Amateur Gold Hunter Finds Huge $160,000 Nugget in Australia

The lucky prospector said: “oh wow, the wife’s going to be happy with that”

9 News Australia/Youtube Australian man finds giant gold nugget

An Australian man using a budget metal detector has hit the score of a lifetime – a giant gold nugget worth $160,000.

The man, who did not want to be identified, made the life-changing discovery in the southern state of Victoria, the world’s largest gold nugget was discovered in 1869.

He was using a Minelab Equinox 800 metal detector, a budget model that retails for about $900, when it hovered over the rock. The mystery man then pulled up a nugget that weighed 143 ounces and contained 83 ounces of gold.

With half of the score in his hands, he went to Darren Kamp from Lucky Strike Gold to see what it was worth. And Kamp told 9News Australia he was staggered by the “once-in-a-lifetime find.”

“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 Australia. “And he said, ‘Oh wow, the wife’s going to be happy with that.’ “

The prospector then told Kamp he still had half of the nugget hidden away.

His nugget was found in an area known as the “Golden Triangle” which stretches across Ballarat, Bendigo and St Arnaud in Victoria.

This location has a rich history of mining and was central to Australia’s gold rush in the 1800s. About 40 miles west of Bendigo is where the largest gold nugget in the world was found by two miners in 1869. Dubbed the “Welcome Stranger,” the 154-pound nugget was 24 inches across and was buried just beneath the dirt.

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And for the Australian miner who just found a welcome stranger of his own, the timing is perfect. The ongoing banking issues on Wall Street have left many investors scrambling to secure gold. Some gold stocks have risen by nearly 8% in the past month.

Read the original article on People.