LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Using only a handheld detector, the unnamed novice was amazed when he found the y-shaped nugget 60 centimeters underground.

Weighing 12 pounds, the discovery has delighted local experts who claim to have never encountered such a significant find. Using a state-of-the-art detector, the prospector said the device allowed him to locate the "extremely rare" nugget in previously searched ground.

Not believing his luck, his friends said the man kept cleaning the piece and "the gold kept expanding and expanding."

"I have been a prospector and dealer for two decades, and cannot remember the last time a nugget over 100 ounces has been found locally," Ballarat Mining Exchange Gold Shop owner and dealer Cordell Kent said.

The anonymous prospector is a "person that really deserves it," revealing that the lucky fellow rushed to tell his wife after finding it.

"He is going to pay off a lot of bills and pay off his house - it's a real life changer.

"It's extremely significant as a mineral specimen. We are 162 years into a gold rush and Ballarat is still producing nuggets - it's unheard of."

Gold currently trades in Australia at about $1,600 per ounce. Due to finding a piece weighing more than a pound is so rare, that this adds a premium at auction.

"There have been many prospectors that have walked past the exact place where the nugget was found and have missed it with an ordinary detector and did not have the technology to find it.that's why this guy found it.

"This detector he used is the best there is, it goes deeper and further into the ground, better than others.

The nugget measures more than eight inches in length, is five inches wide and an inch at its deepest point.

The trader also expected the find to attract a lot more prospectors to the area, saying: "A finding like this gives people hope.

"There's nothing like digging up money, its good fun."

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