If there is something you particularly excited mind prospector who played in his mind pictures of enormous wealth and luxury, this is a big dream native gold nuggets .
From Australia to Alaska, from the jungles of Brazil to the deposits of Papua New Guinea , and just all over the world , there is no better means of expression of the nicest and most disgusting human traits than gold.
As someone pointed out somewhere , one can drop a hundred dollar bill and a short gold for only 10 dollars, but for the gold he’ll bent with such energy and passion , as if the money never existed , and short gold represents a tremendous value.
It is not hard to imagine why gold nugget nuggets are so desirable for those who seek them , if we take into account the size of some specimens : the famous “Wish unknown ” weighing 71.1 kg . , Large native gold piece ” slab of Holterman “with a total weight of 235.5 kg with quartz and gold ” only ” 83.2 kg . , ” wishes ” weighing 68.4 kg . ; also ” Blanche Barkly “54,3 kg ” hand of fate ” weighing 27 , 2 kg. And do not forget to mention the recent discoveries in Brazil , ” Goliath ” , weighing 50.5 kg . , But also for the largest piece of native gold discovered quite recently in Mongolia, whose weight is not reported yet.
Large conviction
At the beginning of the era of gold mining in the state of Victoria in Australia ( 19th century ) , there existed strong belief that short gold nugget that Chinese prospector found , can not compete with “Would unknown .” Has long been claimed that this “monster ” was purchased by a large group of people living on the other side of the planet. Subsequently, however , the weight of the nugget was assessed only a little over 31 kg.
FINAL PROOF
Was fully confirmed that the weight of one of several recent Australian findings in the area of the crest of the Pyrenees ( mountain in Victoria ) is equal to 31 kg. Two others found in the town of Maryborough, Victoria state , weighing 28 kg . and 13 kg. accordingly . Gold nugget weighs 56.1 kg .
Despite the fact that the Australian land is extremely rich in gold nuggets , many remarkable findings were found in other parts of the world .
Large nuggets were discovered in South Africa , Russia , Brazil, New Guinea , USA. And although they are not so large in comparison with Australian specimens , their ability to ignite the imagination is no less. Even in the Solomon Islands, the locals regularly found 300 gram nuggets . Also, by the way, in New Guinea , where new fields are discovered continuously, and to believe in what quantities are nuggets , you can see it yourself on the spot. However , the brave miners should know and the iniquities that sometimes do in developed countries .
Nuggets cluster origin of gold
It is believed that gold nugget nuggets “grow” in the earth eroded piece of gold from the ore veins (for example , a size of 100 grams) ” attract ” small particles of the same metal in the soil and rich in minerals dissolved in groundwater vodi.Sled these particles are somehow joined together , forming gradually nugget gold nuggets the size we see today .
The origin of this theory is probably due to the miners of the past : during the prospecting of ore veins located in the vicinity of rich placers of gold ( which is often found pieces of gold nugget ) miners never run into strong individuals they in the veins . This led them to believe that the gold in the form of pieces from no ore veins , and ” grew up ” of natural habitats as a result of some sort of chemical reaction.
Today we know that gold can actually ” grow ” , it is understandable how old Discoveries been able to reach this conclusion. There are many registered with finds of gold in crystalline form ” grew up ” in some carbonate formations.
Many specimens were found in the deep gold deposits near the town of Ballarat . Even once daily schedule at a laboratory gold was ” Increase ” using as catalyst a crystallization process of the core, based on carbon.
Proof of growth theory
As proof of the theory of ” growth ” is seen in places such as Nuggety Gully in Danolli or Blackwood – in the ore veins of these gold deposits , gold is only in the form of small particles . Meanwhile, on the surface were found numerous native fragments , some of which were of a weight of 3 kg. and up.
Also lode “Black Dog” in Moliagul Australia, not far from where it was found the famous “Wish unknown ” did not give anything more that a little bit of a reminder of this ” monster” .
Further evidence of the theory of ” growth ” was the fact that native gold nuggets found in placers were a little higher sample than samples from neighboring ore veins . For example, gold pieces from spill sample was 97% , while the pieces of ore veins , the sample was lower . The only explanation of this fact was that nugget nuggets had to ” grow up .”
More new theories
Other, more – plausible theories suggest that the gold in the ore was formed initially in the form of V-shaped formations. This means that when the metal was first formed , the richest parts of the veins were located on the surface or very close to it. Later, several hundred meters or a few kilometers of the surface is eroded and has been completely destroyed by time . So about two thirds of the upper part of the V- shaped formation was destroyed long ago and now we see only what is left today . A material damage , landslides on the slopes formed gold-bearing talus at their bases . Rainfall over the centuries formed rivers that carved these slopes and lush water formed alluvial rock sediments in the lower part of the river system rich in gold and other minerals.
Large gold nugget nuggets can be formed not only in numerous ore veins , the size of the pieces that do not conform to the spill , but also in the smaller side “wings ” on the side adjacent to the main ore body . These side acted as a kind of filter , bounding and skipping in itself enriched with gold hot solutions penetrating the ore body . Expires in ” wings ” dissolve deposits in their native big chunks .
The majority of large nugget portions were formed in the large veins and small- rich , very close to the surface . These also part of the V- shaped theory of their origin, according to which today revealing the surface gold-bearing ore layers are the remnants of a large , gold- rich source in the distant past. Before starting the destructive effects of erosion , V- shaped veins contain high purity gold in their upper parts and lower test at the bottom .
Dozens of ore veins
It is said that many ore veins works the following way : the deep dig , the greater the mineralization . For this reason, gold mining is becoming more complex and hardly worth the effort. Moreover, most gold was in the upper parts of the veins . In support of the V- theory is also worth noting that at the very beginning of the story in the extraction of gold , next to the amazingly rich gold deposits were found dozens of ore veins , but they either stopped at a depth of only a few meters or became so poor that successful work on their development can not be guaranteed. Veins were found only remnant of the old rich ore systems already destroyed by erosion .
Here are a few facts: the ten found the greatest pieces of native gold in the composition of the 6 of them entered quartz. In the unique “Would unknown ” contains 27.2 kg of quartz , which was removed along with some other impurities and his current weight is only 71.1 kg of gold in it. In large native gold piece ” slab Holterman » opened in 1872 in Australia, and weighing 235.5 kg of quartz , gold is “only” 83.2 kg .
The visible erosion
The discovery of large quantities of native pieces with clear signs of erosion, we suggest that instead of ” increase ” (as suggested in the “old ” theory ) , there is a reverse process . Small , practical crystal gold, which sometimes accompanies the pieces into the surrounding mud and sediment, is likely to erode them.
Why Australia is a leader in the number of native gold nuggets ( the country owes this title because of findings , primarily in Victoria ) ?
Virtually the same question can be asked of coal deposits in Queensland , iron ore and diamonds in Kimberley and oil in the Middle East ! The answer , at least for now, we do not know , since all signs from which we can understand this answer has long been destroyed by time .
