Beiruting News

Government experts have confirmed the world's largest single crystal of gold.

It is worth as estimated $1.5m, and was found in a river in Venezuela.

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory used a neutron scanner to effectively look inside the 217.78-gram piece of gold, roughly the size of a golf ball.

Its owner, who lives in the United States, provided the samples to geologist John Rakovan to assess the crystallinity of four specimens, all of which had been found decades ago in Venezuela.

Proving it was a crystal would mean it was created entirely naturally - and increase its value.

'The structure or atomic arrangement of gold crystals of this size has never been studied before, and we have a unique opportunity to do so,' the Miami University professor said.

The team at Los Alamos National Laboratory used the Lujan Neutron Scattering Center to look deep inside the mineral using neutron diffractometry.

Neutrons, different from other probes such as X-rays and electrons, are able to penetrate many centimeters deep into most materials.

Three of the four samples turned out to be single-crystal pieces of gold,