Latrobe nugget
The Latrobe nugget is one of the largest
Victoria, Australia. It was raised on 1 May 1853 in the presence of Charles La Trobe, Governor of Victoria, and was named in his honour.[1]
Naturally all gold has a crystalline structure, yet nuggets showing this structure are very uncommon. They require specific conditions to form, in particular space in which to grow. Crystals of gold are found in cavities in softer minerals such as iron oxides, where they have pushed aside the enclosing material as they grew. Gold crystallises in the cubic system, and perhaps the most common variety is the eight-sided octahedron,[2] of which the Latrobe Nugget is a good example.