Dubbed “Friday’s Joy,” the nugget was found was found by an experienced prospector who had uncovered a 9oz gold nugget more than two feet deep in the area the day before.
“I thought it was rubbish at first, maybe an old horseshoe,” the prospector said.
“About 12 inches below the ground, I could just barely make out the top of something. As I began to scrape away the clay and dig deeper, I really couldn’t believe my eyes - this wasn’t an old piece of steel in front of me. I had just unearthed a colossal gold nugget - a once in a lifetime find!”
“I was in total disbelief as I didn't think nuggets of this size were still around,” he said.
Prospecting on weekends for over 10 years in search of coins, relics and gold, the keen detectorist had made a pact with fellow prospectors to split the proceeds on any large gold finds found when the group went prospecting together.
After covering the nugget in aluminium foil and keeping it in the oven on the first night, the nugget is now sitting in a bank vault, where a replica is currently being constructed and an auction being considered.
Auctioneer and valuer with Mossgreen Auctions Harry Glenn told MiningNews.net that auctions of gold nuggets were relatively uncommon in Australia.
“There is a big market in America because they will offer spot price plus 15-20% they will pay for them straight up,” he said.
“But the upside in having a bit of exposure in the media and then putting it up for public auction (in Australia) is then you get people who are willing to pay twice its value.”
Glenn was the auctioneer behind the sale of the Destiny gold nugget, found near Ballarat, which sold at auction in 2014 for $A293,000.
“Its scrap weight at the time was about $160,000, so it far exceeded the spot price for gold on the day, that’s for sure,” he said.
While this nugget was bought by a private museum, other nuggets sold had generally brought in roughly double the spot price, and all had been bought by public institutions, he said.
“They do sell, and there are people out there that want them – and the bigger the better is the way it works,” he said.
“There is always a pretty interesting story behind them too. And I think it is a romance, isn’t it? Everybody dreams of walking along and finding a gold nugget.”
As for the prospector in question, he plans to purchase a van and travel Australia when time allows, mixing travel and sightseeing with his love of detecting and prospecting.
Regional sales and marketing director for metal detector company Minelab Fraser Kendall, which produced the gold detector the prospector was using during his search, said the discovery showed there was still plenty of gold in the area.
