Editing Gold nugget (section)

==Largest nuggets==
[[File:Gold-270415.jpg|thumb|upright=.5|A large gold nugget from the [[Kuskokwim Mountains]] of central Alaska. 6.6 x 2.0 x 1.1&nbsp;cm. Weight: 77 grams]]
{{Main|List of gold nuggets by size}}
Two gold nuggets are claimed as the largest in the world: the [[Welcome Stranger]] and the Canaã nugget, the latter being the largest surviving natural nugget. Considered by most authorities to be the biggest gold nugget ever found, the Welcome Stranger was found at [[Moliagul, Victoria|Moliagul]], Victoria, Australia in 1869 by John Deason and Richard Oates. It weighed gross, over {{convert|2520|ozt|kg lb|lk=in}} and returned over {{convert|2284|ozt|kg lb}} net.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dunn|first=E.J.|title=Memoirs of the Geological Survey of Victoria|year=1912}}</ref> The Welcome Stranger is sometimes confused with the similarly named [[Welcome Nugget]], which was found in June 1858 at Bakery Hill, Ballarat, Australia by the Red Hill Mining Company. The Welcome weighed {{convert|2218|ozt|kg lb|lk=in}}. It was melted down in London in November 1859.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sbs.com.au/gold/story.php?storyid=113#2453 |title=Famous Australian Nuggets |location=Australia |access-date=February 16, 2013}}</ref>

The Canaã nugget, also known as the ''Pepita Canaa'', was found on September 13, 1983, by miners at the [[Serra Pelada]] Mine in the State of Para, Brazil. Weighing {{convert|1955|ozt|kg lb}} gross, and containing {{convert|1682.5|ozt|kg lb}} of gold,<ref name=Mercury2014>{{cite web|author1=Marcello M. Veiga|author2=Stephen M. Metcalf|author3=Randy F. Baker|author4=Bern Klein|author5=Gillian Davis|author6=Andrew Bamber|author7=Shefa Siegel|title=GMP – Manual for Training Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Miners|url=http://projects.inweh.unu.edu/inweh/display.php?ID=2451|website=Global Mercury Project|publisher=United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)|access-date=25 October 2014|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304044423/http://projects.inweh.unu.edu/inweh/display.php?ID=2451|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Maior pepita de ouro exposta do mundo está em Brasília|url=http://www.brasil.gov.br/cultura/2017/07/maior-pepita-de-ouro-exposta-do-mundo-esta-em-brasilia|website=Governo do Brasil|access-date=5 November 2017|language=pt-BR}}</ref> it is among the largest gold nuggets ever found,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://arizona-gold-fever.blogspot.ca/2011/03/top-5-largest-gold-nuggets-in-world.html |title=Top 5 largest gold nuggets in the world |date=29 March 2011 |location=Arizona |access-date=January 17, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=3945 |title=UCSB Science Line |access-date=June 22, 2013}}</ref> and is, today, the largest in existence. The main controversy regarding this nugget is that the excavation reports suggest that the existing nugget was originally part of a nugget weighing {{convert|5291.09|ozt|kg lb|lk=in|sigfig=3}} that broke during excavations.<ref>{{cite book|last=Branco|first=P.M.|title=Dicionário de Mineralogia e Gemologia São Paulo, Oficina de Textos, 608 p. il.|year=2008}}</ref> The [[Canaã]] nugget is displayed at the Banco Central Museum in Brazil along with the second and third largest nuggets remaining in existence, weighing respectively {{convert|1506.2|ozt|kg lb|lk=in}} and {{convert|1393.3|ozt|kg lb|lk=in}}, which were also found at the Serra Pelada region.<ref>{{cite book|title=Minerals & Precious Stones of Brazil|author=Carlos Cornejo & Andrea Bartorelli|year=2010}}</ref>

The largest gold nugget found using a [[metal detector]] is the [[Hand of Faith]], weighing {{convert|875|ozt|kg lb|lk=in}}, found in [[Kingower, Victoria|Kingower]], Victoria, Australia in 1980.

Historic large specimens include the [[crystalline]] "[[Fricot Nugget]]", weighing {{convert|201|ozt|kg lb|lk=in}} – the largest one found during the [[California Gold Rush]]. It is on display at the [[California State Mining and Mineral Museum]].

