Posted on 09/17/2010 9:22:43 AM PDT by Palter
A bright yellow glimmer caught Charlie "Digger Chuck" Ward's eye as he panned. His eyes had fooled him in the past, so he reached in the pan to feel the weight of the clump. Ward handed it to his prospecting partner, Byron Janis, and asked "Is this what I think it is?"
The 2-¼ inch by 1-1/2 inch by 1 inch rock was exactly what Ward thought it was:
gold.
It turned out to be the largest undisputed gold nugget found in the Black Hills in the past 120 years. (A larger nugget has been found, but its authenticity has been called into question).
"We were really excited," Ward said. "We could hardly stay in our skin."
On Thursday, the public will have a chance to see the nugget up close during its unveiling at The Journey Museum in Rapid City.
Ward and his partner, who call themselves the "Ice Box Mining Company," sold the precious nugget for an undisclosed amount to Chris Johnson, owner of the Clock Shop in downtown Rapid City, which often buys gold from prospectors.
"We paid a generous amount for the nugget," Johnson said. Based on current gold prices, the "Ice Box nugget" intrinsically has about $5,000 worth of gold in it. But because of its rarity in the Hills, Johnson could only speculate what someone might pay for it.
"Its value as a specimen far exceeds the gold content in there," Johnson said.
A mixture of quartz and gold, the nugget weighs 5.27 troy ounces, but a gravity test at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology determined its specific gold content was 3.96 troy ounces, Johnson said.
Other nuggets of comparable and larger size were found during the Black Hills gold rush but did not remain in one piece, according to Johnson.
Ward and his partner decided to sell their rare find because, as prospectors, they prefer the hunt and making money to holding onto what they find.
"You either work for money, or you work for gold," Ward said. "It's more about the romance of prospecting and going out and finding than having everything around."
The prospectors would not reveal where they found it but said it is within 20 miles of Rapid City on a dry site Ward and Janis have worked at for about eight months. The two take their diggings from the dry site and then take it to a stream to separate any gold.
Johnson said the nugget isn't for sale, and he expects to keep it on display at The Journey Museum for about a month.
"For the time being, we're just enjoying having it," Johnson said.
I sent the article to my son (he, me and my daughter + her hubby) went diamond mining in Arkansas last year and didn’t find any diamonds but someone did the day before...My grandson is stationed in Montana and my son just got back and he said that right around where my grandson is stationed you can mine for sapphires. Sounds like fun also...grandson is in the airforce....
Easy enough. Just reverse the polarity on a Waxiweiner, and reset the beeber for stune.
My son just got back from visiting his son in Montana. He said there were sapphire mines near where my grandson is stationed....he wants for us to go for sapphires now...Grandson is in the Air Force....
I’m sure you have had a fulfilling life even if it didn’t include grub staking a prospector in Alaska for 3 months to take you hunting for gold.
Lovely photo.
Thanks for the pings.
We went to see that nugget at the Journey Museum on Thursday. It was impressive!
We went to see that nugget at the Journey Museum on Thursday. It was impressive!<<<
One of our local miners, found one about the same size, I have held it, at the meetings.
Said he and his dad worked a poor claim for 15 years and was going to give it up, went for one last time and to get all the equipment and there is was, waiting all these years for them.
It is heavy to hold.
My favorite, was one of our members, whose mother was given the drug about 50 years ago, that deformed the babies, was a member of our mining council, he had a wonderful mind and heart, it was always fun to be around him.
He had part of one arm, no legs and one arm missing and yet the members worked on it until he could use a metal detector, and he did and found a one ounce nugget, in an area the had never produced nuggets before.
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