A young Australian woman has revealed how her friend found ‘$20,000’ on the ground after stumbling across a huge gold nugget in the bushes.
Tyler Mahoney, 27, showed off the glittering piece of gold on Instagram, saying she “cleaned it up” after it was found.
The professional prospector said the nugget was found under unusual circumstances in Kalgoorlie, a gold mining town 600 kilometres northeast of Perth in Western Australia.
“It was just lying on the floor,” she said alongside a photo of the heart-shaped piece of gold.
Ms. Mahoney, who rose to fame on the reality series “Gold Rush” and later founded “The Prospectors Club,” said it was “hard to believe” how lucky her friend was.
“They found it lying on the ground as they were walking through the bushes,” she explained.
She called the 146-gram nugget a “sunbaker” because it was found on the surface and not underground.
Followers could not believe their eyes at the size of the gold nugget they found in front of the viewer.
Tyler Mahoney shows off $20,000 gold nugget from ‘sunbather’ found in WA
“Have you ever found $20,000 just laying on the ground… hard to believe, I know,” Tyler said of the astonishing find
‘WOW! That’s huge. What a beauty, insanely good find.’ said one fan.
“Jesus, I’d love to accidentally stub my foot on one of those walkers in the bushes,” joked another.
“She really has a heart of gold,” said another follower.
Tyler, a former model and fourth-generation gold prospector, works on her family’s gold mining farm in the goldfields of Western Australia.
“I don’t get paid a regular salary for prospecting for gold,” Mahoney said. “I get paid in gold.”
Tyler, a former model and fourth-generation gold prospector, works on her family’s gold mining farm in the WA goldfields
“Every day is different and it depends on what we find. It’s not a steady income at all. Sometimes it’s baked beans and sometimes it’s lobster,” Tyler explained.
“Every day is different and it depends on what we find. It’s not a steady income at all. Sometimes it’s baked beans and sometimes it’s lobster,” she explained.
Although the $20,000 gold nugget was found in the topsoil, Mahoney explains that it still takes an experienced prospector to find it.
“To be a prospector, you have to be able to read the ground and follow the gold,” she said.
Tyler’s memoir, Gold Digger, chronicles her journey through the male-dominated industry of professional gold prospecting.
“As a woman, it’s really hard to get a seat at the table, and then once you’re at the table, it’s even harder to be respected and heard,” she said.