Whats a Black Gold Nugget look like?

[tvanwho]

Has anybody ever found a black gold nugget? I am told they are covered with oxides of iron and manganese.
Is it just a paper thin coating? How does one remove the black to see the gold? Anybody got photos of black gold nuggets to post?

-Tom

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

A History of Mining on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska - Grab it through Amazon!

[rodoconnor]

I've found a few . It's just a coating like you said. Nitric acid ,vinegar [it takes a while], drano will dissolve it.

 

[chlsbrns]

Here is a pic...

DSC_0008copynx.jpg Photo by Eryri | Photobucket

Hydrogen peroxide will remove the oxides

 

[gollum]

Tom,

From the description, the black coating is NOT desert varnish, but black oxides from the approximately 10% copper gold nuggets.

Mike

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

I HAVE FORGOTTEN WHAT I DID IN ASSAYING/PROSPECTING for suspected copper . SEEMS THAT i USED AN ACID AND A 'CLEAN' IRON NAIL. PLACE A DROP OF THE ACID ON THE SPECIMAN THEN RUB THE WETTED SPOT WTH THE CLEAN NaIL, IT WILL TURN FRESH COPPER COLOR FROM THE TRANSFER OF THE COPPER ION.

Many forms of oxidized coppper are black. An example is the black bars that Doc noss found in the Vitorio Pk in NM. At first he thought the Dore' bars were iron, but they were Gold alloyed with copper from northern Mexico.

Hi Mike, keep posting my friend and luck with the Petes black nuggets..

 

[DolanDave]

Tvanwho,
Im an avid prospector/ meteorite hunter that lives in Las Vegas, NV. I have come across black nuggets pretty close to the area around the Virgin/ Colorado River. Enclosing a pic...
Dave.

 

[Oroblanco]

Tvanwho,
Im an avid prospector/ meteorite hunter that lives in Las Vegas, NV. I have come across black nuggets pretty close to the area around the Virgin/ Colorado River. Enclosing a pic...
Dave.
View attachment 1213112

Like was not a strong enough compliment!

 

[Shortfinger]

Like was not a strong enough compliment!

Absolutely! Beautiful! If these are from the Virgin/Colorado area, they may well be related to the original find.

JB

 

[tvanwho]

Thanks guys,

I threw away a black rock that looked exactly like my clenched fist, sure looked like a nugget and damn heavy too and screamed on my MXT. I have been back to the area several times and cannot relocate said rock but I did find historical evidence that the creek I was in was part of an iron mining prospect 130 years ago. I guess that would account for signs of mining all over the place and the orange bedrock bottom of the creek in places. It was mostly a mudhole creek, except the area where I had map dowsed for gold. Unfortunately, the area is VERY rugged and as I get older, I just cannot traverse such rough ground without numerous aches and pains. Been kicking myself for 8 years now. I have chunks of magnetite from Payson, Az area that I got metal detecting around a hardrock gold mine but the black rock I tossed did not look anything like the magnetite altho magnetite is quite heavy too. Oh well, the school of hard knocks can be a painful one...

 

[Oroblanco]

Thanks guys,

I threw away a black rock that looked exactly like my clenched fist, sure looked like a nugget and damn heavy too and screamed on my MXT. I have been back to the area several times and cannot relocate said rock but I did find historical evidence that the creek I was in was part of an iron mining prospect 130 years ago. I guess that would account for signs of mining all over the place and the orange bedrock bottom of the creek in places. It was mostly a mudhole creek, except the area where I had map dowsed for gold. Unfortunately, the area is VERY rugged and as I get older, I just cannot traverse such rough ground without numerous aches and pains. Been kicking myself for 8 years now. I have chunks of magnetite from Payson, Az area that I got metal detecting around a hardrock gold mine but the black rock I tossed did not look anything like the magnetite altho magnetite is quite heavy too. Oh well, the school of hard knocks can be a painful one...

I would recommend getting yourself a nickel test kit - and test those heavy, magnetic rocks. If they test positive for nickel, it is quite likely that they are meteorites and could be very valuable!