The Devil's Ear Nugget

The "Devil's Ear" Nugget was an exceptional nugget found at a placer mining operation deep in the Siberian wilderness.

It's shape indicates thousands of years of weathering, which results in the smoothed out texture and bright colored gold. It earned its name, with unusual pointed shape resembling a demons ear.

The appearance isn't the only reason that the nickname is fitting... this monster gold nugget also weighed exactly 6.66 kilograms. The Number of the Beast.

Miners at the Ugakhan Mine reportedly caught a glimpse of the nugget as it was being discarded from machinery. Due to it's large size, it was cast out as a large rock would be. If not for a sharp-eyed miner, the piece would have been lost forever to the tailing pile.

 

The Ugakhan Mine in Siberia

 

The Ugakhan Mine is a small operation within the rkutskaya Oblast region. This is an area north of Mongolia, within the Yablonovyy Mountains. Aside from mining, there isn't much going on in this part of Siberia.



 

Russian Gold

 

The miners here have a saying "One nugget never walks alone," meaning that if there is one then there are hopefully others.

Of course, large nuggets like this are exceedingly rare, but they do have a point. Often larger gold will occur in the same area. It may be possible that more nuggets like this area still buried in the vicinity.

Russia is certainly no stranger to large gold. In 2017, a 22-pound gold nugget was discovered in Eastern Russia at Zamanchivy Creek in Khaborovsk Territory.

The Great Triangle Nugget is Russia's largest nugget discovery. It weighs 1,277 ounces! It was found in the Ural Mountains in 1842.

The 6.66 kilograms of the Devil's Ear Nugget "only" equates to 214 troy ounces, so it is far from the largest Russian nugget. Nonetheless, it is an incredible find!

More Amazing Gold Nugget Discoveries:

The Boot of Cortez (Mexico)

The Normandy Nugget (Australia)

Tom's Baby (Colorado)