Join The Club
Finding gold in Subnautica 2 is a key part in crafting both an Advanced Wiring Kit and a System Chip (which the Advanced Wiring Kit is used to make). You'll also need gold if you want to build a Thermal Plant, one of the more reliable methods of producing for your base alongside the Hydroelectric Turbine, both of which definitely trump Solar Panels.
Gathering gold requires a bit of progression, but that's fine since it's not a resource you're going to need super early on. All that said, here's how to get gold in Subnautica 2.
Subnautica 2 gold location
You can find gold in the volcanic vent region to the east of the Lifepod, but particularly on the rocks around the crashed colony ship exactly 450 meters to the east, though watch out for the big predatory fish that patrol the wreck. It's easy to tell when you enter this region, as a temperature gauge will appear in the centre of the screen and the water will take on an orange hue with sparks floating in it.
Before you can mine gold, you'll need to acquire the Heat Tolerance adaptation to even enter this region without burning to a crisp. You can get this by destroying the Angel Comb about 200 meters to the northwest of the Lifepod, though to do this, you're going to need the Sonic Resonator to destroy the viral growths around the bloom.
You can find gold in tiny fragments you can collect by hand, small smashable blocks, or in bigger nodes that you can shatter with the Sonic Resonator. Either way, I recommend gathering as much as you can while you're in the area, then hauling it back to base.
