (thumbnail to cabinet size) was recently discovered by John Emmett at the Mockingbird Mine, Mariposa County, California. The finest pieces were collected in April 2006 at the third level (100 feet below the surface). At the Mockingbird Mine, owner John Emmett is one of the few mine owners who understands the economic and historical value of seeking out these rarest of golden treasures.These exceptionally lustrous, large, sharp octahedrons with deep yellow color, and large modified dodecahedrons up to 3/4 inch were discovered by John and Noble in a pay zone 20 by 40 feet and exterior to the southwest side of the the dike. There they found a string of pockets in a fold in the dike. A seam of clay 6-10 inches wide filled the dike fold. Small grains of gold were first noticed in the clay, indicating that perhaps a pocket of gold crystals was nearby. Two of the finest specimens were found about 15-20 feet above the fold. All other pieces were found closer to the fold itself and range in size from a couple of millimeters to cabinet size specimens. Crystallized masses of gold up to 2 pounds were found associated with milky quartz and arsenopyrite. Most pieces were found in vugs completely covered with fine-grained earthey greenish fluorite.

The finest specimen, named the “Golden Coral” is distinctly different inthat it occurred as a floater in a vug filled with black clay of unknown composition. The cabinet pieces has extraordinary color with a very rare level of mirror-brilliant luster. The best pieces were found arranged as if at the corners of three-dimensional cube tilted about 20 degress from the horizonal. Metal detectors were instrumental in locating specimens within 2-3 feet of the pockets themselves in all four corners of the imaginary cube. John Emmett’s discovery of some of the finest crystallized gold specimens ever found is no fluke. John was also present and instrumental in removing the famous “Dragon” from the Colorado Quartz mine, Mariposa County, California.

Biographical Notes
John Emmett is a road-building contractor in Clovis, California. He started his business in 1978 in the foothills of Fresno, Madera and Mariposa Counties. John’s line of work enabled him to pursue another love-gold mining, in 1994 John became part owver of the Colorado Quartz mine. He began surface mining with his equipment and discovered enough crystallized gold to get the mine back on its feet. His mine went on to produce some of the world’s finest crystallized gold specimens.

In 1196 John purchased and began operating the Mockingbird mine in Mariposa County, California. Over the years the Mineralogical Record occassionally produced crystallized gold specimens, but nothing previously found compares with the beauty and luster of his recent discovery.