Gold Gold nugget from French Guiana or Suriname, 2.043 grams- 2.04 g - (1)

Discovery Zone 3°47’ North 54°04’ West This nugget originates from French Guiana, a French department in the Amazon, or from Suriname, a former Dutch colony. I collected it myself over thirty years ago on the Maroni River (Marowijne River), which separates French Guiana from Suriname, in an area called Papaichton, about half a day by dugout canoe from the town of Maripasoula. At the time I was an gold prospector in French Guiana, and I worked mainly on the rivers—the Oyapock, which forms the border with Brazil, and the Maroni, which forms the border with Suriname. With my team we used a floating dredge that pumped sediment from the river bottom. The sediments were dumped onto a washing ramp (sluice) whose bottom was covered with a mat. The whole setup was mounted on a floating barge that also served as a living base with kitchen and dormitory. The visible gold nuggets and the heaviest sediments settled by gravity onto the mat, while the rest of the sediment returned to the river. The gold-bearing sediments on the surface of the mat were collected by hand. The heavy sediments containing gold flakes and powder were embedded in the bottom of the mat. From time to time this mat was washed to recover these heavy sediments. These sediments were then processed with a vibrating plate or a pan to recover the powdered gold. The gold harvested was then regularly sold in French Guiana or in Brazil. I kept the finest nuggets for my personal collection and am now offering a few for sale. Although located in the Amazon (South America), French Guiana is a French overseas department. These nuggets are therefore French. However, some are Surinamese (Dutch) when the barge was closer to the Surinamese shore than to the French Guianan shore. Indeed, the boundary between the two countries is a simple virtual line at the center of the river. So French nuggets or Surinamese nuggets?… difficult to know precisely; it all depends on which side of this virtual line the barge was on the day they were collected. The gold from this region is quite pure; generally its purity is around 950 to 980 per mil, which corresponds to 22.80 to 23.50 carats. Back then this artisanal mining was permitted; now it is prohibited, and gold exploitation is reserved for a few large industrial operators. French Guiana is now better known for the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, which launches satellites into space. Of course, the photos truly correspond to the nugget being sold, and I am sending you exactly the nugget shown in the photos. All pictures were taken in natural daylight. I have photographed this nugget as honestly and precisely as possible using daylight. Please note that differences in screen settings and ambient lighting may lead to variations in color, saturation, and tones perceived. I offer fast, secure, and discreet shipping in a sturdy C5 envelope (162 mm x 229 mm) via La Poste’s registered mail.

估價:$532.09

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