Placer gold payout calculator

Enter what you have. The calculator prices it at the live gold price$4,101 per troy ounce as this page loaded — and shows the range your lot falls in.

No email, no phone number, no account. The arithmetic is spelled out below so you can check it against any other buyer’s number.

What is your gold worth?

Live gold price. No email, no phone number.

A troy ounce is 31.1 g, a pennyweight is 1.56 g.

82–93%
60%98%
Your estimated payout
$1,362–$1,545

Based on typical purity for Alaska (82–93% gold). Drag the slider if you know yours and this tightens up.

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Estimate only, at $4,101/oz gold. Your firm offer comes after we weigh and test the actual lot, and you are free to decline it.

The arithmetic, in full

Most buyers will not show you this. There are only four numbers in it:

  1. 1

    Weight × purity

    Your grams multiplied by your fineness gives the grams of pure gold you actually hold.

  2. 2

    × gold price per gram

    Spot per troy ounce divided by 31.1035. At $4,101/ozt that is about $132 per gram of pure gold.

  3. 3

    × grade rate

    85% for dust up to 110% for nuggets. Coarse gold clears more because it is sold whole rather than melted.

  4. 4

    = your payout

    The result, quoted as a range until purity is confirmed by testing.

A gram of gold at 89% purity holds about 0.89 g of pure gold — roughly $117 of metal at the current price.

That figure is the floor for fine material. It is not what a nugget is worth, because a nugget is not sold by melting it down. How placer gold is valued — weight, purity and grade explained →

Why purity is a band, not a number

Placer gold is a natural alloy, mostly gold with silver and a little copper. How much silver depends on where it came from, which is why the calculator starts from your region rather than a single national assumption. Alaska assays alone span roughly 620 to 927 fine depending on the district.

If you already know your figure from an assay, set it on the slider and the range tightens straight away. If you do not, the regional band is the honest answer until your lot is tested.

How placer gold purity is measured → · What mesh size means for your rate → · Convert grams to troy ounces →

Questions about the calculator

How is a placer gold payout calculated?

Four numbers multiply together: your weight in grams, your purity as a decimal, the gold price per gram, and the rate for your grade. Weight times purity gives the pure gold content; multiplying that by the gold price gives the metal value; the grade rate then sets what that content is bought at. Nothing else enters the arithmetic.

What gold price does the calculator use?

The live XAU spot price, fetched when the page loads and converted to a per-gram figure by dividing by 31.1035. It is the same number the market is quoting, not a figure typed in weeks ago and left to drift.

Why is the estimate a range rather than one number?

Because purity is a range until your gold is tested. If you have not set a purity we apply the published fineness band for your region, which spans several percent. Setting a purity you already know from an assay narrows the range immediately.

Why do nuggets pay more than 100% of gold content?

Because they are sold whole to collectors instead of being melted. A nugget carries value in its shape, character and any attached quartz, none of which survives refining. Fine dust has no such premium, so it tracks metal value closely.

Is the estimate the final offer?

No, and it is not meant to be. It is arithmetic on numbers you supplied. The firm offer comes after your lot is weighed and purity tested, with the figures shown to you in writing, and you are free to decline it and have the gold shipped back free.

Our rates by grade · What we buy · How selling works

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