Victorian man unearths enormous 4kg gold nugget

EUREKA! A Victorian man has struck gold, unearthing a “colossal” nugget worth $250,000 that he first thought was an old horseshoe.

The nugget found in central Victoria.

EUREKA! A Victorian man has struck gold, unearthing a “colossal” nugget worth $250,000 that he first thought was an old horseshoe.

The lucky prospector found the 4kg nugget just one day after he discovered a nine-ounce tennis ball-sized chunk in the same area — a worked-over section at the far southern edge of Central Victoria’s Golden Triangle.

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“I thought it was rubbish at first,” said the man, who wished to remain anonymous.

“About 12 inches below the ground, I could just barely make out the top of something.

“As I began to scrape away the clay and dig deeper, I really couldn’t believe my eyes — this wasn’t an old piece of steel in front of me.”

The gold nugget at first seemed like a piece of rubbish.

The gold was found using a metal detector.

After the find with his Minelab GPZ 7000 metal detector, the explorer washed the nugget in water, covered it in aluminium foil and stuck it in his oven.

“It’s like catching a big fish and not knowing what to do with it! Where do we put it?” he said.

As soon as he made the discovery, the prospector alerted his mates — also keen explorers — and they celebrated with a couple of beers.

The man, who has been searching for coins, relics and gold on weekends for more than a decade, made a pact with his pals, pledging to split the riches from any large finds when they went hunting together.

When he finally gets his share of the money, the prospector plans to buy a van and travel Australia, continuing his hunt for treasure in far flung parts of the country.

The giant gold nugget is now sitting in a bank vault while a replica is being constructed and auction plans are made.

A prospector has struck it lucky, similar to characters played by Stephen Curry, Eric Bana and Dave O'Neil in film ‘The Nugget’.