A regional Victorian gold prospector is celebrating a big payday after uncovering a 2.6-kilogram specimen of quartz and gold while prospecting in "the Golden Triangle" between Bendigo, Ballarat, and St Arnaud.
The price of one ounce (31.10 grams) of gold is worth about $2,984 — up from about $2,600 this time last year.
Five years ago, the price of an ounce of gold was about $1,700.
Geelong-based gold valuator Lucky Strike Gold valued the amateur prospector's nugget at nearly a quarter of a million dollars.
Lucky Strike owner Darren Kamp said his jaw nearly hit the floor when the man from near Geelong, who did not want to be named, placed the rock in his hand.
"He said, 'I've got something to show you.' He pulled the rock out of his backpack and as he dropped it in my hand, he said, 'Do you think there's $10,000 worth in there?'," Mr Kamp said.
"And through the weight, my hand just dropped. And as my hand dropped, my wife said my jaw dropped too."
Mr Kamp started out prospecting 43 years before moving into gold trading and valuations with his wife, Leanne.
"It's just such an incredible find. He said 'Oh, that's only half the rock, I've got the other half at home,'" Mr Kamp said.
"He brought the other half in about two weeks later and I did a test on it, and it came up at 83 ounces of gold in this rock."
Pot of gold still a chance encounter
The Geological Survey of Victoria estimates that there may be up to 75 million ounces of gold in the central and north-central Victorian goldfields.
This compares with the 80 million ounces of gold mined from the area around 170 years ago during the gold rush.
For prospectors around the Golden Triangle, finding gold pieces is still "pot luck".
Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria vice-president, John Garcia, regularly finds pieces as big as 7 grams — worth $662 at today's gold prices — while out fossicking on the same ground the 2.6kg nugget was found on.
"Quite a fair bit of gold is being found at the moment," he said.
"We find places where we can find a piece of gold. We bring around 60 people in and the average number of pieces of gold could be from one to maybe 10, 20, or even 30 pieces.
"Let's put it this way, the ground will never run out of gold."
And with the recent months of rain and floods, central Victorian gold hunters believe it's likely more gold may be sitting closer to the surface.
The State Emergency Service's assistant chief officer, Mark Cattell, said heavy isolated falls remain a risk to Victorians as they travel around the state over Easter and the Anzac Day long weekends.
"Though we expect rainfall to be lower than average, we know that a warmer atmosphere holds more moisture," he said.
Big nuggets out there to find
Bendigo-based brothers-in-law, Brent Shannon and Ethan West, have risen to fame as The Poseidon Crew on the Discovery Channel's television show Aussie Gold Hunters.
In 2020, the pair, along with Ethan's father, Paul, found two nuggets — 78 ounces (2.4kg) and 45 ounces (1.4kg) in weight — while prospecting near Tarnagulla, in central Victoria.
The find was worth $350,000 at the time, but according to The Poseidon Crew, finding gold is never guaranteed.
"Gold is where you find it, not where you always think it is," Ethan West said.
"Right now, with the price of gold and the cost of living going up more, people are turning to a hobby that can actually make them money.
"It can be as simple as getting a miner's right and buying a gold pan or spending more and getting a metal detector.
"As long as you're out there looking, there is the hope of finding untold riches."
In Victoria, a miner's right can be bought for around $26.
Earth Resources Regulation said there were around 65,000 active miners' rights in Victoria.
