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Specimen Gold Nuggets
The Golden Creations of Nature
Specimen Gold Nuggets
A Specimen Gold Nugget is usually referred to as being a matrix containing both gold and stone, and in Australia the majority of specimens are usually associated with either quartz or ironstone. Specimen Gold Nuggets have been found in all shapes and sizes with each having a varying amount
of gold relative to the actual stone content of the total matrix. The largest recorded specimen gold nugget in the world to this date is the
Holterman Nugget found in Australia at Hill End, NSW in 1872 which weighed 630 pounds (285 Kg)
It is generally accepted that these specimens were originally formed as part of an ancient reef, which with the passing of time has been exposed to the continual weathering of the elements. Over long periods of time, extreme expansion and contraction due to temperature changes between night and day can cause the rock in the reef to fracture, which then allows water to penetrate into the reef, this then adds to the acceleration of the differing expansion rates between the materials contained within the formation. These forces of nature ultimately fragment the reef into smaller pieces causing it to finally erode away leaving the debris scattered about the area, which then may well be redeposited elsewhere by other forces of nature.
There are many collectors who either include Specimen Gold Nuggets in thier gold nugget collection or collect Gold Specimen Nuggets
exclusively. and as many
specimens can be quite fragile and cannot be handled as one might a solid gold
nugget, they are therefore quite often displayed behind glass by one
means or another.
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