Aussie miners discover massive gold nuggets worth $16.5m
West Australian miners have discovered two huge gold-encrusted rocks worth millions while digging in the Beta Hunt mine, at Kambalda, which experts have described as a “rare find”.
The biggest specimen weighed 95kg, containing more than 69kg of gold.
The haul was found by Canadian company RNC Minerals, who said the discovery was worth about $16.5 million.
“Recovering 262kg of high grade coarse gold from a single cut on the 15 level at our Beta Hunt mine, including specimens which could rank among the largest ever discovered, underlines the importance of this discovery,” said Mark Selby, president and chief executive of RNC.
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“Just eight weeks earlier, at the end of June 2018, 42.5kg of high grade gold were recovered from other sediment structures on the 14 and 15 levels. These discoveries highlight the high-grade gold potential of Beta Hunt.”
The company posted images of the two large gold-encrusted rocks on its website.
“People do still record finding nuggets in the goldfields, but typically they are less than several ounces,” Professor Sam Spearing, director of the Western Australia School of Mines at Curtin University, told the BBC.
“Very, very seldom do we see results on that level. This is an exceedingly rare find and very exciting.”
The Beta Hunt location had been mainly running as a nickel mine before last week’s gold discovery.
