Amateur prospector finds gold nugget worth up to A$200,000 in New South Wales
An anonymous prospector discovered a 1,218-gram gold nugget at Mount Stuart Station near Tibooburra.
An amateur prospector discovered a 1,218-gram gold nugget at Mount Stuart Station near Tibooburra, New South Wales, in mid-October, according to the Times of India. The individual, who requested anonymity, nicknamed the quartz-flecked find the Tibooburra Spud.
The nugget contains approximately 940 grams of pure gold. While spot prices value the specimen between A$150,000 and A$160,000, the finder believes a collector might pay up to A$200,000 for it.
The discovery occurred after the prospector's Gold Monster 2000 detector picked up a faint signal. He told ABC News that the signal was quiet relative to the size of the object and he almost missed it before digging at a depth of 100 millimetres.
Greg Spangler, who has sold prospecting supplies in Broken Hill for over 20 years, said he has seen only one other person find a nugget exceeding one kilogram. He noted that most finds consist of small nuggets or flakes.
Gold prospecting in the Tibooburra region dates back to the late 1880s. While fossicking is currently prohibited on the Tibooburra Common due to pending Native Title permissions, stations such as Mount Stuart and Gumvale allow the activity for a fee.