EUREKA moments!
More large gold nuggets have been found in Victoria’s goldfields region than any other place on Earth: of 47 nuggets weighing over 18kg recorded worldwide, 40 have been found in Australia, and 32 of these were unearthed in Victoria’s Central Goldfields region.
The high gold price — currently more than $2000 an ounce, the highest ever recorded — continues to drive a resurgence in prospecting.
The 64.5kg Welcome Stranger, the world’s largest recorded nugget of gold, was discovered at Bulldog Gully near Moliagul in central Victoria in 1869.
NEW-FOUND FORTUNE
But gold hasn’t disappeared from the landscape in Victoria’s goldfields: the huge 27.2kg Hand of Faith nugget was found near Kingower, in 1980.
More recently, a 2.5kg nugget worth more than $200,000 was discovered near Dunolly; a 2kg nugget valued at $130,000 was unearthed near Ballarat last month, and apparently a 4.2kg haul was found a few weeks ago near Dunolly.
And that’s just a few of the known finds, as the majority of prospectors are understandably keen to keep their Eureka moments to themselves!
While goldfields cities Ballarat and Bendigo feature their rich history at places such as
