Living Information :: Large Gold/Quartz Specimens Found in Alaska

'The writing which corresponds to Metal Detectors' 63

Large Gold/Quartz Specimens Found in Alaska

Gold/Mineral/Mining 2007/12/10 03:08

Large Gold/Quartz Specimens Found in Alaska
Click on images for larger pictures

Gold most commonly comes from quartz veins. Quartz is a very common, glass-like mineral, and gold is often deposited as chunks and specks enclosed within the quartz. As the quartz is crushed or decomposed by erosion processes, the gold is released to become the nuggets and flakes of gold found by miners. Sometimes large pieces of these quartz veins are found with gold still enclosed... a future nugget waiting to be released! These are not gold nuggets but are usually referred to as gold/quartz specimens. There is no official definition but our unofficial definition is that the item in question has to look like it is mostly gold by a pretty good margin. At least 75% of the exposed surface should be gold, not rock. In other words, is it a rock with gold in it, or gold with rock in it?

These specimens are actually rarer than gold nuggets, and prized by collectors as they illustrate so well an answer to that commonly asked question "where does gold come from"? If you have found or know of a gold/quartz specimen over 1 ounce found in Alaska, please let us know at webmaster@akmining.com. We'd like to add it to our list.

	The Howard Specimen - 87.95 Ounces Found on Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2004 by Terry Howard with a metal detector.
	The Wiltz Specimen - 55 Ounces Found on Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 1996 by Dan Wiltz with a metal detector in the mining pit prior to processing. This specimen is essentially a cross-section of an extremely rich gold vein, and assayed over 1600 ounces per ton. This specimen is still owned by Clark-Wiltz Mining.
	Mark's Specimen - 51.6 Ounces Found on Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2003 by Mark Tisler with a metal detector.
Photo not yet available	Charlie's Nugget - 35 Ounces Found by Charlie ? on Bear Creek near Hope, Alaska in the 1980's with a 4" suction dredge. This nugget was displayed at Oxford Assaying & Refining but has been sold. If anyone can locate a picture of this nugget we would appreciate it. There was considerable quartz in the piece.
	Cochran Specimen - 31 Ounces Found by Patricia Cochran near Livengood, Alaska in a road shoulder constructed from old dredge tailings with a metal detector. The gold content is estimated at 13.9 troy ounces. The status of this specimen is unknown. Photo by P. D. Rao
	The Keturi Nugget - 24.79 Ounces Found at Moore Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2005 by Jesse Cervin with a Garrett Infinium metal detector.
	Dewy's Specimen - 23.5 Ounces Found at Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2004 by Duane (Dewy) Schmit with a metal detector.
	7.5 Ounces Found by Tom Kunkler at Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2003 with a Tesoro Lobo Super Traq metal detector. Tom found the specimen on his first day at Ganes Creek.
	7.2 Ounces Found by Dave Rankin at Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2003 with a White's MXT metal detector.
	6.85 Ounces Found by Steve Herschbach at Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2002 with a White's MXT metal detector. The nugget was found in the old dredge cobble piles. It has a solid gold core surrounded by an unusual lustrous dark quartz. The quartz is intergrown with dendritic (leaf) gold. The nugget contains approximately 3.7 ounces of gold.
	6.54 Ounces Found by Dean Griswold at Moore Creek near McGrath. Found in June 2004 with a Minelab detector at the base of a tailing pile.
	6.06 Ounces Found by Gordie Landberg of Spokane Valley, Wash. at Ganes Creek near McGrath. Found in June 2004 with a Fisher Gold Bug 2 detector at a depth of about 10 inches.
	5.62 Ounces "The Heartthrob Nugget" Found by Bob Estey at Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2002 with a White's V/SAT metal detector.
	5.13 Ounces Found by Bob Herschbach at Moore Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2004 with a Minelab GP 3000 metal detector. The nugget is a section of a very rich gold vein with heavy gold layers in the middle. It contains approximately 2.19 ounces of gold.
	4.95 Ounces "The Potato Nugget" Found by Steve Herschbach at Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2001 with a Fisher Gold Bug 2 metal detector. His first thought on digging it out of the dark soil was that it looked like a potato.
	3.52 Ounces Found by Bud Herschbach at Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2001 with a Tesoro Lobo SuperTRAQ metal detector. This nugget was found in the airstrip surface. The airstrip is made of old mine tailings.
	3.5 Ounces Found by Steve Herschbach at Moore Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2003 with a Minelab GP 3000 metal detector. The nugget is a section of a very rich gold vein with a thick gold sandwiched in the middle.
	3.22 Ounces "The Cobble Nugget" Found by Steve Herschbach at Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2002 with a Fisher Gold Bug 2 metal detector. It was found in the old bucketline dredge cobble piles.
	3.15 Ounces "The Meteorite Nugget" Found by Steve Herschbach at Moore Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2003 with a Minelab GP 3000 metal detector. The dark pitted surface reminded Steve of meteorites he has seen.
	3.01 Ounces Found by Harold from Florida at Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2002 with a Minelab XT18000 metal detector.
	2.45 Ounces Found by Steve Herschbach at Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2002 with a Fisher Gold Bug 2 metal detector. This specimen was found in very thick brush at the base of a tailing pile. It features many large slugs of gold scattered evenly though the quartz. Currently owned by Clark-Wiltz Mining.
	2.15 Ounces Found by Jim Newby at Ganes Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2002 with a Fisher Gold Bug 2 metal detector. This nugget was found right in the cobble piles near the old bucketline dredge. It was the very first item Jim found with his detector at Ganes Creek!
	1.64 Ounces and 1.21 Ounces Found by Tom Herschbach at Moore Creek near McGrath, Alaska in 2004 with a Minelab GP 3000 metal detector. These nuggets are fresh out of the ground and have just been washed off. The red staining is from the rich red soil they have been buried in.