The pair of nuggets weigh in at a combined 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds) and were found on the same day near Tarnagulla in Victoria state, as shown on Thursday’s episode of “Aussie Gold Hunters” on the Discovery Channel.
Prospectors Brent Shannon and his brother-in-law Ethan West found the nuggets in a matter of hours with the help of West’s father Paul West, according to a Discovery Channel press release.
Brothers-in-law Brent Shannon and Ethan West discovered the nuggets with the assistance of Westβs dad, Paul, near the old gold mining town of Tarnagulla, which once boasted the worldβs deepest mine at 4,613 feet. The family had a hunch that there was still gold to be mined in this area and waited months for a permit.
“I reckoned we were in for a chance,” Shannon told Australian breakfast chat show Sunrise. “It was in a bit of virgin ground, which means it’s untouched and hasn’t been mined.”
West said he estimates he has collected thousands of small pieces of gold in four years.
The team — who call themselves the Poseidon Crew — told Sunrise that they use an excavator to dig up dirt, before using a metal detector to see if there is any gold to be found.
At the time experts valued the find at at least $300,000.
The team – who call themselves the Poseidon Crew – use an excavator to dig up dirt, before using a metal detector to see if there is any gold to be found. (CNN)
Gold has been continuously found in the region since 1851, but technology has become an essential aid for modern prospectors, Cordell Kent, owner of The Mining Exchange Gold Shop, said in 2013.
“In the old days miners could only see or feel gold — but now with detectors they can hear it,” Kent said
