Man Unearths Gold Nugget Worth $150,000 After Spotting Tiny 'Bright Yellow Dot' In Dirt

An Australian man recently hit a jackpot after spotting a tiny flash of yellow soil that turned out to be a massive gold nugget worth at least $150,000, ABC News reported. According to the report, the amateur explorer had been digging for several days on Mount Stuart station near Tibooburra, a remote town in far north-western New South Wales.

After days of digging up worthless junk like old nails, horseshoes, and spent lead bullets, he picked up another signal in the dirt.

"You dig lots of rubbish... lots of lead bullets, old timer's nails, horseshoes, everything," the man, who wishes to remain anonymous, said as quoted by the media outlet.

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When he looked down, he noticed a faint yellow thing on the ground. As he began digging away the surrounding soil, he uncovered a potato-sized piece of gold mixed with quartz.

"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 man said as quoted.

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

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The rare find weighs almost 1.2 kilograms and contains about 940 grams of pure gold. The report mentioned that the experts have valued the piece, nicknamed the "Tibooburra Spud", between $150,000 and $160,000 based on weight alone.

However, it might fetch up to $200,000 if sold to a private collector.

"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.

Footage captured during the dig shows the prospector pulling the chunk from the red earth, unable to hide his excitement.