A recent discovery of several large gold specimens described as the biggest to have ever been discovered and recorded in the history was witnessed in the Western Australia Mines Goldfield of Kambalda by the RNC Minerals. The discovery is so spectacular that one cannot help but call it the “once-in-a-lifetime” discovery.
This discovery was not a gold nugget, but rather a rich gold “pocket,” deep underground that was thick veins of raw gold scattered throughout quartz rock. The total value of this pocket discovery is several million dollars. The largest individual pieces that were extracted are simply exceptional, and will bring a huge premium price on the collectors market.
The largest intact piece discovered weighed 90 kilograms, or roughly 198 pounds. The company did a specific gravity test to evaluate gold content and estimated that about 2,300 ounces of gold would be obtained from the nugget. This would make it worth over $2.5 million dollars in gold value alone! And a specimen piece like this will certainly bring a nice premium on the collectors market.
The second-largest piece weighs 60 kilograms, or roughly 132 pounds. Meanwhile, the expected amount of gold to be recovered from it is about 1,600 ounces with an estimated value approaching $2 million.
Each piece was so heavy that it took three men to lift it on to a utility vehicle before it could be transported to the surface of the underground mine. And of course it was worth it every effort to have it extracted them intact!
Miners at this site are very optimistic that there is likely to be more of the nuggets right where the other two were recovered from, which was nearly 1/2 mile underground. This is still an active mine, and clearly they will continue their search.
The ownership of the gold obviously goes to the mine, but the actual recovery of the gold nuggets and specimens has been credited to driller Henry Dole. With this extraordinary discovery, he described it as something he had never seen despite been in this kind of industry as a professional for 16 years.
The discovery has been received as good news in the areas, as it an expression that Kambalda still has great potential to continue uplifting the living standards of its residents through the gold mining operations.
In a nutshell, Kambalda, Western Australia has once again been revived by the discovery of this rich gold pocket, reported to be the largest ever recorded in the history. In addition to the two largest pieces, there were many, many more “smaller” specimens that were recovered from the pocket, all of which were gold veins running through quartz. The discovery is reminiscent of the Holtermann Nugget found in New South Wales 150 years ago.
