<P> Nuggets are usually 20.5 K to 22K purity (83% to 92%). Gold nuggets in Australia often are 23K or slightly higher, while Alaskan nuggets are usually at the lower end of the spectrum . Purity can be roughly assessed by the nugget color, the richer and deeper the orange - yellow the higher the gold content . Nuggets are also referred to by their fineness, for example "865 fine" means the nugget is 865 parts per thousand in gold . The common impurities are silver and copper . Nuggets high in silver content constitute the alloy electrum . </P> <P> In literature, there are two nuggets that claim their status as the biggest gold nuggets in the world: the Welcome Stranger with the Canaã nugget being the largest surviving natural nugget . Considered by most authorities to be the biggest gold nugget ever found, the Welcome Stranger was found at Moliagul, Victoria, Australia in 1869 by John Deason and Richard Oates . It weighed gross, over 2,520 troy ounces (78 kg; 173 lb) and returned over 2,284 troy ounces (71.0 kg; 156.6 lb) net . The Welcome Stranger is sometimes confused with the similarly named Welcome Nugget, which was found in June 1858 at Bakery Hill, Ballarat, Australia by the Red Hill Mining Company . The Welcome weighed 2,218 troy ounces (69.0 kg; 152.1 lb). It was melted down in London in November 1859 . </P> <P> The Canaã nugget, also known as the Pepita Canaa, was found on September 13, 1983 by miners at the Serra Pelada Mine in the State of Para, Brazil . Weighing 1,955 troy ounces (60.8 kg; 134.1 lb) gross, and containing 1,682.5 troy ounces (52.33 kg; 115.37 lb) of gold, it is among the largest gold nuggets ever found, and is, today, the largest in existence . The main controversy regarding this nugget is that the excavation reports suggest that the existing nugget was originally part of a nugget weighing 5,291.09 troy ounces (165 kg; 363 lb) that broke during excavations . The Canaã nugget is displayed at the Banco Central Museum in Brazil along with the second and third largest nuggets remaining in existence, weighing respectively 1,506.2 troy ounces (46.85 kg; 103.28 lb) and 1,393.3 troy ounces (43.34 kg; 95.54 lb), which were also found at the Serra Pelada region . </P> <P> The largest gold nugget found using a metal detector is the Hand of Faith, weighing 875 troy ounces (27.2 kg; 60.0 lb), found in Kingower, Victoria, Australia in 1980 . </P>

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