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Last week the unthinkable happened. A Chinese herdsman Travel ing through western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region discovered a 17-pound (7.85-kilogram) gold nugget. The Kazak herdsmen, Berek Sawut, told Chinese news agency Xinhua that he found the massive nugget “practically lying on bare ground” last Friday at around 5:00pm. The gold nugget, which according to sources is shaped like China, is roughly 23 centimeters long, 18 centimeters on its widest side and eight centimeters at its thickest. Based on latest gold prices, the estimated price for the unforeseen discovery is $255,133 ($1.6 million yuan). According to local expert, Zhu Xinfeng, the price of natural gold, considering its uniqueness, is often several times higher than that of standard gold. Traditionally called “dog head gold” or “horseshoe gold,” the nuggets are not pure, typically composed of gold ore, quartz, and traces of other minerals. Xinjiang is known for having an array of natural resource...

The Original 16 to 1 Mine produces lovely gold in quartz specimens like this. They are highly prized by mineral collectors, and they can also be cut into cabochons for use in jewelry. The 16 to 1 mine is a gold, silver, copper, zinc and lead mine located in the Alleghany mining district in California. It is most famous for producing jewelry quality gold in quartz specimens. Gold was first discovered in the Alleghany region in 1851 by a group of Kanakas sailors who found gold nuggets in what became the Kanaka Creek. Soon a tertiary auriferous channel known as the Great Blue Lead was discovered near the current Alleghany site. This spurred further exploration in the district resulting in the creation of a number of gold claims in the area. Most of the early miners in the Alleghany mining district used drift mining methods to mine gold. In fact, it is estimated that drift mining accounted for the production of gold worth over $10,000,000 between 1851 and 1880s. De...

A prospector has unearthed a number of small gold nugget s in the Outback. The nuggets, measuring smaller than a 50c coin, were discovered between Kalgoorlie and Leonora in Western Australia. A picture of the gold, weighing from 12.5grams and measuring between two and nine inches in length, was posted to Reddit on Friday. The Reddit user shared his most recent prize gold prospecting prize online on Friday The Reddit user, who wanted to be identified as James O, said a few smaller pieces were also found – totaling about $250 – ‘but these two pieces are obviously the best ones’. ‘Usually nuggets like this are in the 85 per cent to 95 per cent purity range, alloyed with other metals such as silver and copper as common alloys, to a range of others,’ the 32-year-old responded to another’s comment asking about the percentage of gold in each nugget. ‘There’s a few different ways to test – a graduated acid tes...

It’s an area known for its rich scenery of mountains, glens and lochs. Now one of Scotland’s most stunning national parks is preparing to open the country’s first goldmine . The Cononish mine, near Tyndrum in the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park, is due to start production before the end of November. One of Scotland’s most stunning national parks is preparing to open the country’s first goldmine in Cononish, near Tyndrum It will support dozens of local jobs and is hoped to be the first in a series of sites set up in the coming years. The company behind the project, Scotgold Resources, is aiming to produce 23,500 troy ounces of gold on average per year and believes it can recover more than 176,000 ounces in total – worth £255million at current prices. Around 25 per cent of the gold will come out in a form suitable to sell directly on to jewellers – which will be labelled authentic Scottish gold. Jewellers Sheila Fleet an...

Gold that is still encased in quartz, often called a gold specimen, is highly sought after by prospectors and collectors alike. Each one is unique and they are a real treat to find. Although rare, it is still possible to find beautiful specimens if you know where to search. Here are a few tips that will help you increase your odds of finding one. Anywhere that you typically find gold has the potential to produce a gold quartz specimen, but if you specifically want to target for them, certain areas will have higher odds of producing one. Do a little research on the area that you want to prospect, and try to find out if the area has ever produced any nice specimens in the past. There are certain mining districts that are known to produce nice specimens. I know of one specific area that I prospect that almost all of the nuggets have at least some quartz matrix, and many of them have a high percentage of quartz with really attractive gold veins running through it. T...

As a prospector, I’m always thinking of easier ways to find gold. After all, it’s no easy task to accumulate even a small amount of the yellow metal. I’m usually content to find even 1 or 2 grams of gold after a long day of digging. Let’s get this out of the way first… GOLD IS NOT MAGNETIC. IT IS NOT ATTRACTED TO A MAGNET. Having said that, how do we explain these pictures? Yes, this is real gold. These pictures are courtesy of our friends at goldrushnuggets.com, and at first thought one might assume that these were fake, or that the image was photoshopped. We know gold isn’t magnetic, so how do we explain this? It’s actually quite simple really. If you look at both of these nuggets you will notice small, black specks and inclusions scattered throughout the gold. Just like most raw nuggets that you find in nature, there are other minerals mixed in amongst the gold. And with these two nuggets, that black mineral is magnetite! So it’s not the gold that it bein...

