I made a shocking discovery after finding a rock – I was stunned by how much it was worth | The Sun
A BLOKE who stumbled across a huge rock while roaming around Australia's "Golden Triangle" was left stunned by how much it was worth.
The man was trying his hand at prospecting in Victoria when he stumbled across a gold nugget – with a six-figure price tag.
He was scouring the area from Ballarat, across to Bendigo and up to Wedderburn, with a budget metal detector that ended up paying off big time.
The Aussie's Minelab Equinox 800 model ended up locating a golden nugget worth a whopping $240,000 (£196,000).
The amateur prospector took his incredible find to gold trader Darren Kamp for a valuation, which ridiculously exceeded his humble expectations.
The owner of Lucky Strike Gold said of the encounter: "There was 2.6 kilos of gold in it.
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"He said, 'do you think there's $10,000 worth?' And as soon as it hit my hand I said, 'try $100,000," he told 9News.
"He said, 'but that's only half the rock – the other half's at home!"
Darren was left amazed that the inexperienced gold hunter had managed to snag such an extraordinary nugget.
He continued: "He said, 'oh wow, the wife's going to be happy with that'. It's a once-in-a-lifetime find."
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The entire rock weighs 4.6kg – and more than half of that is made up of gold.
The discovery has provided a boost for prospectors who regularly comb the area dubbed the Golden Triangle.
The world’s largest alluvial gold nugget weighing 72kg, the Welcome Stranger, was uncovered there in 1869 by two Cornish miners.
Darren added: "If it's got your name on it, you'll find it.
"You just need some luck and persistence. It's like the lotto: you're never going to win unless you've got a ticket."
We previously told how a gold nugget the size of a child's head was set to fetch £750,000 at auction.
The 20lb lump was unearthed by gold miner Barry Clay in Alaska, US, in 1998, while he pushed dirt with his bulldozer near a creek.
It is the second largest nugget ever found in the western hemisphere — beaten only by the 24lb Boot of Cortez, found in Mexico in 1989.
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And this gold prospector told how she loves the thrill of the chase when detecting treasures – as well as the hefty windfall.
Tyler Mahoney explained her family found a nugget that was worth £51,230 while mining in the town of Kalgoorlie in Australia.
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