Worth More than Its Weight

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This specimen comes from Montague Gold Mines, now part of the Halifax Regional Municipality. Nova Scotia has had three major gold rushes and is currently experiencing another spike in exploration as gold prices soar. At 2013 prices, the actual gold in this specimen, about 4.9 Troy ounces, is worth more than $6700. But ore specimens containing gold are generally worth two or three times the value of the gold itself – making this one worth a whopping $13,400  to $20,100!

Object type: 
Mineral specimen
Object #: 
NSM982GE0001.008
Collection name: 
Curator: 
Date (age/made): 
Approximately 380 million years ago
Origin/place: 
Montague
Materials: 
Mineral (gold and quartz)
Dimensions: 
9.0 x 5.5 cm