GOLD RUSH One of world’s biggest ever golden nuggets weighing 1.6 STONE is dug up in Russia – and it could be worth hundreds of thousands
A HUGE gold nugget weighing more than one and a half STONE has been unearthed in Russia.
An unnamed bulldozer operator was site levelling at the Zarya cooperative mine in the remote south-eastern region this week when he chanced upon the precious metal.
Officials confirmed the find and said the 22.7 lbs nugget is the largest piece ever found in the gold-rich area.
The next largest discovery was a nugget found in 2011 which weighed 16.5 lbs.
Nikolay Ischuk, the regional nature minister, said the bulldozer left a scrape mark on the precious ingot.
He said: “Based on the colour of the stone, we can assume that the level of gold sample is likely to be high.”
The current gold price is at roughly $40,000 per kilo — meaning the nugget could be worth over £300,000.
A commentator who dubbed himself Doktor Pilulkin said online: “Stupid people do indeed get lucky. I wonder if he got anything as a reward for what he found?!”
Another added: “At least they did not fine him for finding something like that. Cuz they could have…”
