The shocked man immediately wrapped the nugget in foil and stashed it in his oven – admitting he had no idea what to do with it
A prospector believes they have found the world’s largest gold nugget
A 4kg gold nugget worth at least £144,000 has been unearthed in a former gold mining area in Australia.
A seasoned prospector, who wished to remain anonymous, said he was unsure what to do after stumbling across the nugget in Victoria’s Golden Triangle – so he wrapped it in foil and stashed it in his oven in a panic.
After spending ten years hunting for natural resources he came across the nugget 1ft below the surface last Friday – earning it the name ‘Friday’s Joy.’
He made the find in an area that encompasses the historic gold mining towns of Ballarat and Bendigo, just a day after finding a 255g tennis ball-shaped nugget 2ft under the ground.
Speaking about his mammoth find, he told Minelab.com : “I thought it was rubbish at first, maybe an old horseshoe.
The gold nugget has been named ‘Friday’s Joy’ after being discovered on a Friday
“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. I had just unearthed a colossal gold nugget – a once in a lifetime find.
“I was in total disbelief as I didn’t think nuggets of this size were still around.”
But then they realised they would need somewhere to hide the valuable ore.
The prospector said: “It’s like catching a big fish and not knowing what to do with it! Where do we put it?
The mystery prospector will now share the £144,000 proceeds among his detector pals
“I washed it in water, covered it in aluminium foil and kept it in my oven on the first night.”
The nugget is now sitting in a bank vault while a replica is being constructed, with auction plans to take place soon.
The mystery finder now plans to purchase a van and travel Australia while detecting and sightseeing.
Vincent Thurkettle, 60, is believed to have found Britain’s biggest ever gold nugge t – worth an estimated £50,000 – back in May.
The three ounce (97.12g) piece the size of a small chicken’s egg was discovered just off a beach in Wales.
It was almost twice as heavy as the UK’s second biggest nugget, found in Cornwall more than 200 years ago in 1808, weighing in at 59g.
It is believed to be part of a £120million haul of gold which went down with the Royal Charter when it was shipwrecked during a hurricane in 1859.