Treasure hunters in the southern regions of Australia have stumbled upon a pair of massive gold nuggets valued at a whopping $350,000 AUD ($250,000 USD) in the old gold mining fields.
The two nuggets have a total weight of 3.5 kilograms (equivalent to 7.7 pounds) and were discovered on the same day close to Tarnagulla in Victoria, as seen in the latest episode of “Aussie Gold Hunters” on the Discovery Channel.
According to CNN, the nuggets have been appraised at a whopping $350,000. Brent Shannon and Ethan West struck gold, quite literally, with the help of Ethan’s father, Paul West, in just a few hours out in the field. A Discovery Channel press release revealed that the nuggets could even fetch around 30% more than their estimated value if sold to a collector.
Brent Shannon and Ethan West, who are brothers-in-law, found the nuggets with the help of West’s father, Paul, near the historic gold mining town of Tarnagulla. This town used to have the deepest mine in the world, reaching 4,613 feet. The family had a feeling that there was more gold to be found in this area, so they patiently waited for months to get a permit.
Brent Shannon and his brother-in-law Ethan West struck gold in just a few hours with the help of West’s father Paul West. In an interview with Australian morning talk show Sunrise, Shannon mentioned their success was due to finding untouched ground. The pair had been eagerly waiting for a permit to begin their gold search in the area. West shared that he has accumulated thousands of small gold pieces over the past four years.
Describing their discovery as significant, West expressed his amazement at finding two large nuggets in a single day. The team, known as the Poseidon Crew, explained their process of using an excavator to dig up dirt and then a metal detector to locate gold. In a similar event in 2013, an amateur explorer found a massive 5.5-kilogram (12.1-pound) golden nugget buried 60 centimeters (23.6 inches) underground near Ballarat, valued at a minimum of $300,000 by experts.
The Poseidon Crew, a team of enthusiasts, utilize an excavator to unearth soil and then employ a metal detector to locate potential gold deposits. According to Cordell Kent, the owner of The Mining Exchange Gold Shop, technology has revolutionized the way modern prospectors search for gold in the region, which has been a gold hotspot since 1851. Kent mentioned that in the past, miners relied on sight or touch to identify gold, but now with the help of detectors, they can hear the presence of gold.