The largest gold nugget ever found in California weighed {{convert|1593|ozt|kg lb|lk=in}}. It was found in August 1869 in [[Sierra Buttes]] by five partners – W.A. Farish, A. Wood, J. Winstead, F.N.L. Clevering and Harry Warner.<ref name="Hurley 1900">{{cite book|last=Hurley|first=Thomas Jefferson|title=Famous Gold Nuggets of the World|url=https://archive.org/details/famousgoldnugget00hurlrich|year=1900|publisher=New York?}}</ref>

The [[Victorian Gold Rush|Victoria, Australia gold rush]] of the early 1850s produced a number of large nuggets. They include the [[Welcome Nugget]] which weighed {{convert|68.98|kg|lb|lk=in}} which is considered to be the second largest gold nugget ever found.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://museumvictoria.com.au/discoverycentre/infosheets/gold-nuggets/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080317010807/http://museumvictoria.com.au/DiscoveryCentre/Infosheets/Gold-Nuggets/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=March 17, 2008 | title=Gold Nuggets – Museum Victoria | access-date=2013-06-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discoverychannel.com.au/image-galleries/gold-nuggets |title=World's Biggest Gold Nuggets |publisher=Discovery Channel Australia |access-date=2013-06-23 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430075900/http://www.discoverychannel.com.au/image-galleries/gold-nuggets |archive-date=2013-04-30 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/557619/welcome-nugget-153-years-since-discovery/ | title=Welcome Nugget: 153 years since discovery | publisher=Fairfax Regional Media | work=The Courier | date=9 June 2011 | access-date=2013-06-23}}</ref> Another find, the Lady Hotham, which weighed {{convert|98.5|lb|kg|lk=in}}, was found by a group of nine miners on September 8, 1854, in Canadian Gully, Ballarat at a depth of 135 feet (41.2 m).<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article91859458 |title=BALLARAT. |newspaper=[[Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer|Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (Vic. : 1851 – 1856)]] |location=Vic. |date=12 September 1854 |access-date=28 April 2013 |page=4 Edition: DAILY |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> The Lady Hotham was named after the wife of the Governor, [[Charles Hotham|Sir Charles Hotham]] who happened to be visiting the area when the nugget was found. Eighteen months earlier, in January and early February 1853, three other large nuggets weighing {{convert|134|lb|kg|lk=in}}, {{convert|93.125|lb|kg|lk=in}}, and {{convert|83.5|lb|kg|lk=in}} were also found in Canadian Gully at a depth of {{convert|55|to|60|ft|m|lk=in}}.<ref name="Hurley 1900"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article94362227 |title=MORE LARGE MASSES OF GOLD. |newspaper=[[Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer|Geelong Advertiser and Intelligencer (Vic. : 1851 – 1856)]] |location=Vic. |date=8 February 1853 |access-date=28 April 2013 |page=1 Edition: DAILY., Supplement: SUPPLEMENT TO THE GEELONG ADVERTISER AND INTELLIGENCER |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> Another nugget, the Heron, was found in 1855 in Golden Gully in the Mount Alexander goldfield. It weighed {{convert|1008|ozt|kg lb|lk=in}} and was found by a group of inexperienced miners who had received a supposedly empty claim. The miners found the nugget on their second day of digging; the nugget was named after one of the gold commissioners, a Mr. Heron.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.goldoz.com.au/historical_finds_and_discoveries.0.html |title=Historical Finds and Discoveries |location=Australia |access-date=February 17, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100222233205/http://goldoz.com.au/historical_finds_and_discoveries.0.html |archive-date=February 22, 2010 }}</ref>

On 16 January 2013, a large gold nugget was found near the city of [[Ballarat]] in Victoria, Australia by an amateur gold prospector. The Y-shaped nugget weighed slightly more than {{convert|5|kg|lb|lk=in}}, measured around 22&nbsp;cm high by 15&nbsp;cm wide, and has a market value slightly below 300,000 [[Australian dollar]]s, though opinions have been expressed that it could be sold for much more due to its rarity. The discovery has cast doubt on the common rumour that [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]]'s goldfields were exhausted in the 19<sup>th</sup> century.<ref>[http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/1242592/gold-nugget-found-near-ballarat/ Gold nugget found near Ballarat]</ref><ref>[http://news.sky.com/story/1039397/gold-find-novice-prospector-earns-big-bucks Sky News, Gold Find: Novice Prospector Earns Big Bucks, 17 January 2013]</ref>