TERRIUM — A mineralogy cabinet


Oro Nativo

Oro is a mineral with formula Au, in the Elementos nativos group. This specimen comes from Yukon River, Klondike Area, Dawson mining district, Yukon, Canadá and joined the Terrium collection in 2025.

Oro Nativo from Yukon River, Klondike Area, Dawson mining district, Yukon, Canadá — Terrium

Description

Native gold nugget of intense yellow colour, massive habit and an irregular, softly rounded outline. Natural surface with a finely rugose texture, small cavities and low-relief forms typical of fluvial transport. Compact piece, with good presence for the size.

History of this specimen

By chance it carries the same number as its weight in grams.

About Oro

Native gold from the Yukon occupies a central place in the mining history of North America. The region gained worldwide fame with the Klondike gold rush at the end of the 19th century and thereafter maintained a long tradition of alluvial working. Nuggets from this origin are notable for their high purity and placer morphology.

About the locality

Yukon is historic territory. Between 1896 and 1899 it saw the great Klondike gold cycle, one of the last major gold rushes. It attracted more than 100,000 "stampeders", although only a portion reached the goldfields. The journey was brutal: months of travel, extreme cold, long human lines advancing over snow, and exhausting logistics just to keep going. Access required surmounting passes such as the Chilkoot while carrying up to a tonne of equipment per person. And afterwards, the river rapids. Not everyone managed to get there. It is estimated that, of those 100,000, only about 30,000 reached the gold region; of those, barely 2,000 obtained a significant amount of gold and only 40 or 50 became genuinely rich.

Technical data

Catalogue No.
0296
Composition
Au
Name
Oro
Variety
Nativo
Group
Elementos nativos
Category
Cupidium
Mine
Yukon River
District / Municipality
Klondike Area
Province
Dawson mining district
Region
Yukon
Country
Canadá
Size (cm)
1.3 x 1.1 x 0.6
Weight
2.96 g
Acquired
2025
Etymology
From the Latin "aurum", the classical name for gold, related to the brightness of dawn.
Quality
Top
Value trend
Al alza

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