Best way to clean a dirty nugget??

[mellowyellow]

Hi all, hope all is well.


So I found a nugget in the desert and its covered with caliche and dirt, ect. It had quartz all around it and the quartz is stained dirty looking as well.

Is CLR the best house hold product to clean it? I'm letting soak for and hour and see if it looks better. I scrubbed it with hard brush and nothing happened at all, it's caked in there.

Pics to come!

Mellow yelllllow




















ATTACH]751991[/ATTACH]

I'm calling this the "peace out nugget". LOL. Look at one of the sides, looks like the hand peace sign. Btw , 1.27 oz/ 36 grams.

 

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[TerryC]

I have never cleaned my gold but check with a prospecting store. They will tell you which acid to use. Others here will pipe up soon. Check the internet. Take care, friend. TTC

 

[mellowyellow]

Thanks brotha.. I was with P Keene when I found it and he's the one who told me CLR. Lets see how
It looks after a lil CLR bath TC, be well.

 

[TerryC]

I know muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid) is used but might be better, quicker stuff. I think CLR is muriatic acid. You can buy MA by the gallon and it might be more concentrated than CLR. TTC

 

[mellowyellow]

Thanks TC, added pics! Interesting nugget, seems to be a thin layer of
Quartz on a lot of the nugget and the gold just oozing out of it.

 

[kazcoro]

That is awesome! I wouldn't clean it beyond the dirt.

 

[DesertNuggets]

It's a beauty! Doesn't look dirty to me.

 

[Fullpan]

MY - after the bath, she looks just gorgeous to me! I can't see any caliche - looks like solid quartz/gold nugget, unique in all the world and requiring
no further treatment. I believe that's your first biggun, isn't it?

 

[Ultimacloud123]

Nice nugget. Beats the one I found late last month. Then again it's my first.

 

[goldog]

Bet you weren't mellow when that baby popped out. Very nice!

PS, I vote leave it alone. Little soap and water or CLR and thats it.

 

[mellowyellow]

Thanks all! Yup, just clr'ed it and that's it. Gonna leave alone now, well after I make love to it, LOL

 

[Lanny in AB]

Nice find! That's the kind of thing I need to see this time of year to keep my blood pumpin'. Great pictures.

All the best,

Lanny

 

[G1sammons]

Wow that's a nice one congrats

Bet that brought a big smile

 

[Gravelwasher]

Great looking gold for sure, thanks for taking the time to drop us all a pics of it. Gold is like porn you just gotta look..lol I have heard vinegar works quite well to shine up dirty gold..just what I hear...Gravelwasher PS looks great from hear though I wouldn't bother cleaning it any more either.

 

[TAKODA]

All I do to a GOR piece is spray it off with water ; then soak it in
distilled water for at least a couple of days ; take it out and spray
it of good ; then I warm about a gallon of distilled water and mix in
about two tablespoons of Palmolive ultra oxy dish detergent with
it . Then put the piece or pieces ( ratio to job ) in to soak for a
couple of hours . Then use a firm bristle toothbrush with light
pressure to give them a good scrub down ( while submersed ) .
Take them out ; rinse them off good ; then pop them into a 200
degree oven for 30 minutes ; take out let cool and you got what
you got . That's the only cleaning I do to a piece . Of course results
will vary , but I've never done a piece this way that didn't look
some bit better afterward . Sometimes a lot better . It's about
as clean ............ yet still " natural " as you can do it

 

[LinkHylian]

By "peace out nugget" you must mean something else hehe. Looks like a "nug" to me if you catch my drift

Hi all, hope all is well.


So I found a nugget in the desert and its covered with caliche and dirt, ect. It had quartz all around it and the quartz is stained dirty looking as well.

Is CLR the best house hold product to clean it? I'm letting soak for and hour and see if it looks better. I scrubbed it with hard brush and nothing happened at all, it's caked in there.

Pics to come!

Mellow yelllllow



View attachment 751989



View attachment 751990




View attachment 751992



View attachment 751991

I'm calling this the "peace out nugget". LOL. Look at one of the sides, looks like the hand peace sign. Btw , 1.27 oz/ 36 grams.

 

[mellowyellow]

Thanks all for the advice, good interesting info as usual.

Sure does look like a nug, lol.

 

[DesertNuggets]

Are the vials all different locations?

 

[mellowyellow]

Are the vials all different locations?

The gold is separated by size. About 5 different locations this gold came from.

 

[mellowyellow]

I'm curious of what this nugget looks like from the inside. A lot of quartz around the entire nugget, actually about 50 percent of the outside is quartz. Yet it feels like an anchor at 1.3 oz. so I am assuming the inside is mostly gold. Who knows?

You guys have any thoughts on this?