During this episode of the Opal Podcast we talk to a gold prospector from Western Australia. We learn what we need to prospect for gold and the basic tools to get started. Learn the safe way to go gold prospecting legally. Podcast | Download | Buzzsprout | iTunes The story of the show… Every Thursday morning, 8AM EST, we do our best to produce a show that highlights the realities of being in the opal business. This episode we go into depth with Rod about what is opal, the different types of opal and where do they all come from around Australia. Here is an image to demonstrate the difference between gold nuggets washed in a heavy concentrate cleaner as explained by Greg and some other nuggets not so clean. The only difference is the color, the gold content remains the same.Above is the unwashed and below are the washed nuggets. Below is an actual test report from a laboratory showing the makeup of gold nuggets coming out of Western Australia. It shows 98.618% pure gold and the balance silver. DID YOU KNOW? Gold nuggets can fetch up to 50% ABOVE the market price for gold? 90% of all gold discovered is melted and put into gold bars, its very rare that people will ever have the opportunity to purchase actual gold nuggets. For this reason gold nuggets properly cleaned and of substantial size can fetch 50% above market price. The larger the gold nugget, the more value it holds.  

Here are some useful links for people wishing to learn more about gold prospecting in Australia:

http://www.gold-prospecting-wa.com/metal-detector-clubs.html http://www.kitco.com/market/aud_charts.html http://goannagolddetectors.com.au http://www.perthmint.com.au