$240,000 specie found with Equinox 800

[Chilli]

Nope not me. But what a find, with an Equinox!

'The wife is going to be happy': $240,000 gold nugget found

www.9news.com.au

 

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[ToddsPoint]

I don’t know what kind of detectors they have in Oz but they call an 800 a budget detector!

 

[Clay Diggins]

$240000 Australian dollars. About $150,000 in U.S. dollars. Still a nice find but not a quarter million dollar find.

Most serious gold detectorists work with the pulse and ZT technology detectors. Those cost anywhere from $2,500 to $7,000 U.S.

In the world of gold detecting an 800, or any other VLF, is a budget detector.

Heavy Pans

 

[alloy_II]

After giving those sweet nuggets a hydrofluoric acid bath to remove the quartz, would'nt surprise me if they sold for a million plus.

 

[Clay Diggins]

After giving those sweet nuggets a hydrofluoric acid bath to remove the quartz, would'nt surprise me if they sold for a million plus.

Why would $150,000 worth of gold sell for more than a million dollars?

If you have buyers that will pay 7 times spot price please share them. That's more than $13,000 an ounce! Even I would consider selling some of my gold at those prices.

Heavy Pans

 

[alloy_II]

Why would $150,000 worth of gold sell for more than a million dollars?

If you have buyers that will pay 7 times spot price please share them. That's more than $13,000 an ounce! Even I would consider selling some of my gold at those prices.

Heavy Pans

Specimen, large gold nuggets of this size are rare.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Specimen, large gold nuggets of this size are rare.

It's not a nugget it's a weather worn eroded gold specie.

A lot of things are rare and have no value. Rarity in itself doesn't create value. Large gold nuggets are rare and sometimes (rarely) command up to three times the price of gold.

Specie are common, they are what hard rock miners mine and crush for their gold content every day. A really exceptional specie showing crystallization or in association with other well preserved crystalline minerals might command two to three times the price of gold to a collector. This one is unusual for it's size but it's not even close to being among the largest found, the associated minerals are common and not well preserved.

There may be some local collectors or a local museum that would consider this a special piece but outside of the region it's just another nice big lump of gold in quartz.

Seriously - if you actually know of a buyer that will pay more than two times spot for any gold nugget or gold specimen please share it here.

Heavy Pans

 

[Chilli]

Why would $150,000 worth of gold sell for more than a million dollars?

If you have buyers that will pay 7 times spot price please share them. That's more than $13,000 an ounce! Even I would consider selling some of my gold at those prices.

Heavy Pans

There used to be a buyer from Germany come here to central Victoria in the early 2000s and anything over 5 ounces would pay 5 times gold price.
Species here then sold easy. I remember having about 8 ounces of species with around 4 ounces of gold in them, say back in 2010 ish, the buyer purchased them for gold price 8 ounces. So actually payed gold price for 4 ounces of quartz. Those times are over though and buyers like that are no longer around.

 

[Clay Diggins]

There used to be a buyer from Germany come here to central Victoria in the early 2000s and anything over 5 ounces would pay 5 times gold price.
Species here then sold easy. I remember having about 8 ounces of species with around 4 ounces of gold in them, say back in 2010 ish, the buyer purchased them for gold price 8 ounces. So actually payed gold price for 4 ounces of quartz. Those times are over though and buyers like that are no longer around.

Oh I remember those days. Some collectors were paying crazy prices, I never saw 5 times spot but I'm sure it happened. Most of the pricing was about the appearance and locality of the specie. Ugly rocks without a location don't sell at premium prices ever. 20+ years is a long time. I seriously doubt those collectors could recover their investment today.

Even the most beautiful gold specie from commercial hardrock mines gets tossed in the processing line along with everything else. Some smaller miners collect specie for sale later. I have a friend with a really rich and famous gold mine who for years only mined specie for sale. Since the market has changed he's gone back to regular gold mining and processing - those specie get processed along with all the other ore now. Times change. Value is all about the market today not last century or 10 years from now.

A piece of this size can bring a premium once it's made the rounds. Without the type of press it's getting now it's probably worth about spot + 80% IF the owner reveals the location of the find it might bring spot + 150%. IF the ore is well consolidated, cuts well, and has a nice color some jewelry manufacturers (mostly Asian) will pay a premium to use it for cabbing material.

