An amateur prospector in the Australian state of Victoria has turned lucky by unearthing a huge gold nugget weighting 5.5 Kg or 177 ounces. The gold nugget is estimated to have a value of A$300,000 or US$315,000.

The nugget which was found with the help of a handheld state of the art Minelab GPX-5000 metal detector is one of the most significant findings of gold in the past 20 years, according to Cordell Kent, the owner of the Mining Exchange Gold Shop in Ballarat. Kent said he did not remember anybody finding a nugget over 100 ounces in the last 20 years. Kent also mentioned that of the 800 prospectors on their books, only a couple had found a big nugget. Kent is searching for a buyer for the nugget on the behalf of the lucky person who does not want to be named.

The nugget was found just two feel under a bushy area located just out of Ballarat in an area known as the Golden Triangle. A popular place for  prospecting the area is known for the massive 27.21 Kg “The Hand of Fate” nugget which is currently housed in a Las Vegas Casino.

According to Cordell Kent, a lot of people believe that the gold fields in Victoria are dead and there is nothing left to prospect. But the lucky prospector has worked persistently in the same area and been rewarded. The demand for gold has remained strong for the past 162 years and prospecting had become highly popular with gold prices surging to A$1600 per ounce. Although the intrinsic value of the gold nugget is approximately A $286,000, it will fetch a higher price because of its raw nature and rarity factor, Kent said.

The prospector who made the dramatic finding said the nugget sounded like the bonnet of a car through the headphones. The nugget is Y-shaped and 22 centimeters or 8.7 inches long and 14 centimeters or 5.5 inches wide.

This find by a new prospector is likely to brighten up the prospecting segment with more and more people wishing to try out their luck and start digging for gold. In Australia individuals can search and dig for minerals by getting the miners permit from the relevant mining department.