I and another guy found some like that not too long ago.We both found it in different parts of the same claim.And did find some like it in CA around Downieville.

Hi Joseph,

Thank you for responding,

Is it like when gold is in a liquid form, then a volcano erupts with the gold, airborne particles of molten material fuse into tear like drops of a volcanic eruption spurting out of the vent in a showering cascade of hot molten gold then rapidly cooling into a tear like drop? 

I was very puzzled when I panned this and found it, I have never seen anything like it. I even tried to look it up on the internet and found no information on gold teardrop or BB gold.

Erick J

In the muzzle loading days "Shot Towers" were used to make small musket balls and shotgun shot. Dropping molten lead into water from a distance (a tower), I think is how they did it. Maybe the volcano showered an ancient lake, river or sea with teardrops that rapidly cooled into "BB's". I have visited several of these Shot Towers in the eastern USA but to get a professionals opinion Google "Shot Towers".

My belief is that this gold was formed on the surface and subject to intense fire from burning forest or terrain. Yes its buried under overburden now, but these events could have happened several thousand years ago or more even. We all see in todays world how California forest fires burn and scorch the earth. What we see today in the terrain, is nothing much like it was 10, 000 years ago. Therefore any ground containing small flecks of gold could have easily melted during forest fires and melted in with adjacent gold.