List of gold nuggets by size


Gold nuggets of various sizes have been found throughout the world. Historically, they are melted down and formed into new objects.

Formation

A gold nugget is a naturally occurring piece of native gold. Watercourses often concentrate nuggets and finer gold in placers. Nuggets are recovered by placer mining, but they are also found in residual deposits where the gold-bearing veins or lodes are weathered. Nuggets are also found in the tailings piles of previous mining operations, especially those left by gold mining dredges.
Nuggets are gold fragments weathered out of an original lode. They often show signs of abrasive polishing by stream action, and sometimes still contain inclusions of quartz or other lode matrix material. A 2007 study on Australian nuggets ruled out speculative theories of supergene formation via in-situ precipitation, cold welding of smaller particles, or bacterial concentration, since crystal structures of all of the nuggets examined proved they were originally formed at high temperature deep underground.
Nuggets are usually 20.5K to 22K purity. Gold nuggets in Australia often are 23K or slightly higher, while Alaskan nuggets are usually at the lower end of the spectrum. Purity can be roughly assessed by the nugget color, the richer and deeper the orange-yellow the higher the gold content. Nuggets are also referred to by their fineness, for example "865 fine" means the nugget is 865 parts per thousand in gold by mass. The common impurities are silver and copper. Nuggets high in silver content constitute the alloy electrum.
Two gold nuggets are claimed as the largest in the world: the Welcome Stranger and the Canaã nugget, the latter being the largest surviving natural nugget. Considered by most authorities to be the biggest gold nugget ever found, the Welcome Stranger was found at Moliagul, Victoria, Australia in 1869 by John Deason and Richard Oates. It weighed gross, over and returned over net. The Welcome Stranger is sometimes confused with the similarly named Welcome Nugget, which was found in June 1858 at Bakery Hill, Ballarat, Australia by the Red Hill Mining Company. The Welcome weighed. It was melted down in London in November 1859.
Large size nuggets are still being found around the world. On 16 January 2013, a large gold nugget was found near the city of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia by an amateur gold prospector. The Y-shaped nugget weighed slightly more than, measured around 22 cm high by 15 cm wide, and has a market value slightly below 300,000 Australian dollars, though opinions have been expressed that it could be sold for much more due to its rarity. The discovery has cast doubt on the common rumour that Victoria's goldfields were exhausted in the 19th century.

List of nuggets

NameDiscovered byLocation of DiscoveryCountryDateMassNet returnNotesReferences
Welcome StrangerJohn Deason and Richard Oates1869Found only below the surface, near the base of a tree
Welcome NuggetRed Hill Mining CompanyBakery Hill, BallaratJune 1858Melted down in London in November 1859
Canaã nugget also known as the Pepita Canaa Serra Pelada MineState of ParaBrazilLargest in existence
W.A. Farish, A. Wood, J. Winstead, F.N.L. Clevering and Harry WarnerSierra ButtesSold to R.B. Woodward for $21,637
Serra Pelada MineState of ParaDisplayed at the Banco Central Museum in Brazil
Serra Pelada MineState of ParaDisplayed at the Banco Central Museum in Brazil
Lady HothamBallarat, Victoria185417 dwt. of goldLady Hotham was named after the wife of the Governor, Sir Charles Hotham
The Golden EagleJim Larcombe and sonGoldfields-Esperance, Western Australia1931Sold to and melted down by state government
The HeronGolden Gully in the Mount Alexander goldfield1855Miners found the nugget on their second day of digging
Hand of FaithKingower, Victoria1980Found using a metal detector
Fricot NuggetWilliam DavisSierra Nevada and Northern California goldfields1865Sold to for $3500 to Jules Fricot, who sent it to the 1878 Paris Exposition. On display at the California State Mining and Mineral Museum.