A lucky Australian prospector hit the jackpot when his metal detector alerted him to the presence of a massive 87-ounce gold nugget just six inches below the surface near the well-known gold mining town of Wedderburn in Central Victoria.
The “Fair Dinkum” nugget holds a precious metal worth of around $102,000, but Mick Brown, a 42-year-old from Kerang, Australia, is confident that his nugget could fetch double that amount for the perfect collector.
At times, people actually claim that a beautifully crafted nugget of gold could be worth double its weight in gold, as mentioned by him in an interview with The Age.
Brown is feeling pretty optimistic about the value of his gold nugget. “I believe it’s worth a good amount, it’s got some great characteristics,” he confidently stated.
Back in October, a massive 97-ounce gold nugget was discovered using a metal detector in the legendary Gold Rush Country of Northern California. This remarkable find was eventually sold to a mystery buyer for a whopping $400,000.
Like many gold prospectors, Brown has decided to give his nugget a special name – “Fair Dinkum,” an Australian term that signifies authenticity and truthfulness.
Brown shared with
The Age
that when others feel the heft of the nugget, they exclaim, “Geez, this thing is massive!” This fortunate Australian can credit his wife for pushing him to step outside on the day he stumbled upon the nugget. Brown mentioned in his interview with
The Age
that he was feeling cranky due to quitting smoking a couple of weeks earlier. At his wife’s urging, he decided to take a drive 64 miles south to Wedderburn — a spot he had explored for gold in the past.
Brown shared his surprise at how his metal detector responded to the massive gold nugget buried beneath the ground. “I was absolutely shocked by the signal it gave off,” he exclaimed, highlighting the device’s alert.
After digging just six inches into the ground, Brown was able to uncover the “Fair Dinkum” nugget by grasping onto its horn-like protrusions. Initially mistaking it for copper, he soon realized it was actually gold and celebrated by cracking open a can of beer. Brown chose not to disclose the exact location of his find to prevent a gold rush, but he wasn’t shy about proudly displaying the impressive nugget. He humorously questioned the point of finding a nugget if he couldn’t show it off, adding that it had energized everyone. Brown mentioned that he plans to use the funds from the sale of the nugget to buy a home spa for his wife and daughters. Despite this success, he remains motivated to discover an even larger nugget in the future, mentioning the existence of massive 10-kilo nuggets. While the “Fair Dinkum” nugget is sizeable, it is not the largest to be found in Australia. In 1981, the massive 256-ounce “Pride of Australia” nugget was unearthed in Mosquito Gully, not far from Wedderburn.
