This will be just a quick reference to the properties of gold as it would be impossible to add anything that isn't in Ken Lane's Gold Prospecting page. The Properties of Gold Gold is a very heavy yellow metal. It has a specific gravity of 19.3 which means a quart of gold would weigh 19.3 times as much as a quart of water. As a comparison, lead has a specific gravity of about 11 so gold is almost twice as heavy as lead. Gold is resistant to most naturally occurring chemicals so it doesn't tarnish and it is never destroyed.
Gold is very malleable and ductile.
It can be hammered so thin that 250,000 sheets would make a stack one inch high. One ounce can be drawn into a wire thirty five miles long. Gold is never found pure in nature. By its weight - If your panning technique is correct, the gold will be found at the bottom of the pan. When you gently swirl water around in your pan, gold acts differently than the other material.