Natural gold types = lode gold, alluvial gold and gold dissolved in sea-water.
Processed gold types = gold bullion, gold plate, gold alloy's, gold leaf.
Gold can be found in rock veins and gravels, in clay and silt deposited by rivers and streams but the greatest quantity of gold is to be found dissolved in sea-water. Unfortunately the latter is uneconomic, at present, to extract.
Lode gold occurs in veins, grains or microscopic particles of metallic gold embedded in rock.
Native gold is found as free flakes, grains or larger nuggets that have been eroded from rocks and deposited as alluvial or placer deposits.
Gold forms in veins and is deposited in river beds as a result of coming from within the Earth in the molten state. The river beds flowing down mountains can carry small pieces of gold, and deposit the pieces where the current is slow enough, or between rocks on the bottom of the river.