A beautiful 38-ounce gold nugget, worth more than AU$50,000, has been uncovered in North Queensland by a dedicated prospector using a Minelab GPX 5000 detector.
The life-changing find came just moments after he uncovered a three-ounce nugget worth some AU$4,000.
“When I found the first nugget I was super stoked because that was my biggest ever,” said the Queenslander who wishes to remain anonymous.
“I would have been really happy with just that but after I’d calmed down, I went back to the same spot, restarted my detector and after just two or three swings I found the big one.”
“It’s fair to say I was emotionally overwhelmed at that time,” he said.
Weighing more than a kilogram (1,176gms), the nugget was 15cms (six inches) below the ground and discovered thanks to the advanced gold-finding technology of the Minelab GPX 5000 detector.
“It’s just incredible. I’d been looking in this particular area for a while that day and I was about ready to leave but I gave it another quarter of an hour and then with five minutes left I got this fairly good signal – not too loud but I was confident it was gold – so I started digging.
“At first, I didn’t know just how big the nugget was because the scales I had with me only went up to 500grams. It wasn’t until later when I got home I found out I’d broken the kilo mark.
“It was beneath some vegetation so it was a bit of a challenge to get to, but now I’m thinking maybe those roots are keeping some other big nuggets safe ready to be found another time.”
The joyous prospector has named his find the Arcus Nugget because of the role nature played in its discovery. Arcus is Latin for rainbow.
Driving back to camp the day before, he saw a double rainbow for the first time in his life. Ignoring the adage that gold is found at the end of rainbows, he identified the section of ground beneath the highest point of the arc and decided that was where he would look the next day.
“I said to myself that’s where were going to find gold tomorrow but I never thought it would be so much.”
He’s now negotiating to sell the nugget privately.
A man who loves the bush, he got bitten by the prospecting bug about 10 years ago. That was when, during only his second trip out, he uncovered his first piece of gold.
While finding the Arcus Nugget was clearly his biggest day in the field, the dedicated prospector has had plenty of other success with his GPX 5000.
Earlier trips into his beloved bush have netted him hauls of four and two ounces.
“The discovery is always really exciting. The trip when I found two ounces, for me at the time, that was ‘wow’.”
Minelab’s Townsville dealer, Peter Cragg (above), was amazed to see the nugget.
“It’s a fantastic story and goes to show that there are still big nuggets out there ready to be found if you have the right equipment and can spot the terrain. He found more than a kilo of gold in an area which has certainly had detectors go over it before. It makes you think what might still be out there!” he said.
Minelab’s GPX 5000 is a proven favourite for serious gold prospectors, featuring exclusive technologies including Multi Period Sensing (MPS), Dual Voltage Technology (DVT) and Smart Electronic Timing Alignment (SETA). Coming with eight timings, each designed for optimum performance under different conditions, the high performance GPX 5000 can handle even the most severe ground while still maintaining excellent depth and gold sensitivity.
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