The finding was made using an affordable metal detector in Victoria, Australia. The area known as the “Golden Triangle” was the epicenter of Australia’s gold rush in the 1800s.

very gold

The lucky man brought his find to Lucky Strike Gold, a gold prospector shop in nearby Geelong, for consideration. “When we first saw it, our jaws dropped,” said Darren Kemp, owner of Lucky Strike Gold, describing the gold-flecked stone as “an absolutely stunning nugget.”

Kemp says the man first asked him if there was any A$10,000 (about $6,700) worth of gold there.

I said “try $100,000” because it was so hard. I knew right away that it would cost that much. Then the boy said, “That’s only half. The other half is at home.” “What do you want to say?” I asked, and he said he had split the rock, hoping there was a nugget of pure gold inside.
– Says the Live Science article.

Weighing more than 4.6 kilograms, the stone is gigantic. 2.6 kilos of gold worth 160 thousand dollars (A$240,000). While gold isn’t uncommon in this part of Australia, Kemp says it’s the highest he’s seen in his 40 years of research.

According to the source, Darren Kemp bought it from the man who found the ingot.