How much is Gold Rush: White Water’s nugget really worth?

The Gold Rush: White Water crew has just redeemed themselves by finding a huge nugget, but only time will tell what this nugget is really worth.

Being a fan of Gold Rush: White Water over the last few years has been sort of like being trapped in a frigid Alaskan white water rapid yourself.

The one minute, Dustin and the crew finally have everything all set up and are about to hit pay dirt – and then the next, all of this progress is halted by a flood, a big boulder, or some kind of major equipment failure.

Gold Rush: White Water’s record-breaking nugget

And given all that we as fans, Dustin and the hardworking Gold Rush: White Water crew have been through in the last two years (and two or three seasons, depending on how you look at it) – chances are, you rejoiced alongside the crew when they finally pulled that huge nugget out of the dredge in season seven.

Paul was quick to claim that this massive, almost six-ounce nugget was the biggest in Gold Rush history. And while this is certainly possible, this nugget may not be worth exactly as much as the team predicted it would be on the show.

The Gold Rush: White Water journey

The discovery of this record-breaking nugget has certainly been a highlight for the entire Gold Rush: White Water crew. But before we get into how much this nugget is really worth, let us take a look back on how far the show has come.

Gold Rush: White Water has slowly become one of the most successful spin-offs in the ever-growing Gold Rush franchise. And some of the most important facts and figures for the show are as follows:

What Gold Rush: White Water says the nugget is worth

Pulling up this massive nugget in episode six almost had Carlos in tears – and, for good reason. When the crew finally got this nugget to the scale, it weighed in at just over 5.8 ounces.

This led the crew to speculate that this nugget may be worth at least $20,000, since nuggets are often worth far more than their actual weight in gold.

Since the most that the crew has ever brought in in a single season was just over 54 ounces, this nugget certainly means that Dustin and the crew are well on their way to having one of their most successful (and profitable) seasons yet.

What it is really worth

In the Gold Rush franchise, many of the values that are attached to the gold collected in each season are based on the value of pure, jewelry quality gold.

And while the gold nuggets, flakes and dust that Dustin and the crew work so hard to dredge from the bottom of Nugget Creek are certainly shiny and beautiful, natural gold is rarely pure and jewelry grade.

Gold trading experts have warned that while seeing these huge nuggets is certainly exciting, if it is revealed that this nugget contains many impurities (such as quartz, silver, ironstone and so on), it may end up being worth less than the weight of the nugget.

As of April 24, 2024, gold is trading at about $2,320 per ounce. This means that if this nugget were sold today and it was worth exactly its weight in gold, it would fetch about $13,920.

There are many different factors to take into consideration

At the end of the day, there are many different factors that go into the sale of a gold nugget.

And if Dustin and the crew manage to find a buyer that really likes the look and feel of this truly huge nugget, the value could go even higher than they anticipated. Certainly, the opposite could also turn out to be true.

However, if you are someone who sticks around to watch the end-credits, you may have noticed a very brief preview for an upcoming scene in which it seems like a buyer may be offering Dustin more than three times what he was expecting to get for this nugget.

And if this turns out to be true, Dustin and the crew could be looking at a payday of between $60,000 and $70,000 for just this one nugget.

Also read:

• Why there was no Gold Rush: White Water season 6 gold total
• Does Gold Rush: White Water ever find gold?