A young West Australian has shared the lucky tale of her friend who was walking through the bush in Kalgoorlie and stumbled across a gold nugget that turned out to be worth $20,000.
Professional gold digger Tyler Mahoney took to Instagram writing “have you ever found $20,000 sitting on the ground? Hard to believe I know.”
Ms Mahoney lives in the gold-mining town of Kalgoorlie where she was born into a mining family dating back four generations and is now the founder of The Prospectors Club. But she’s best known for her reality TV debut in the series Gold Rush.
The 27-year-old gold hunter said the fellow prospector found the nugget by chance as they walked through the bush together for exercise.
Ms Mahoney labelled the 146g heart-shaped nugget a “sunbaker” because it was not found underground, instead, it was lying on topsoil.
The reality TV star posted photos of the gorgeous nugget on her personal Instagram sharing “how she gets paid” with her 121-thousand followers.
“WOW! That is huge. What a beauty, crazy good find” one follower wrote.
“Jesus, I’d love to accidentally stub my foot on one of those walking through the bush” another joked.
“It’s an actual heart of gold” a third added.
Ms Mahoney told the Daily Mail “every day is different and it depends on what we are finding. It’s not a secure income at all. Some days it’s baked beans and some days it’s lobster.”
While the pair were not looking for gold at the time, Ms Mahoney explained that the $20,000 nugget still required the eyes of an experienced prospector to spot it on the ground among the rocks and red dirt.
“To be a prospector you need to know how to read the ground and follow the gold” she said.
The gold-digging girl boss published a memoir in January 2022 titled Gold Digger, which is a detailed description of her journey through the male-dominated industry of professional gold digging and prospecting.
“As a woman it is very hard to get a place at the table and then when you’re at the table it’s bloody hard to be respected and heard,” she wrote.
