In Australia, an amateur prospector using a cheap metal detector found a stone weighing 4.6 kilograms, which contained nearly three kilograms of gold. The Australian find is estimated at more than $200,000, informed NCA Newswire.
The man, who has not been named, was panning for gold in the so-called Victorian Golden Triangle – an area between the towns of Ballarat, Bendigo and St. Arnaud, where prospectors mined for gold since the 1800s. To search for treasure, the Australian used a budget model of a metal detector, informed 9news TV channel.
Gold expert Darren Kamp, to whom the man brought the stone for appraisal, discovered that the nugget contained 2.6 kg of gold and was worth around $240,000. According to the expert, the Australian himself believed that his find was worth around $10,000.
“When he threw it in my hand my jaw dropped. I’ve been in the gold mining industry for 43 years and this is the biggest piece of gold I’ve ever seen “said Kamp.
Small gold nuggets can be worth up to $1,000, with the price of gold skyrocketing amid inflation, according to NCA Newswire.
Victoria’s Golden Triangle nuggets are renowned for their size and clarity. The largest gold nugget in the region was discovered in 1869 and weighed 72 kg.
