Gold is a heavy element. A chunk of gold is, in fact, more than seven times heavier than a piece of marble or even granite of the same size. And when gold is in a natural setting, it can be more than 25 times heavier than the sand or soil that surrounds it.

Have you stopped to think how rare discoveries like those are, and how much more likely it is that you will discover quantities of precious metals in powders, shavings, sludge and other stuff that doesn’t look valuable? In other words, the crud that you will find lying around in old businesses and factories? If you don’t know where money can be found in crud, we will tell you in today’s post.

Frankly, we are not going to answer that question on today’s post, because it is a question that only your financial advisor or tax preparer can answer for you. There are many variables to consider – your tax bracket, your other investment gains or losses – and we are not in a position to offer that kind of advice. What we can do, however, is answer the following question . . .