Central West Super Speci-a work in progress

Gday People,
As promissed,here is a photo of the speci after a few days of Thermal Shock treatment......thanks for the idea Aurumpro.
It worked like a charm and speeded the process up stacks with minimal damage to the Gold inside.
I tried to sell it as a Speci but few were interested,not trusting the approx SG weight of 820-840 grams of the good stuff.
Well let me say,they talked themselves out of a few bonus Ounces!
The weight as of last night is 859 grams and I doubt there is more than 60 grms of Quartz left on it. All the Quartz on the right hand side of the pic is only thin and bottoms on soild metal. The thinner end on the left has the biggest quantity and is more fragile.
It truely has a heart of Gold.
The bucket of Quartz fragments would have at least 5 Oz in it,if not more......one things for sure that after dollying its going to be the `Tail from hell` left in the Pan

What a beautiful looking piece there Gus. What was the Thermal Shock treatment that you talked about, as it has come up a treat? Had any luck fiending any potential brothers and sisters around where you found this one?

Very nice Gus it sure is coming up nice.. .. They would be kicking themselves I bet...

Cheers.

Mike.

good on you Gus looking good mate

CostasDee wrote:What a beautiful looking piece there Gus. What was the Thermal Shock treatment that you talked about, as it has come up a treat? Had any luck fiending any potential brothers and sisters around where you found this one?

Gday Costas,
Thermal shock is basically the modern day version of Quartz roasting. I heated the Speci over a 2 burner stove until it got a bit of glow about it,then with a pair of XL heavy duty BBQ tongs and safety glasses on,plunged it into a bucket of cool water. The sudden contraction shatters the Rock leaving it easy to pick away slowly with a small screwdriver.
At first I was disapointed at the amount of gold that was coming away,but after a few hrs I started to see things more clearly.
I just didnt want to muck about with Hydrofluric acid,even though it would have preserved all the gold matrix but some of it would have been to fragile to handle.

Gday Mike, there loss is my gain

Thanks Gus for explaining. You've refreshed my memory now and I recall aurumpro saying something to you about that. Glad to hear it works. Might have to add a blowtorch, bucket and bbq tongs to the arsenal I take out bush...it never stops does it?

Hey Gus
Just awesome, much better result than the acid I reckon as the quartz gets crumbly & looses character, good job.

Nice going Gus, looks great. When you finish playing with it do a video of you dollying up the lot of it..
Tributer

Great stuff there

That is a sensational piece. Would love to see a couple more pics from different angles

Nice piece gus..how many dips did it take to get quartz away, my specie is 170 grams bearing 44 grams,it's a solid nugget by the voltmeter.i don't want to sell it just pretty it up.the nug on the outside is a bit aero e bar.the grain of the quartz is pretty open and I'm busting my a..se to see what's inside..no one seems to want to know anything about it either unless I take a 20 percent hit and that,s over the phone probably more when I get there.cheers and nice work

Wow Gus, that is coming up a treat. The thermal shock seems to work pretty well, hadn't heard of it before, very interesting. Look forward to seeing the progress.

Ronnie

Love it. Makes me want to go detectecting right now instead of having a bludge day!

mate what a terrific looking piece
congratulations again on the find
dave

Looking good Gus. Exactly what's wrong with letting the acid eat away the rest of the quartz?

a great looking piece of gold guis. Hope you'll find a buyer for it!.....
Americans probably pay more for bigger nuggets like yours.
cheers
bedrock

Thanks everyone,it is looking good and the Gold is very sharp edged.

Gday Lee,
Its much safer than using Hydrofluric and I hope others can use this same method if only just to remove the bulk of the Quartz before using acid to finish the job.

Gday Trib,
The dollying has begun mate and there are plenty of pickers. Once Im done will do a few pics of the tail.

Gday MTB,
more pics of different angles to follow mate.

Gday Cougarcans,
Probably about 10-12 heat and dips to get this result mate. Good luck with your Speci.

Gday Shiraz,
its in the Alibrite as we speak mate.

Gday Bedrock,
True mate,the Americans would probably pay more. Its a shame that we have to sell all our big gold overseas to get the right price.
Unfortunetly,I will have to sell this Nugget soon as there are bills to pay,but I wont be giving it away thats for sure!

The active ingredient in Alubrite is hydrofluoric!!! Take care use gloves and goggles

It's looking good mate
And happening
Fast with the thermal shock treatment
Well done

Thanks gus ..hope it comes up good too ..cheers and once again that's a dam nice bit a gold you got there

An interesting process and so simple to do with ordinary things the average person would have about. Bet those whom did not buy the speci as it was are now regretting their decision if they knew how it turned out.

Good luck with the final work its a lovely piece of gold.

Gus it is looking really good and it should turn out to be a nice piece. Well done mate.
wombat

As promissed,here is the final product.It still has a small amount of Quartz attached but it wouldnt be more than 2 grams.


The total weight is 788.4 grams.

The thermal shock treatment worked fast mate
It's a big lump of gold in anyone's book I reckon

Lovely piece of gold Gus especially after getting rid of the quartz!


Annie

Wow Gus thats turned out way better than I would of expected
It doesn't look as brittle as I thought it might have.
Now get out there and find another!
Cheers
Curley

Of course you know Gus, your next step is the 1 kilo club.

PS. Are you going to name it?

G'day Gus what can I say that is a fantastic result. . That is one very nice nugget and I hope you get the right price for it/worth every cent in my book. . Congrats again Gus.

Cheers.

Mike.

Outstanding Gus.
The big quartz gibber speci really did have a heart of gold.
Cheers Tributer

Brilliant.Congratulation


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yellow (/ˈjɛloʊ/) is the color of gold, butter, or ripe lemons.[2] In the spectrum of visible light, and in the traditional color wheel used by painters, yellow is located between green and orange.
Yellow is commonly associated with gold, sunshine, reason, optimism and pleasure, but also with envy, jealousy and betrayal.


How true.

GoldEN