A young father recently struck it rich by unearthing two massive gold nuggets worth almost $200,000. These valuable finds were discovered on privately owned land in Tarnagulla, a town located north of Melbourne near Bendigo. Together, the nuggets weigh nearly 140 ounces. Ray Swinnerton, Vice President of the Bendigo Prospecting Club, reported that he met the fortunate prospector, who chose to remain anonymous for security reasons, and understandably, was ecstatic about his discovery.
The discovery of two large nuggets of Tarnagulla gold on private property has caused quite a stir. The first nugget weighed 65 ounces and is estimated to be worth nearly $90,000, while the second weighed 72 ounces and has a street value of over $100,000.
According to Ray Swinnerton, Vice President of the Bendigo Prospecting Club, the young father who found the nuggets was ecstatic about his discovery. “He makes a living from this stuff, so a find like that is very exciting,” Mr. Swinnerton said. The discoverer preferred to remain anonymous until he had sold the nuggets, as it is a considerable amount of money.
Mr. Swinnerton added that gold mining is more of a hobby for most people, and not just about the money. “Most of us don’t do this for the money. Gold detecting is very expensive,” he said. “The detector alone costs about $7,000. We mostly do this for the experience, so a find like that is the bonus of a lifetime. It’s similar to fishing, in that it’s usually cheaper to buy fish than to catch them.”
Selling the gold can also be difficult because a licence is needed to sell to overseas buyers.
‘I believe he has sold one of the nuggets and is preparing to sell the other. To sell gold overseas you need to get a licence which is very difficult to obtain, so it can take a while to sell them within Australia, as there are more affluent people overseas,‘ Mr Swinnerton said.
A Bendigo Prospecting Club member handles the 72 ounce nugget (103 ounces including the rock)
The crowd at the Tarnagulla Key hunt swoop in for a look at the impressive findings
