It was Mark Twain who popularised the phrase “there’s gold in them thar hills” in 1892 and it’s now clear those words still apply for country Victoria.
That’s where an amateur prospector has struck it rich, discovering a nugget worth a staggering $240,000.
The man was using a Minelab Equinox 800 metal detector, a budget model that retails for about $1200.
Suspecting the rock he had unearthed could be valuable, he took it to gold trader Darren Kamp, from Lucky Strike Gold, for valuation.
“He said, ‘do you think there’s $10,000 worth?’ And as soon as it hit my hand I said, ‘try $100,000’,” Kamp told 9News.
“And he said, ‘oh wow, the wife’s going to be happy with that’.”
That’s when the prospector told Kamp he had only brought half the nugget in for inspection, the other half was back home.
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“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime find,” Kamp said.
The rock was discovered in Victoria’s “Golden Triangle”, an area from Ballarat across to Bendigo and up to St Arnaud.
It weighs 4.6 kilograms and that includes 2.6 kilograms of gold.
With the value of gold soaring recently, there’s never been a better time to find and sell the precious metal and even tiny nuggets can be worth more than $1000.
“If it’s got your name on it, you’ll find it,” Kamp told 9News.
“You just need some luck and persistence. It’s like Tattslotto: you’re never going to win unless you’ve got a ticket.”
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