Gold Nugget Guide
What is a Natural Gold Nugget?
A natural gold nugget is a piece of gold that broke out of quartz deposits within the earth when erosion took place. It also goes by the name Placer Gold, and each piece is one-of-a-kind with no two being exactly alike.
Where Can Gold Nuggets Be Found?
Wherever the effects of erosion took place — including rivers, streams, ancient dried-up river channels, and underground riverbeds.
How Pure Are Gold Nuggets?
Gold nuggets range from 65 to 95 fine (16–23KT gold), and can have other mineral content such as silver and copper mixed in.
What Sizes Do Gold Nuggets Come In?
Gold nuggets come in all sizes. The smaller ones range from 1 millimeter up to 6 mm and are often referred to as flakes. Bigger flakes are called nuggets and have been found as large as 2,500 ounces — although almost all nuggets bigger than 300 ounces were melted down.
How Are Natural Gold Nuggets Found?
They can be found in rivers and streams using a gold pan or suction dredges that act like an underwater vacuum cleaner. Larger operations use heavy machinery to dig up sections of dirt weighing several tons and run it through machines that separate the gold. Nuggets are also frequently found using a metal detector.
How Are Gold Nuggets Weighed?
They are weighed by troy ounces. 12 ounces equals one pound (which differs from standard weight where 16 ounces equals a pound). Troy ounces are divided into 20 pennyweight to the ounce, using the symbol DWT, or by grams, with 31.1 grams to the ounce. The larger the nugget, the more rare and valuable it is. A one-ounce nugget is now considered as rare as a five-carat diamond.
Why Are Some Nuggets Bright and Others Dull?
Because gold forms underground in quartz deposits, you often find quartz mixed in with it. When nuggets broke off into rivers and streams, they tumbled against sand and gravel — giving them their distinctive texture but dulling the surface. They can be cleaned in various solutions and tumbled in different media to restore their shine.
Where Do Our Gold Nuggets Come From?
Our authentic natural gold nuggets under 4 grams come from two main sources: one located near Dawson in the Yukon Territory, and the second in Atlin, BC Canada — approximately 50 miles from Skagway, Alaska, where miners of the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush traveled through to reach the goldfields. This is why we describe them as Alaskan-Yukon-BC Nuggets: Genuine, Natural Gold Nuggets.
Important: Not all gold nuggets are natural. Some are man-made by melting smaller gold flakes and casting them into nugget shapes. Always ask if nuggets are genuine natural gold nuggets as found by miners — and make sure they come with a certificate of authenticity.
Orocal Certificate of Authenticity & 5 Year Warranty
Every piece of Orocal gold nugget jewelry sold at Destination Gold Detectors comes with an Orocal Certificate of Authenticity and a 5 Year Warranty — your assurance that the gold nugget in your jewelry is genuine, natural, and handcrafted in the USA by the master jewelers at Orocal.
Karat Definition and Guide
The karat system measures the amount of pure gold in solid gold jewelry. In the US, numbers are associated with the percentage of pure gold in a piece.
Solid Gold vs. Pure Gold
"Solid gold jewelry" references jewelry that has a gold alloy throughout the entire piece. "Pure gold jewelry" describes jewelry made up entirely of gold with little to no alloys present.
How a Gold Alloy Is Formed
A portion of gold is mixed with different alloys or metals to create a specific formula. Each gold color — like white gold or rose gold — uses a different combination of alloys.
Karat Ranges
- 24K — pure gold
- 18K — 75% gold (18 parts gold, 6 parts other metals)
- 14K — 58.3% gold (14 parts gold, 10 parts other metals)
- 10K — 41.7% gold; the minimum karat that can legally be called gold in the US
Karat vs. Carat
"Carat" (with a "c") refers to the weight of a gemstone. You could have a 1.5-carat diamond set in an 18-karat gold ring — two different measurements entirely.
Expert Tip
If your jewelry is marked 14KGF or 10KGF, it is gold-filled, not solid gold. Never rely solely on a hallmark to determine gold value — some sellers illegally mark plated gold with solid gold stampings.
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