Gold nuggets

Gold has long been known in the New World, too. During a visit to Haiti, Christopher Columbus (1451—1506) found gold nuggets lying on the bottom of rivers and harbors. A Portuguese explorer in 1586,... 

Gold nuggets are valuable because they are almost pure gold. ... 

Gold dust and small gold nuggets were their national currency. 

It was Merrifield who stated [13] in 1969 with regard to solid-phase organic chemistry A gold mine awaits discovery by organic chemists .This prompted Leznoff to add [5a] in 1978, Many gold nuggets have now been mined. .. and some iron pyrites .Twenty years later one is inclined to conclude that we have only hit upon the first layer of ore [la]. 

Most people look at a gold nugget and see a shiny metallic substance that can be melted down and made into jewelry. A chemist looks at a substance such as gold and visualizes the internal structure responsible for those external characteristics. Now that we have discussed some of the general features of atoms and elements, we can return to the model of solid, liquid, and gas structures presented in Section 2.1 and continue in our quest to visualize the particle nature of matter. 

As we have noted, the matter around us consists mainly of mixtures. Most often these mixtures contain compounds, in which atoms from different elements are bound together. Most elements are quite reactive their atoms tend to combine with those of other elements to form compounds quite readily. As a result, we do not often find elements in nature in pure form—uncombined with other elements. However, there are notable exceptions. The gold nuggets found at Sutter s Mill in California that launched the Gold Rush in 1849 are virtually pure elemental gold. Platinum and silver are also often found in nearly pure form. 

A gold nugget weighing 13 lb, 7 oz, which came to be called Tom s Baby, was found by Tom Grove near Breckenridge, Colorado, on July 23, 1887. 

---