Pretty Little Gold Nugget

[Steve Herschbach]

I am getting out now and then but have been pretty laid back this year compared to last, and my nugget finds are suffering for it. I am busy on other fun projects however so no complaining from me. Still, some gold has been coming my way. This one I like for the character so I figured a photo was a requirement. 2.33 grams or 1.5 pennyweight. There sure is some nice gold in California!

[Nevada Brian]

That is a beautiful nugget and so clean.

[Steve Herschbach]

It was cleaned up with Whink. Here is a photo cleaned in my ultrasonic cleaner but before soaking overnight in Whink (the hyrofluoric version). A bit different lighting also - it is a challenge getting good photos of specimens like this.

[LipCa]

Nice piece Steve.

In the top photo, lower right, there is a piece of quartz.... In the bottom photo, it looks like there was gold there.  Did you lose it while in the Wink or just the angle?

[Steve Herschbach]

The first photo is after being cleaned with Whink exposing the quartz. The second is the "before" photo.

The quartz is covered by dirty brown grime that the Whink removed. The brown stuff is visible along the right edge. If you leave in Whink too long it will frost clear quartz and completely dissolve it eventually.

Oxalic acid is one of my favorite ways of removing rust stains because it is cheap and pretty safe. However, some of these California nuggets have a silica based reddish brown grime that resists nearly anything you throw at it with the exception of hydrofluoric. Whink is a relatively safe way to acquire and use hydrofluoric as it is very low concentration, so low they sell it off the shelf at Walmart etc.

 

[Rob]

Steve,

That sure is a beautiful nugget!

Thank you for sharing.

Rob

[LipCa]

I left a nice specimen (with at least an oz og gold in it) in Wink for 3 days... it turned the quartz greenish yellow..

[Steve Herschbach]

All I can tell you Harry is I have been using Whink for over 20 years and never had that happen. I am not saying it can't happen but the odds are pretty low. Hydrofluoric is used by many experts for cleaning minerals so it is not like it is something experimental or off the beaten path.

You do have to change the solution out if it absorbs enough minerals to discolor the solution, which can in turn stain the quartz. I do not think hydrofluoric can chemically alter the actual color of quartz so something else would have to be involved.

Fabulous article on cleaning quartz which is 100% applicable to cleaning gold nuggets and specimens http://www.mindat.org/article.php/403/Cleaning+Quartz

Probably time to mention that acids can main and kill so always use extreme caution when using them.

[beatup]

Real nice little nugget

[N7XW]

Beautiful specimen Steve.  Found with the 7000 I assume?  How deep was it?