A family of treasure hunters have dug up two giant gold nuggets worth a total $350,000.
Brother-in-laws Brent Shannon and Ethan West discovered the gold, weighing a combined 3.5kg, near Tarnagulla, west of Bendigo in Victoria.
The pair, along with Ethan’s father Paul, could even get up to 30 per cent more money if they sell the nuggets to a collector.
Brother-in-laws Brent Shannon (centre) and Ethan West (right), along with Ethan’s dad Paul (left) discovered the gold near Tarnagulla, west of Bendigo in Victoria
‘I thought we were in for a chance. I was pretty excited to see the ground because it was virgin ground, which means it’s untouched and hasn’t been mined,’ Brent told Sunrise on Thursday.
‘We pull the material out and put it up on the surface – and then we push it out very thinly and we detect it that way.
‘We can recover more gold that way, and it’s a better way to do it and a safer way to mine.’
Ethan said he has found ‘thousands’ of pieces of gold over the past four years he’s been mining.
‘These are definitely one of the most significant finds. To have two large chunks in one day is quite amazing,’ he said.
‘But for small pieces, I’ve picked up thousands. I’m very lucky like that.’
Brent said it’s an indescribable feeling to dig up such a large chunk of gold.
The family of treasure hunters have dug up two giant gold nuggets (pictured) worth a total $350,000, weighing a combined 3.5kg
‘It’s a sense of relief and achievement and accomplishment. It is a feeling like no other,’ he said.
‘Nobody has seen these pieces of gold for millions of years and we’re the first people to lay eyes on them. It is something that we love doing.’
The trio filmed their mining adventures as part of Seven’s new series Gold Hunters, which airs on Thursday at 7.30pm.