Gold nugget

Gold nugget

A gold nugget is a naturally occurring piece of native gold. Watercourses often concentrate the nuggets and they are recovered by placer mining, but they may also be found in residual deposits where the gold-bearing veins or lodes have decayed. Nuggets are also found in the tailings piles of previous mining operations, especially those left by gold mining dredges. They are never pure 24K in composition but rather about 20 to 22K (~about 83% to 92%). Nuggets are also referred to by their "fineness", for example "865 fine" means the nugget is 865 parts per thousand in gold. The common impurities are silver and copper. Nuggets high in silver content are known as "electrum". [Gold: Its Geological Occurrence and Geographical Distribution by J. Malcom McLaren]

The largest gold nugget ever found was the Welcome Stranger, found in Victoria, Australia in 1869. It weighed over 2,100 troy ounces (65.2 kg) . The largest gold nugget in existence is the Hand of Faith, found by Kevin Hillier in Victoria in 1980 using a metal detector.

ee also

*Gold mining
*Gold prospecting
*Gold rush
*Nugget (coin)

Notes

External links

* [http://www.sbs.com.au/gold/story.html?storyid=122 Gold nuggets of Australia]
* [http://nevada-outback-gems.com/prospect/gold_specimen/Natural_gold.htm Natural gold nugget Photos]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Gold nugget — Gold Gold (g[=o]ld), n. [AS. gold; akin to D. goud, OS. & G. gold, Icel. gull, Sw. & Dan. guld, Goth. gul[thorn], Russ. & OSlav. zlato; prob. akin to E. yellow. [root]49, 234. See {Yellow}, and cf. {Gild}, v. t.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Chem.) A… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • gold nugget — n. piece of gold that occurs in a natural manner in gold fields …   English contemporary dictionary

  • Australian Gold Nugget — Gold Nugget (Australia) Edge: Reeded Composition: 99.99% Au Years of Minting: 1986–present Obverse Design: Elizabeth II Designer …   Wikipedia

  • Gold prospecting — is the act of going equipped to find gold in rocks or in stream beds with a view to exploiting that discovery. This usually means individual prospectors, as opposed to those trained and educated individuals working for mining companies. Up until… …   Wikipedia

  • Nugget — may refer to: Gold nugget, a piece of gold produced through mining and extraction Chicken nugget, a lump of breaded or battered chicken Mosin Nagant, a family of bolt action military rifles North Bay Nugget, a daily newspaper Native metal, a… …   Wikipedia

  • Gold (color) — Gold tone redirects here. For the type of photographic print, see Gold tone (print). Gold (golden) Color coordinates Hex triplet #FFD700 …   Wikipedia

  • Gold mining in the United States — has taken place since the discovery of gold at the Reed farm in North Carolina in 1799.In 2006 the United States produced approximately 8.360 million troy ounces (260 tonnes) of gold, making it the second or third largest gold producing nation,… …   Wikipedia

  • Gold — (g[=o]ld), n. [AS. gold; akin to D. goud, OS. & G. gold, Icel. gull, Sw. & Dan. guld, Goth. gul[thorn], Russ. & OSlav. zlato; prob. akin to E. yellow. [root]49, 234. See {Yellow}, and cf. {Gild}, v. t.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Chem.) A metallic… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Gold amalgam — Gold Gold (g[=o]ld), n. [AS. gold; akin to D. goud, OS. & G. gold, Icel. gull, Sw. & Dan. guld, Goth. gul[thorn], Russ. & OSlav. zlato; prob. akin to E. yellow. [root]49, 234. See {Yellow}, and cf. {Gild}, v. t.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Chem.) A… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Gold beater — Gold Gold (g[=o]ld), n. [AS. gold; akin to D. goud, OS. & G. gold, Icel. gull, Sw. & Dan. guld, Goth. gul[thorn], Russ. & OSlav. zlato; prob. akin to E. yellow. [root]49, 234. See {Yellow}, and cf. {Gild}, v. t.] [1913 Webster] 1. (Chem.) A… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”