Washington State is not all that well-known for producing large gold nuggets. In fact, compared to nearly all of the western states in the U.S. it is probably the poorest state to try and find large gold nuggets (although there are plenty of places where smaller placer gold is commonly found.) However, there is one place in Washington that has a History of producing some spectacular gold nuggets over the years, and that is in the mining town of Liberty. Located north of Ellensburg, the richest gold bearing areas around Liberty were found in Swauk and Williams Creeks. The earliest discoveries here were made back in 1873, and unlike most other areas that only produced fine gold dust and flakes, large nuggets were readily found in the Swauk district. Most of the placer deposits were exhausted long ago, but not all. In the fall of 2013, some miners were prospecting the bedrock of an ancient river channel in Liberty on Corbley’s Potato Patch claim. A prospector was...

A lucky Aussie prospector has found a 4.1kg gold nugget at the far southern edge of Central Victoria’s Golden Triangle, in South Australia, which he has named “Friday’s Joy.” But the huge nugget was not the only one unearthed by the man, who chose to remain anonymous, as the previous day he recovered a 9-ounce tennis ball-shaped gold nugget more than two feet deep, using Minelab’s flagship GPZ 7000 metal detector. He then decided to go back for more. “I thought it was rubbish at first, maybe an old horseshoe,” said the prospector. “About 12 inches below the ground, I could just barely make out the top of something.” The 4.1kg nugget, which is worth more than $250,000, has been named ‘Friday’s Joy As he began to scrape away the clay and dig deeper, he said he really couldn’t believe his eyes. “It wasn’t an old piece of steel in front of me. I had just unearthed a colossal gold nugget – a once in a lifetime find! (…) I didn’t think nuggets of this size were still ...

One of the biggest gold nuggets ever found has been put up for sale in Dallas for $1million, 23 years after it was first discovered. The Alaska Centennial Gold Nugget, which weighs in at a staggering 21lbs, is over 90% gold and is the size of a child’s head, was unearthed by gold miner Barry Clay in Alaska, US, in 1998. The Alaska Centennial Nugget, which measures 6.75ins by 5.75ins and weighs 21lbs, was discovered by gold miner Barry Clay on Swift Creek in Alaska in 1998. It has been recorded as the largest gold nugget to be found in Alaska, and only smaller than the ‘Boot of Cortez’ nugget found in Mexico. He made the incredible find 100 years after the 1896 Klondike Gold Rush – hence the name ‘Alaska Centennial’ – while pushing dirt with his bulldozer along the shores of the Swift Creek Mine. Clay, realising he had hit the jackpot, buried the nugget under an Alaskan tree to buy time while he decided what to do with it....

Melt Grade Gold Nuggets: The lowest grade of natural gold nuggets is called “melt grade” and melt grade nuggets are not very attractive. They will have dark host rock and/or dark mineralization and the color and nugget surface will often be dull and unattractive. The highest and best use for this grade of nuggets is to take them to a refiner and have them melted and made into gold bars. This lowest grade of natural gold nugget is usually priced between a small percentage below spot gold price, to a small percentage above spot gold price. Prices are closely tied to current spot gold prices. Although many gold nugget dealers sell this low grade of nugget, you will not find this low grade of gold nugget on our website. Common Grade Gold Nuggets: Common grade natural gold nuggets will have some easily noticeable host rock (also called matrix) and/or dark mineralization. They are not necessarily unattractive, but also nothing special. Common grade nuggets are usually...

For the people in the eastern DRC, small-scale gold mining is a key source of income. The workers risk their lives digging for the ore, which passes through many hands before it becomes a gleaming bar of pure gold. Back-breaking work Deep down, a miner in a rural artisanal gold mine chisels gold ore out of the earth. The shaft team is composed mainly of excavators and bag porters. Miners spend six to eight hours down the shafts each day. The work is physically demanding. At this mine, around 200 kilograms of ore must be excavated to extract one gram of gold Sacks of rocks for a gram of gold A miner maneuvers through a narrow tunnel junction, as his colleague waits in line. The bags of ore he has been heaving through the mine, in the direction of the mineshaft entrance, are in front of him. After agriculture, artisanal mining is the most important livelihood in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 30 kilos per load A bag porter carries his l...

A gold hunter had a stroke of luck after discovering Britain’s largest ever nugget The plucky explorer found the precious 85.7g [2.75 Troy ounces] lump while diving in a Scottish river and it is estimated to be worth upwards of £50,000. Named the Douglas Nugget, it is the biggest gold nugget to have been unearthed in British waters for 500 years. Gold expert Leon Kirk, from Gold Panning Supplies UK, said: “This is a very exciting and unprecedented find. “But the nugget’s rarity means it is very hard to put a price on it. “I would say it is worth at least £50,000 but, as it’s rarer than a Aston Martin or a Faberge egg, a billionaire could easily come along and pay a lot more for it. “Historically, it is off the Richter scale.” The Douglas Nugget, which weighs 2.75 Troy ounces [85.7g], is believed to share a similar diameter to that of a 1.6ins golf ball. It was discovered two years ago by a British father but he has kept it a secret until now. The man ...