'What a monster': Australian finds $105,000 gold nugget using metal detector

'It just a bit bigger than a packet of smokes, and the density of it was incredible.' Photo / Facebook

An Australian man has found a 1.4kg gold nugget using a metal detector while walking around a goldfield in Western Australia.

A shop in Kalgoorlie posted photos of the rock on Facebook, saying the nugget is estimated to be worth about NZ$105,000.

The owner of Finders Keepers Gold Prospecting, in Kalgoorlie, told the BBC the man is an experienced local hobbyist.

If you're going to do it as a hobby, it sounds like Kalgoorlie is the place for it. About three quarters of all the gold mined in Australia comes from in and around that region.

Cook told the BBC the man found the nugget on some saltbush flats, about 45cm below the surface.

What a monster!! 1.4 Kilo piece found a few weeks ago near Kalgoorlie by a very lucky customer of mine whilst walking...

Posted by Finders Keepers Gold Prospecting on Wednesday, 15 May 2019

"He walked into my shop and showed me the nugget in his hand, with a big smile on my face," he said.

"It just a bit bigger than a packet of smokes, and the density of it was incredible, so heavy."