Giant Gold Nugget Was Found in California

Gold nugget weighing 70 ounces found by an unidentified man in Butte County in California

The “Butte Nugget” was recovered sometime in the summer of 2014 by an unnamed prospector in California using a metal detector.

He was expecting to dig up a piece of iron rubbish, but unearthed the find of a lifetime when he unearthed this monster nugget.

It is a spectacular nugget, weighing over 5 pounds of solid gold. It is believed to be one of the largest gold discoveries in California in the past century.

The confirmed weight was 75 troy ounces. The nugget itself has no quartz inclusions and gold from this area is generally very high purity.


Although the exact location of the discovery was not revealed, it was found somewhere in Butte County, which has always been a major producer of gold in the state. Many millions of ounces in gold have been found here since the early days of the gold rush.

Both placer and lode deposits account for the production, but placers account for the largest production records.

Some of the primary mining districts in Butte County when it comes to producing gold are Magalia (Tertiary placers), Yankee Hill (mostly lode, some tertiary placers) and Oroville (Quaternary Placers).

Gold nugget weighing 70 ounces found by an unidentified man in Butte County in California

The “Butte Nugget” was recovered sometime in the summer of 2014 by an unnamed prospector in California using a metal detector.