Gold Gold nugget from French Guiana or Suriname, 2.043 grams- 2.04 g - (1)

Discovery Area
3°47’ North
54°04’ West

This nugget comes from French Guiana, a French territory in the Amazon, or possibly from Suriname, a former Dutch colony. I collected it myself over thirty years ago on the Maroni River (Marowijne River), which separates French Guiana from Suriname, in an area named Papaichton, about half a day’s boat journey from the town of Maripasoula.

At the time I was an gold prospector in French Guiana, and I worked mainly on the rivers, the Oyapock which forms the border with Brazil and the Maroni which forms the border with Suriname.

With my team we used a floating dredge that pumped sediments from the river bottom. These sediments were poured onto a washing ramp (sluice) whose bottom was covered with a carpet. The whole setup was installed on a floating barge that also served as a living base with a kitchen and dormitory. The gold nuggets and the heaviest sediments settled by gravity onto the carpet, while the remaining sediments returned to the river. The nuggets visible on the surface of the carpet were collected directly by hand. The heavy sediments containing the specks and gold powder were embedded in the bottom of the carpet. From time to time this carpet was washed to recover these heavy sediments. These sediments were then treated with a vibrating plate or a pan to recover the gold powder.

The gold harvested was then regularly sold in French Guiana or in Brazil. I kept the finest of the nuggets for my personal collection and am now putting some of them up for sale.

Although located in the Amazon (South America), French Guiana is an overseas French department. These nuggets are therefore French. However some are Surinamese (Dutch) when the barge was closer to the banks of Suriname than to the banks of French Guiana. Indeed the border between the two countries is a mere virtual line at the center of the river. So French nuggets or Surinamese nuggets? … hard to say precisely, it all depends on which side of this virtual line the barge was on the day they were harvested.

The gold from this region is quite pure; typically its purity is around 950 to 980 fineness, which corresponds to 22.80 to 23.50 carats.

At the time this artisanal gold mining was allowed; now it is forbidden and gold mining is reserved for a few large industrial operators. French Guiana is now best known for the space base at Kourou, which launches satellites into space.

Of course, the photos truly correspond to the nugget for sale, and I am sending you exactly the nugget that is in the photos. All photos are taken in natural daylight. I photographed this nugget as honestly and precisely as possible using daylight. Please note that differences in screen settings and ambient lighting can lead to variations in color, saturation, and tones perceived.

I offer fast, secure, discreet shipping in a sturdy C5 envelope (162mm x 229mm) by La Poste French mail, registered.