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By: Marlene Affeld
World's Largest Gold Nugget!
Gold nuggets are naturally occurring pieces of native gold. Water and erosion concentrate the deposit of nuggets which are recovered by placer or lode mining methods. Nuggets are also often found in residual deposits where gold-bearing veins or lodes have decayed. Today nuggets can also be found in the tailing piles of previous mining operations, especially the tailings of old dredging operations.
Nuggets are never totally pure or 24K in composition. Most nuggets are about 20 to 22K or 83 - 92 percent pure. Nuggets are noted for their purity by their “fineness”. As an example “865 fine” means the nugget is 865 parts gold per thousand. Copper and silver are the common impurities found in gold nuggets.
Can you imagine a 2,332 ounce nugget of solid gold? Considered the largest gold nugget ever found, the Welcome Stranger Nugget was discovered buried just inches below the surface in Moliagul, Victoria, Australia on February 5th, 1869. Unbelievable!
Found near Wedderburn, Australia in October 1980, the magnificent Hand of Faith gold nugget was found using a metal detector. This incredible treasure was discovered in a vertical position, laying just six inches below the surface. The Hand of Faith nugget weighs a massive 875 troy ounces (61 pounds, 11 ounces). Kevin Hiller and his family were prospecting behind their modest trailer home when they made this incredible discovery. It is impossible to imagine their excitement and joy; what an amazing find! The Hand of Faith is presently on display at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.
Nuggets are usually considered to be pieces that have broken off of the original gold vein and have been carried by water or erosion to a new location. Applying this definition, the largest mass of gold ever found, the Holtermann Nugget is not really a nugget. Found in October 1872, the Holtermann Nugget is “reef gold” rather than a nugget of gold. Regardless, the Holtermann Nugget, found at Hill End, New South Wales, Australia, was an awesome discovery. Reef gold appears as a “vein” included in rock, normally quartz. This nugget was a quartz reef. By removing the rock around the vein, the gold was recovered in one giant piece that weighed 286 kilograms (about 630 pounds). The true weight of this gold mass is unknown as several pieces are believed to have been broken away in the excavation and mining process.
Throughout history several magnificent nuggets have been discovered:
In Montana, near the famous Alder Gulch, three huge nuggets were recovered, the most sizable weighing in at 42 pounds. Discovered in January 1902 by Thomas Ramon and Joseph Lefebre, the nugget was the size of a man's fist and very pure, having only 5% impurities.
Early prospectors didn’t find all the gold in Montana. A gold nugget weighing about 2 pounds (27.5 ounces) is the largest gold nugget found in Montana during the last 80 years. The Highland Centennial Gold Nugget was recovered in September 1989 by the Stratton family while working a placer claim in the Highland Mountains south of Butte. The nugget is currently on display at the Mineral Museum at the University of Montana in Butte, Montana.
Alaska is famous for the gold found there including the Centennial Nugget found on Swift Creek near Ruby, Alaska. Reportedly the biggest nugget ever found in Alaska, this trophy find weighs 294.1 troy ounces. About the size of a softball, this impressive nugget was discovered by Barry Clay in 1998. It was sold and is currently in a private collection.
Another Alaskan nugget of note was found on Anvil Creek near Nome, Alaska on September 29th, 1901, the Anvil Nugget weighed 108 troy ounces.
California and gold go hand-in-hand. The largest nugget ever discovered in California was located in 1854 at Carson Hill above the Stanislaus River. The nugget weighed 195 pounds.
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