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Gold nuggets are solid
lumps of gold. The term "nugget" was first used for gold in 1852 during
Australia's gold rush. Nuggets are rare, making up less than 2 percent of
all native gold ever mined.
Natural Gold Nuggets are
special for so many reasons I don't know if I can list them all. Each gold
nugget, no matter what size is a unique piece of geological work. When I
hold a natural gold nugget in my hand I can't help wondering what the very
hot geological event was when it was formed, keeping in mind it takes 1948
degrees Fahrenheit, or 1064 degrees Celsius to melt gold. If it is alloyed
with other metals the temperature may vary. So, in my mind, I wonder if the
gold nugget was originally part of a larger piece of gold. Did wind and
weather or earthquake break the nugget off a larger chunk of gold or a reef?
And over the eons did it wash down into the river or stream or onto a desert
that was once a large salt Lake? I think
all this and more makes natural good nuggets special, and I’m sure a
geologist or prospector could answer a lot of these questions.
Never-the-less, holding a 40 million or possibly 400 million year old gold
nugget in your hand, no matter what size, is special.
Natural Gold Nuggets are 10 times rarer than
diamonds. While almost all diamonds ever found have been carefully
preserved, virtually all nuggets found before 1990 have been melted down.
For example, the "Boot of Cortez" is the
largest natural gold nugget in existence from the Western Hemisphere. Its
weight is 389.4 troy oz. and was found in the Mexican Sonora Desert with a
metal detector in 1989. Its not the largest ever found in the Western
Hemisphere, but the largest surviving
nugget. Alaska's largest (surviving?) gold nugget, The Centennial Nugget
weighs in at 294.1 troy ounces was discovered at Ruby Creek Alaska in 1998.
Australia of course, with nearly 99.9 24 karat gold nuggets is a whole
nother story. Australia can
boast thirteen nuggets of over 1,000 ounces each, while the rest of the
world can only claim two. Significantly, all of these huge nuggets were
melted long ago.
Gold nuggets are special. I know a man who owns a sporting goods store who
wears, and has worn for over 40 years, a 1/2 ounce California gold nugget on
a gold chain around his neck. I've visited the Yukon and came upon several
people who carried small gold nuggets in their pockets. One fellow told me
that his wife reinforced his pants pockets as soon as he bought them because
the nugget, which he always carried, would wear out the pocket.
Each gold nugget you hold in your hand takes on a personality of its own.
That's why gold nuggets are special. If you've never had one in your hand, I
predict that when you do hold one, you will think gold nuggets are special
too.
1.
Gold Nugget Rarity
Chart
2. Boot of Cortez Gold Nugget
3.
The
Centennial Gold Nugget
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