November 21, 2025 | 05:38 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A recent study shows that earthquakes can trigger the formation of large gold nuggets within quartz veins in just a few seconds. This finding was published by a team of scientists from Monash University, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), and Australia's Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO). These three institutions studied the process of electric charge on quartz, attracting gold from underground solutions.
Previously, the prevailing theory was that gold was carried by hot fluids flowing through fractures in rock. However, considering that the dissolved gold concentration is usually very small, this mechanism did not completely explain the existence of large gold nuggets within quartz.
The researchers then tested the hypothesis that electric voltage due to piezoelectricity, the effect that occurs when quartz is compressed or twisted during an earthquake, could be a trigger for gold deposition. In laboratory experiments, the team placed pieces of quartz into a solution containing dissolved gold and applied mechanical pressure to simulate an earthquake.
Microscopic observations revealed gold deposits in the form of bright spots and clusters of nanoparticles, as well as small crystals, forming directly on the surface of quartz. Gold also appeared to grow around pre-existing gold grains.
"The results were stunning," said study author Professor Andy Tomkins from Monash University School of Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment, as quoted in the report from Earth published on Thursday, November 20, 2025.
Tomkins stated that stressed quartz not only electrochemically deposited gold on its surface, but also formed and collected gold nanoparticles. "Remarkably, the gold had a tendency to deposit on existing gold grains rather than forming new ones," he said.
The researchers found that the electric field formed on quartz during earthquakes pushed dissolved gold ions to take electrons and transform into solid metal on the crystal's surface. The coating process would be faster if there were already some gold present.
"In essence, the quartz acts like a natural battery, with gold as the electrode, slowly accumulating more gold with each seismic event," said Christopher Voisey, a geology expert from Monash University.
The study's results, published in the journal Nature Geoscience, add a new mechanism to the understanding of gold formation. Hot fluids still play a major role, but the electrical stress from earthquakes helps concentrate gold growth at specific points, resulting in the large nuggets often found in orogenic gold systems.
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