Large Nuggets From Outside the US and
Australia:
Large Nuggets Of Canada:
On July 8, 1899, a nugget was found on Spruce Creek, Atlin Lake
country, B. C., 126 feet below the surface. It weighed 84 ounces and was
worth $1,000. In July of that same year, J. D. Harrigan took out a nugget of
pure gold from his claim on Pine Creek; it weighed 29 oz. 12 dwt. 17 gr.,
and was worth $600. J. Kilgour found a nugget weighing 52 oz. n dwt. 6 gr.
on the north branch of the Gilbert River, a tributary of the Chaudiere
River, Beance County, Province of Quebec, in 1866. Another valued at $821.56
was found in the same district in 1867 by Arch. MacDonald.
Large Nuggets Of Mexico:
The big nugget of pure gold on exhibition in this city is the
largest found in fifteen or twenty years. It came from the San Mateo
Mountains of Chihuahua, Mexico, and is the property of a Connecticut company
of placer miners operating in Mexico. It weighs 468 ounces and is
intrinsically worth about $8,430. The poor Mexican peon, who found this
chunk of
gold while he was gathering
medicinal herbs on the mining company's territory, was given $1,000 for his
lucky discovery. Official data in Mexico shows that one mine at Guanajuato,
the Vita Madre, has produced to date silver bullion valued at over one
thousand million dollars.
L. W. Tatum, of the Providencia Mining and Milling Company, Dolores, Mexico, bought from an Indian a small nugget which was a perfect corn husk in shape. The jeweler who mounted it for a scarfpin said the graver's art could not improve it. The centre stem of the husk ran from butt to tip, gradually tapering; the side or lateral veins were all clear and perfect, and the entire shape of the leaf appeared. The nugget was one and a half inches long and three-eighths of an inch wide. It was 19 carat fine and a beautiful color. The whereabouts of this unique specimen is unknown. It was stolen from Mr. Tatum's cravat many years ago while he was riding in a smoking car between St. Joseph, Mo., and Omaha.
Large Nuggets Of Central and South America:
We have been unable to get much reliable information with
reference to
gold nuggets found in Central
and South America. Through the courtesy of Dr. Raymond we have been informed
of one nugget found at La Paz, Peru, in 1730, weighing 60 pounds. But there
has in all probability been a greater number of nuggets found in South
America during the past 300 years than in any other part of the globe. The
South American countries have been extremely rich in gold placer mining.
From the earliest records to date they have produced two and one-fifth
billions of
gold, being nearly one-third
of the world's supply ; and for the same period their production of silver
reached the enormous total of about eight thousand million dollars. The gold
mined was distributed as follows :
Columbia has produced about $800,000,000 gold.
Bolivia "200,000,000"
Brazil "800,000,000"
Peru "100,000,000"
Chile "25,000,000"
Other South American countries 50,000,000
Large Nuggets Of South Africa:
An American named George Cameron, of Cleveland, O., was highly
favored in the discovery of five nuggets at Pilgrim's Rest, South Africa,
where gold was first found in 1875. In addition to several four-pound
chunks, Mr. Cameron washed up one that weighed over seven pounds. This
nugget was shaped like the human hand, fingers and all. It was on exhibition
at the Centennial in Philadelphia in 1876. On Frazier's Hill, in the same
camp, nuggets weighing from two to three pounds were found. Upper Pilgrim's
Creek was also a Tom Tiddler's ground. It gave up nuggets running from four
to five pounds, which were bought by the National Bank of Natal for $19.50
per ounce.
Large Nuggets Of Siberia:
Siberia, which now commands additional interest owing to its
proximity to Alaska, and from the fact that a large corporation is
prospecting its shores for gold, must not be omitted from the general
record. The greatest nugget found in this Russian possession was the "Ural,"
found in the Ural Mountains, which was worth $24,000. Another large nugget,
named the "Tzar," was found in the Tzar Alexander mine district on July 22,
1882. It was valued at $11,000. Another nugget, which yielded $30,000, was
found by three convicts. The Czar freed the convicts, but kept the gold. It
is interesting in this connection to note that Russia ranks fourth among the
gold-producing countries of the world. The New York Sun, under date of
August 30, 1900, says that a nugget weighing 1,150 ounces was found recently
in the Ural gold mines at Orsk, in the Government of Orenberg.
Japanese Gold Nuggets:
After the Japanese
Government had sanctioned the operation of mines by foreigners the islands
quickly began to figure as gold producers. In Nokkaido, the northernmost
main island of the empire, the total length of the river beds containing
gold is estimated at 3,500 miles, and the total productive area at 1,750,000
acres. Nuggets weighing over half a pound have been found in the district.
The gold mines of Sado, the most important producers in Japan, are situated
in the northwestern portion of the Island of Sado, in the Sea of Japan,
fifty miles north of Niigata. There is no official record of the output of
the mines for the whole time during which they have been worked, but they
are said to have turned out in 276 years 1,230,348 ounces of gold and
62,078,216 ounces of silver. From the first year of Meiji to March, 1889, a
period of twenty-one years and three months, the total output was 51,494
ounces of gold and 1,500,106 ounces of silver. The total production of Japan
in 1890 was 23,401 ounces of gold, and in 1897, 34,500 ounces; 40,000 ounces
for 1898, and 66,000 ounces for 1899.
Large French Gold Nuggets:
We are indebted to Stanislas Meunier, a mining engineer of Paris,
for information with reference to a nugget weighing between one and two
pounds found by a shepherd while grazing his goats at a place near the
village of La Ardeche. He picked up what was supposed to be a stone to
throw at wayward goats. He threw the stone, and his brother finding it next
day, attracted by the color and weight, took it to the local jeweler for
examination, who gave him 1,200 francs for it. The village priest relates
that for a period covering sixty years nuggets much smaller in size have
frequently been found in that locality. One weighing 543 grams was dug up by
a farmer while hoeing, about thirty years ago.
Continue on to:
Large Nuggets, Part I: North Carolina
Large Nuggets, Part II: California
Large Nuggets, Part III: Western US States
Large Nuggets, Part IV: Across the World
Large Nuggets, Part V: Australia
Return To:
All About Placer Gold
Deposits
Above: The Mojave Nugget Of California: 156 ounces
