Gold has always been a hot commodity. But these days, finding a nugget isn’t too tricky: Much of the world’s gold is mined from natural veins of quartz, a glassy mineral that streaks through ...

The largest nuggets in orogenic gold deposits—those that form between tectonic plates that have crashed together to create mountain ranges—weigh about 130 pounds, reports Live Science.

The gold came in the form of either a solution of gold chloride ions or a suspension of gold nanoparticles. Quartz crystals were either pure quartz or obtained from a gold-rich area and already ...

These accumulate over time until they form into nuggets. ... “In essence, the quartz acts like a natural battery, with gold as the electrode, slowly accumulating more gold with each seismic event.

The largest nuggets in orogenic gold deposits—those that form between tectonic plates that have crashed together to create mountain ranges—weigh about 130 pounds, reports Live Science.