Heavy Pans

 

[Chilli]

Oh I remember those days. Some collectors were paying crazy prices, I never saw 5 times spot but I'm sure it happened. Most of the pricing was about the appearance and locality of the specie. Ugly rocks without a location don't sell at premium prices ever. 20+ years is a long time. I seriously doubt those collectors could recover their investment today.

Even the most beautiful gold specie from commercial hardrock mines gets tossed in the processing line along with everything else. Some smaller miners collect specie for sale later. I have a friend with a really rich and famous gold mine who for years only mined specie for sale. Since the market has changed he's gone back to regular gold mining and processing - those specie get processed along with all the other ore now. Times change. Value is all about the market today not last century or 10 years from now.

A piece of this size can bring a premium once it's made the rounds. Without the type of press it's getting now it's probably worth about spot + 80% IF the owner reveals the location of the find it might bring spot + 150%. IF the ore is well consolidated, cuts well, and has a nice color some jewelry manufacturers (mostly Asian) will pay a premium to use it for cabbing material.

Heavy Pans

All true.
I worked for way back the Australian Finders shop. My boss was Ken Roberts. At the very beginning days of pulse, cross over from VLF.
I know some rubbished him Ken then, but he was a great boss to me. Looked after me A1. Damn the stuff that came in then was off of the chart!
I was a worker. But he knew I knew my stuff and gave me full permission to buy gold for him . It was nuts! Id ring him, "hey Ken just came in ........... You want it?" Yes, buy. Mad stuff! Honestly, I thought you ok? He was all the way.
He knew I knew my gold. It has to be seen the gold there that came over the counter to believe! It was crazy!
In the very early days of digital stuff. Mad! Some said Ken was this n that.
I can only say he was one of the best bosses I ever worked for. Xmas time he was awesome, invite us, show everything to make you feel A1.
Damn, those were the days. I don't care what people say about Ken Roberts from Finders in Aus. He was the best ever boss I ever worked for.
What I saw was mind blowing!

 

[firebird]

Is Australia the only place in the world with giant gold nuggets like that? Even in the richest areas of gold in other places they only found large concentrations of gold flakes, not full blown boulders like they actually used to find.

 

[Chilli]

Is Australia the only place in the world with giant gold nuggets like that? Even in the richest areas of gold in other places they only found large concentrations of gold flakes, not full blown boulders like they actually used to find.

Hi. No, from my time working and seeing things many were found in other countries. I saw some insane finds in the early SD days here. I took pictures for my boss and even bought lots for him with his say so. It was crazy. Id hold my hands full of big gold, take pictures of the entire shop bench covered in nuggets! It was mad. No joke, seriously. Finders Prospecting Supplies Dunolly Victoria. Week after week id weigh nuggets for customers, multiple ounces. I worked part time. Once, the entire shop counter was covered in nuggets from a finders patch. Hundreds of ounces. Sadly, that same great boss gave rein to his son. He was an A grade idiot and dog and drove Finders into the ground. I hated him, he treated me like crap, stole from his father and ruined the business.
Ken Roberts was the best person I ever worked for. He had an incredible tech guy there too. Who once worked for the Aus military as a tech.
He was super intelligent. Once, in the SD 2000 SD 2100 days I didnt like the audio of them. The Tech guy, we were good friends, I said "hey mate this audio just aint right can you do something?" Anyway, the shop also was a electronic outlet. So, he , we got some things, in the end we got a very small kind of audio amplifier that you could change base, trebble all that stuff. He had a go here n there on his lunch time. Finally, booom...he said have a go at this. Was an audio amplifier, with the lot, change and try what you like. Damn! Plugged into my at the time SD 2100 was nuts! He was a genius. I heard things that previously were almost un audible. He did a sensitivity upgrade too that was nuts.
Basically, what he did was make an SD hear and detect things that others never knew was there. I will never forget when we both went out to try it all.
We took a stock 2000 and 2100 out. We went detecting. *"$#@"$# we looked at each other and laughed our heads off. Him ........Is this good? Me.........good, mate this is #$###$$ awesome!
We laughed our heads off.
True, 100%
Minelab caught up with that that he did id say around the 4500 time.