Midvale Unit 3, 144 Great Eastern Highway, MidvaleT (08) 9250 8998
gold nuggets

4 Types of Natural Gold Nuggets: A Quick Guide

Prospecting is an activity that can be enjoyed by travellers searching for a thrilling adventure, amateurs looking for gold, and experts who are experienced in finding sites. Prospectors use metal-detecting devices to find gold nuggets, which are fragments of eroded or weathered gold. They are typically carried by watercourses and recovered in residual deposits or piles of mining or through placer mining. Also, they come in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and grades. Learn more about their different types by reading the list below:

Placer gold nuggets

The most common type of gold nuggets is placer gold, which is gold that was eroded away from its host rock due to natural forces of nature. It comes in diverse grades, shapes, sizes, purity, rarity, and forms, such as flakes, nuggets, and pickers.

Top-grade placer gold nuggets can be turned into jewellery or can serve as an investment grade natural gold nuggets. In general, this type of placer gold is priced at least 2-3 times the spot price of gold.

Gold nugget crystals

Gold nugget crystals are naturally crystallized gold nuggets that are characterized by at least one or more distinct crystal structures on a single specimen, which are cubes, dendritic or leaf-like, dodecahedron, hoppered, spinel, twinned, trigons, octahedron, and wire crystals. Since they are extremely rare, they are considered the most expensive and valuable gold nuggets. The rarest ones are those that contain a wide variety and multiple types of gold crystals.

Many sellers of this type of gold do not include the weight of crystallized gold in their listings or priced it way above its spot gold price because of its rarity. However, this practice should not be normalized. Every gold buyer must know the weight of gold nuggets they are planning to purchase to help them make an informed decision.

Crystalline gold nuggets

Crystalline gold nuggets are gold in a crystalline form. This type of gold nugget is recovered close to its source and does not have any host rock attached. It can be found in its original, unexposed condition as part of another host rock, a vein within quartz, or in pockets.

Crystalline gold is rarer than placer gold and only a small amount of gold is considered this type of gold. This requires a higher demand and makes it more costly than spot gold or placer gold nuggets.

Gold in quartz

Gold in quartz specimens consists of natural quartz rock with visible crystalline gold found inside or sticking out the quartz rock or, in some extremely rare cases, other host rock. Finding gold quartz is rare, making it valuable and expensive.

To release the most natural gold, the host rock must be crushed and processed first. These specimens are priced according to their rarity, beauty, desirability, and location.

Conclusion

The key to finding gold effectively is to become knowledgeable first about the different types of natural gold nuggets and their characteristics. Since they come in different forms, shapes, sizes, and grades, these factors will impact their prices. Whether you are a rookie or veteran gold prospector, make sure to invest in quality equipment for a successful gold hunting every time.

If you’re searching for the best gold detector in Western Australia, shop at the Prospectors’ Patch. We offer updated and scientifically proven metal prospecting equipment and technologies, including metal detectors, GPS equipment, and more in Perth. Place your order now!