[meteorite-list] $ gold / Oz

[Mark Bowling]

> From: Michael Blood mlblood at cox.net
> Hi GeoZay and all,
>       Well, now that I know it is 20 penyweight, that
> Clears it up for me.

Hey all,
Just saw this email and thought I'd throw my 2 cents in (someone may have answered).  The price of gold is always measured in troy ounces (when ounces are referred to).  Usually abbreviated as ozt ( $1300/ozt. or 1 ozt/ton)  I worked in gold mines a short time, but I believe most companies use grams to do their engineering/geology, etc.  Metric is much easier to work with, though i admit I have a hard time converting some units in my head and/or visualizing them.

And there is only one gram (no unique unit for gold in SI).  A troy ounce is 31.1 grams  (a great one to keep in mind).

I never realized that a troy pound was different than a standard pound.  I thought they were the same, just that the pound was divided up differently (troy ounce vs. standard ounce)...  Thanks GeoZay for clearing that up for me!  :)  And congrats on dredging that much gold!!  I too panned the South Fork of the Yuba and recovered some mercury on some of the gold (but I forget, maybe it was Middle Fork...)!  Pretty cool!  Cleaning up the planet one pan at a time.  o(;?-D

Michael, a pennyweight is just another old measuring unit for gold.  It's still used in some mining circles (mostly for gold).  Another unit you will come across when dealing with small amounts of gold is the "grain".  So be careful when buying gold - make sure you understand if they are selling grams and grains.  Some incorrectly abbreviate them and you could possible get scammed (ebay comes to mind - I have seen one or two deceptive auctions).

Clear skies all (in other words, may all your pans be lined with gold...),
Mark B.
Vail, AZ