Gold panning

C

ChrisTaylor

New Member
I have a friend that goes gold panning and wants to sell me some of his gold.
Question
what price is the going rate for this gold is it spot or more, Or should I pay less as it is not certified 999
Thanks for any help
 
During the gold rush days of America, there was a Trading Post operator named James Savage who was witnessed taking the gold from a Squaw and placing it on one side of a scale and then placing the raisins she wanted on the other side until it balanced out. His justification was that she wanted the raisins and not the gold.
Does your friend like raisins?
 
Slimey said:
During the gold rush days of America, there was a Trading Post operator named James Savage who was witnessed taking the gold from a Squaw and placing it on one side of a scale and then placing the raisins she wanted on the other side until it balanced out. His justification was that she wanted the raisins and not the gold.
Does your friend like raisins?
Click to expand...

This could be the greatest reply to a thread I've ever read.
 
HAHA! Raisins for gold, love it. For more realistic pricing, alluvial gold is typical 22-24k so I would go 22k spot for the tiny pieces. Good sized nuggets typically a priced with a premium over 24k spot, so keep that in mind when negotiating with your friend.

Would love to have a mate that pans that would sell to me at spot, a great excuse to buy a melting furnace and try some home poured gold or even backyard refining!
 
66rounds said:
HAHA! Raisins for gold, love it. For more realistic pricing, alluvial gold is typical 22-24k so I would go 22k spot for the tiny pieces. Good sized nuggets typically a priced with a premium over 24k spot, so keep that in mind when negotiating with your friend.

Would love to have a mate that pans that would sell to me at spot, a great excuse to buy a melting furnace and try some home poured gold or even backyard refining!
Click to expand...

Really depends how clean it is. Personally without testing I would not pay more than 80% spot and it would have to look clean to the eye.

Ultimately without testing you really can’t be sure. Unless it’s for fun you have to get more serious about it and have a test kit setup. Money involved so you need to buy quite a lot. Just my opinion of course.
 
Slimey said:
During the gold rush days of America, there was a Trading Post operator named James Savage who was witnessed taking the gold from a Squaw and placing it on one side of a scale and then placing the raisins she wanted on the other side until it balanced out. His justification was that she wanted the raisins and not the gold.
Does your friend like raisins?
Click to expand...

Many moons ago about 1985 I was working very briefly in Marble Bar. Speaking with the publican I was told that some “locals” would come in regularly with some gold and get a bit of cash to spend at that establishment. Once spent they would disappear again and return a few days later with more. Rinse and repeat. People tried to follow them apparently to no avail. Sad but true story.
 
Goldmongers buys nuggets based on the percentage reading off the XRF. For example, if the reading is 93%, we will buy it at 93% and not as 22ct, which is what most places will buy them for. We will also buy them for 94% of spot, as we do a special rate for Silver Stackers
 
ddevil said:
Goldmongers buys nuggets based on the percentage reading off the XRF. For example, if the reading is 93%, we will buy it at 93% and not as 22ct, which is what most places will buy them for. We will also buy them for 94% of spot, as we do a special rate for Silver Stackers
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Do you mean if the nugget XRF'ed at 93% and you pay 94% of spot you would be paying 87.42% of the weight?
 
n
openeyes said:
Do you mean if the nugget XRF'ed at 93% and you pay 94% of spot you would be paying 87.42% of the weight?
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No. We pay 100% of the gross weight. For example, if you bring a 10g 22ct ring in, you will be paid at total of $597.84. So, the rate that you are paid, is reduced depending on the purity of the gold. The only time weight is ever reduced is to estimate they weight of a stone. In that example, I used a spot of $2,158.
 
Ok I do prospecting, nuggets tend to pull a premium as they have collectors wanting them. but keep in mind natural gold is rarely over 22k,
If you were buying it for the gold it self you wouldnt pay 24k prices. If you were buying a nugget you like as your a nugget collector well thats a different story.
If your buying Dore bars then you would likely pay spot on its purity as that is more than what the refineries would pay for it and you would get the Dore bar XRF tested, they can be from 9k if dodgy all the way to 22k so you want to test them, typically dore bars are 80% but that depends on the location they come from and type of mining going on eg panning likely be less pure.

I should also ad its harder to test panned small flakes from a prospector as often its from various locations and all the small bits could be different purity. So much easier to buy panned gold melted down into basic dore bars as you can test its purety as a whole.
So you need to work out if your buying for the gold value or for collection, collectors obviously pay more but is harder for the seller to sell quickly as you have to find a buyer the nugget appeals to, so often you can find gold prospectors willing to sell for gold value over collector value. So best to ask the seller if he wants a quick sale for gold value or if he is thinking your a collector and wanting to pay collector prices. I ask that so not to waste my time.
 
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The only way you are going to get spot or above for nuggets is if they are bought as nuggets by a collector. Scrap prices are the best you can really hope for when it comes to selling nuggets, especially the smaller specimens. I'm happy to check (for your peace of mind) and even quote on any nuggets that people have, no obligation to sell of course
 
Lots of opinions about nugget prices. Much of what is stated is the opposite of correct.

Don't know where many of you reside, but in Aus nuggets very regularly test at over 22k. To claim they hardly exist or that someone could try and sell nuggets with "quartz hidden inside" or that a buyer wouldn't be able to get an accurate average purity from a pile of small bits via xrf is false.

I have personally sold and also witnessed the sale of small gold nuggets to individuals via ebay and multi-ounce lots to dealers. I am yet to have found gold that is under 22k(92.5%) purity. I have had dozens of single bits tested that are over 98% with most of the rest silver. Yes that may not be the norm but to apply some generic average or knocking off 20% "just in case" is only ripping off the poor bastards that put in the time and labor needed to find them.
Funny when people can't pay spot cos they have overheads and expenses and margins are so tight. A prospector is expected to have no right to factor any of their costs or labor and receive a price over spot when selling to offset a cent of it. Then they are expected to further discount their sell price via some sort of penalty imposed because it isn't 999 and THE BIGGEST FALLACY that is perpetually bullshitted by some, namely that SMALL GOLD NUGGETS HAVE NO WAY OF SELLING FOR SPOT PLUS PREMIUM.

Too tired to quote facts and figures now but will do so soon and explain why in my opinion the best premiums can be had for the smallest nuggets. Goodnight for now.
 
If varies widely around here. I've seen raw gold anywhere from $35/gram up to $80.
Ive never tried to sell any of mine yet but most of the gold I get is small.
 
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