Gold nugget finds generate interest
Friday, 25 February 2005
(story from
http://bendigo.yourguide.com.au/detail. ... m=2&y=2005)
Gold prospectors are crying "Eureka!" after the unearthing of two large gold nuggets in the Maryborough and Dunolly regions last weekend.
The larger 68 ounce nugget, valued at
$50,000, was found in an unnamed area of Maryborough bushland last Saturday.
`Len', a South Australian prospector, dug the nugget from 26 inches beneath the ground, at first believing it to be the size of a football.
Another prospector in the Dunolly district that same weekend yielded a 53 ounce nugget valued at $30,000.
Tony Mills, manager of the Coiltek Gold Centre, which is displaying the larger nugget over the next few weeks, said Len was a regular annual visitor to the district.
He detected the nugget on Friday, returning the next day to unearth it.
"He's out in the bush now again, looking for another nugget," Mr Mills said.
He said the discovery had generated much interest in the town, but prospects of a mini gold-rush were probably unlikely.
"(The nugget) will probably be sold to a collection overseas and it'll probably end up on eBay." he said.
Mr Mills said tourists and interstate prospectors were starting to descend on the town after a quiet start to the year.
"Not many people put in the hours out there in the summer, because of the heat," he said.
"We don't have quite so many prospectors until probably Easter."
Central Victoria is known as the place where the world's largest recorded nugget was found.
The 2400 ounce Welcome Stranger nugget, found at Moliagul in 1869, was broken up on an anvil at nearby Dunolly.
Mr Mills said smaller gold pieces, as well as the occasional larger ones, were being found in the district all the time.
"Central Victoria has the biggest nuggets ever found anywhere in the world," he said.
"There's nowhere else in the world where big nuggets are consistently being found.
"The point of digging up nuggets is you don't really know how big it is until you dig it out.
"The last big nugget we knew of that was found recently was 148 ounces. That was last year and we also heard of a 42 ounce nugget found just before Christmas."
Mr Mills said it was wise for successful prospectors to remain tight-lipped on their finds.
"You really should keep it quiet for as long as possible," he said.
"It's quite possible it will get around and people will learn where it was found."
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