Jeweller strikes it lucky

Alistir Tait shows off the flakes of gold gathered around Scotland

An antiques jeweller in Edinburgh has secured one of the world's biggest consignments of Scottish gold, worth £25,000.

Alistir Tait obtained the 400 grams of gold from an enthusiast who had panned every gold-producing river in Scotland.

Mr Tait now plans to use the gold to create about 250 pieces of jewellery.

Scottish gold is so rare that just a gram of the metal can command more than five times the price of normal gold.

The jeweller recalled: "The man came into my shop out of the blue and pulled the container out of his pocket and asked if I would be interested.

"We got chatting and he told me that he had panned every viable river and stream in Scotland over a number of years and had collected every nugget he found.

"He said that he had achieved what he wanted and had no real attachment to the gold itself.

The 1992 world championships at Wanlockhead

"He was almost like a Munro-bagger in that the challenge for him was to work the entire set of rivers. Once he achieved that he was quite happy and decided to move on to something else.

"I have done some panning myself and I know the considerable work you have to do to find even just the smallest flake of gold, so I can only imagine the effort that must have gone in to acquire this collection."

Pure gold is 24 carats and the precious metal found in Scotland is among the purest in the world, measuring 22.8 carats.

Scottish gold is also very soft making it easily workable and it also has a much richer yellow colour than commercially marketed gold.

The Lowther Hills around Leadhills and Wanlockhead in Lanarkshire have produced small amounts of gold for centuries.

The area has hosted the World Gold Panning championships.