Nuggets of News Blog 

Where can you fetch the best price for the gold you find? Refineries are probably the best answer for most prospectors if you have at least two ounces of gold to sell. That might sound like a lot, but if you collect all sizes and shapes of gold over time, then sell it all at once, it's the most profitable for you. Refineries don't care if it's fine gold, pickers, nuggets, or a combination because they melt it all down and resell it by weight. They do not care about the size or shape of your original gold, they only care about the purity.

In general, refineries pay around 95% of assay (assaying is conducting a gold purity test). That means you get 95% of whatever purity is determined (85% pure is pretty common), minus a refining fee. Using $1,400 an ounce as an example price, if you sent in an ounce of gold and it was determined to be 85% pure, you would get about $1,130.50 for your ounce, minus a refining fee. Not too bad considering you can live anywhere and send any size or type of gold to the refinery of your choice!