This Gold Specimen Turned Out Better Than I Expected

[Glenn in CO]

5 hours ago, Aureous said:

Looks a lot like Electrum, rather than JUST gold. If so, it would be worth a sh*tload more $$. But it could be just the type of acid process you used, that makes the gold look pale.... still an awesome result ?

The location where this type of is found has a high silver content. Unfortunately when I take a photograph I must use low light because of the gold specimen has a highly reflective surface and will wash-out the photograph and you would not see any of the detail. This gold specimen is a combination of wire and crystalline gold and commands high dollars from collectors.

[Glenn in CO]

5 hours ago, Gerry in Idaho said:

Cleaning specimens is always a gamble and I have to admit, you have the system down pretty well.  One thing I'm missing.  The before and after weight are messing with me.  Before was 55 gram and the cleaning lost 5 gram, but now the finished product is 28 gram.  Did you mean the before was 35 gram?  Either way, you have a winner on that one my friend, well done.

Hey Gerry I hope you have recently been on some great nugget hunting adventure that you would wiling to share with us as a holiday treat.

The gold specimen in its natural state with the host rock and limonite weighed in at 55.1 grams. So there was 5.57 grams of gold that fell of the specimen as the acid dissolve the host rock and limonite. There is a small amount if host rock left in the specimen to help stabilize and keep the specimen intact. So the amount of gold that fell off and the gold remaining on the cleaned specimen totals 34 grams. Without doing a specific gravity test I would guess the total of all the gold would be around 31 to 32 grams and 22 to 23 grams of host rock and limonite.

Happy Holidays to you and your family!