Some gold diggers hit the jackpot in southern Australia.
Prospectors found two huge nuggets worth $250,000 near Tarnagulla in Victoria, CNN reported. The nuggets have a combined weight of 7.7 pounds, or 3.5 kilograms, and were found the same day. The golden find was shown on Thursday’s episode of “Aussie Gold Hunters” on the Discovery Channel.
Brent Shannon and his brother-in-law, Ethan West, found the nuggets over the span of several hours, aided by West’s father, Paul West, the Discovery Channel said in a news release.
According to the Discovery Channel, the nuggets could command up to 30% more than their estimated value by weight if they are sold to a collector.
“I reckoned we were in for a chance,” Shannon said on “Sunrise,” an Australian show. “It was in a bit of virgin ground, which means it’s untouched and hasn’t been mined.”
The pair had been waiting months for a permit that would allow them to start searching for gold in the area, according to the release.
Gold mining in Australia began in the 1880s, according to the BBC.
Tarnagulla was founded during the Victoria Gold Rush, which began in the 1850s.
