Amateur prospector finds $150,000 gold nugget in outback

Sounds of excitement fill the air as an amateur prospector digs his hands into red, rocky dirt.

What he comes up with is something he hopes isn't "a painted rock", but instead a gold nugget worth about $150,000.

He had been digging for several days on Mount Stuart station near Tibooburra, in the north-western corner of New South Wales.

But he said the discovery was one of persistence, after having nearly walked past the nugget.

'The machine was squealing'

The lucky prospector, who wishes to remain anonymous, has been fossicking for years and is familiar with coming up empty.

"You dig lots of rubbish … lots of lead bullets, old timer's nails, horseshoes, everything," he said.

He was finishing up a day of searching in mid-October, when he stumbled across a signal with his metal detector, the Gold Monster 2000.

"It wasn't a loud signal for the size of the piece that it is [but] once I got down to 100 [millimetres] or something like that, the machine was squealing," the prospector said.

"It might have been on the first or second scrape I just seen this bright yellow dot in the centre of the hole."

The gold nugget specked with quartz weighs over 1,200 grams, with testing showing around 940 grams is pure gold.

On spot price, it is worth between $150,000 to $160,000.

But with plans to sell the nugget to a collector, the price could be pushed as high as $200,000, according to the prospector, who has nicknamed his precious find the "Tibooburra Spud".

Prospecting a popular pastime

In his 20-odd years selling prospecting supplies in Broken Hill, Greg Spangler has only seen one other person find a gold nugget which weighs over a kilogram.

It is more typical to find gold flakes or smaller nuggets weighing only a few ounces.

"We have a fictitious club [called] the Ounce Club … but not many people [are] in the 'Kilo Club'," Mr Spangler said.

Despite the rarity of discovering a nugget worth six figures, Mr Spangler believes a surge in gold prices has drawn more people to the hobby.

"It's got a lot of people interested," Mr Spangler said.

Gold prices soared to new heights this year, peaking in January at almost $8,000 per troy ounce (or 31.1 grams). While the price has since dropped, it's still sitting favourably at about $5,700 per troy ounce.

Beyond the chance of an instant boost to your retirement fund, Mr Spangler said there were other benefits to the hobby, including exercise, fresh air and a bit of quiet.

"You get up in the morning, you're the first one to see the sunrise … it's very peaceful," he said.

"Just another pastime you can involve the whole family in."

More gold in Tibooburra

Gold prospecting around Tibooburra, which dates back to the late 1880s, is a major drawcard for many tourists.

Today, fossicking on the Tibooburra Common, an area surrounding the remote township, is currently banned while Native Title permissions are being pursued.

But at least two stations in the region, Mount Stuart and Gumvale, allow fossicking for a fee.

And Mr Spangler said for anyone looking to have a go, there could be plenty more gold to be found.

"[It could] keep going forever and ever, because every time it rains, other people find gold where they didn't before," he said.

As for the prospector, he has just one tip for would-be fossickers: "Just keep walking, keep swinging [and] keep digging every target."