Rare discovery comes after more than 170 years of the country’s gold rush
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A gold nugget weighing four kilos and valued at US$160,000 (R$831,000) was found by an amateur prospector in the gold mines in Victoriaat Australia. To locate it, the prospector used only a US$800 (R$4108) metal detector. Shortly after discovery, the prospector took the nugget to a prospecting shop and sold it to appraiser Darren Kamp, who has 43 years of gold trading experience. He was even impressed by the size of the nugget. The expert classified the case as “Lucky Strike”. The discovery comes after more than 170 years of gold rush in the country. This is because the cities of Ballarat and Bendigo attracted thousands of people to ore in the 1850s. To date, the world’s largest nuggets have been found on Australian soil. According to the Geological Survey of Victoria, there could be as many as 75 million undiscovered gold nuggets in the north of the Australian state. “If exploration is successful, mining could boom the region,” it said in a statement. However, to explore the region you need a permit from the Victorian Government. The state has released new mineral exploration licenses in the CentralNorth region through a tender process. Mining has been ongoing since 2021 in four major areas of prospective land ranging from 327 to 512 square kilometers.
*With information from Estadão Content.