Is this a sound business practice?

http://www.ebay.com/sch/yukongold33/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

In investment terms absolutely not but I think a large chunk of gold bearing ore from the Yukon would be a neat thing to own.

Nice rocks! I'm wondering why you think selling them is unethical.

I don't, it's just that GOLD is worth more than that.

It's unrefined low grade ore. If you buy them all you might end up with enough gold to paint your toenails.

That little, eh?
Wow.

People collect rocks. I never bought any but I had quite a large drawer stuffed full of rock specimens as a child.

I collected rocks when I was a kid, but that's another story, because I was out of control, lol. I collected ALL rocks and stones and just kept hoarding them.

But yea, when I grew up an interest into rocks, crystals and minerals stayed, so that sort of ores would be what I would get a sample of IF I would turn my interest into collecting them. Which I won't due to weight that it can accumulate.... (mind you, I found out, same problem can occur to coins... oups).
But yeah, it is sound business practice as long as the sellers of these don't try to market them as great investment opportunity due to gold content.

Yea they are pretty neat...I used to hoard pretty rocks as a little kid. I'd rather spend my money on coins though.

Quote: ZuluRaptorSpaceThat little, eh?
Wow.

Have you ever seen those vials of gold flakes being sold as investments? They are absolutely worthless because there is no way to recover such minute particles into useable metal.

I'm not really qualified to speak on the matter of ore refining but from what little I have read a certain amount is lost during the refining process. It also seems to vary depending on both the grade and composition of the ore. I guess that's why there isn't a commodity market for raw ore.

Gold nuggets now, that's a different matter.

Quite apart from it being a poor investment, I'm half convinced to buy one of these as a curio. Considering that my natural laziness means it's extremely unlikely I'll ever be waist deep in freezing Yukon waters swinging a pickaxe, $15 seems like a good buy.

I visited the Macraes gold mine once, the guy there told us they processed the good ore which yielded about 1 gram of gold per ton of ore and stockpiled the less profitable stuff which yields 0.5 grams per ton.  So if you buy a 8 pound rock of ore you'll get around 0.001 grams of gold.

Quote: neilithicI visited the Macraes gold mine once, the guy there told us they processed the good ore which yielded about 1 gram of gold per ton of ore and stockpiled the less profitable stuff which yields 0.5 grams per ton.  So if you buy a 8 pound rock of ore you'll get around 0.001 grams of gold.

Actually, for the mines themselves, the gold is microscopic.
If you can see the yellow, you'll see it afterwards.

What a shame - $15 shipping to Canada! What did they have to take it out of the Yukon for in the first place