Victoria man mistakes 4K gold nugget worth $250,000 for an old horseshoe

With prices of gold hitting a two-year high of US$1,371.23 (A$1,848.74) an ounce in early July, a Victorian man is now A$250,000 richer. The prospector found a four-kilogramme gold nugget on the southern edge of the “Golden Triangle” which he initially mistook for an old horseshoe.

He found it 12 inches below the ground. Initially, the man could barely make out the top, but when he started to scrape away the clay and dig deeper, he was in total disbelief over the size of the gold nugget, reports 9News.

The prospector found a gold nugget the shape of a tennis ball so he returned the next day with the hope of finding more. He brought his Minelab GPZ 7000 detector along.

The discovery culminates his decade-long search for gold, coins and relics, together with a group of close friends. He admits not knowing what to do for now with the huge gold nugget in his hands.

He first washed it in water, covered the nugget, which he called Friday’s Joy, with aluminium foil and kept it in his oven on the first night. He is keeping the yellow metal in a bank vault while waiting to auction it.

With the money, he plans to purchase a van, travel around Australia both for sightseeing and prospecting. He does not plan to quit his job, reports Australia Mining.

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