An incredible discovery from a local in an Australian city known for its hidden gems

Deep beneath the surface in rural towns across Australia, glimpses of history remain. A time when gold seekers from all over the world flocked Down Under to get their hands on a nice piece of the golden cake.

But nearly 200 years after Australia’s gold rush era, locals are still digging for hidden treasures. A man recently appeared to have struck gold while digging on a property in the Queensland town of Childers.

Suspecting it might be valuable but not knowing what it was, the curious Australian asked on Facebook: “Is that gold?” alongside a picture of a rather impressive stone he had innocently dug up.

While he did not disclose the circumstances under which he found the alleged treasure, he did reveal that he had unearthed it “on a property near Childers” – about 80 kilometers southwest of Bundaberg in the state’s North Burnett region . However, a debate over its legitimacy quickly followed.

Queensland is “extremely rich in gold”

The rural town is in close proximity to Paradise Dam, which has a long history of gold mining, Leigh McGrath of Golden Prospecting Tours told Yahoo News Australia. Even today it is “known” for its high-quality gold – and one of the places where the 53-year-old conducts his tours. So it’s very likely that the man is sitting on a pretty valuable find, he said.

The image shows a huge stone that McGrath identified as quartz – a common source for the formation of gold, along with ironstone. But without knowing exactly how and where the supposed gold nugget was found – for example, whether it was in a shaft, a mine or private property – it is “really difficult” to correctly identify gold from a photo, he said.

“Queensland is extremely rich in gold,” the guide revealed, as are Western Australia and Victoria. However, the quartz looks different depending on the location. And that also applies to gold.

“If you’re down in the Gold Triangle (the area from Ballarat to Bendigo to Wedderburn in Victoria), the quartz is what I call smoky quartz – it’s really clean and streaked with beautiful gold veins,” McGrath told Yahoo. “But up in Clermont, Queensland, where we’re from, we get a lot of faulty mineralized quartz, which is really dirty, ugly-looking quartz.”

Simple trick to rule out fool’s gold or pyrite

He admitted that while he wasn’t familiar with the type of quartz often found in Childers, he noted that the man’s stone “looks like it has veins running down the middle.” This suggests that this is probably a fairly legitimate find. Gold prospector Tyle Mahoney from Kalgoorlie, WA also agreed: “At first glance it looks like gold.”

One way to recognize this is to hold it up to the light. This makes it easier to determine whether it is pyrite or “fool’s gold” as it is commonly known. Pyrite is a mineral that is often confused with gold – and is far less valuable. Compared to real gold, these minerals will flake, pulverize, or crumble when pierced with a metal tip, whereas gold, like soft lead, will form furrows or depressions.

“You can tell it’s fake gold by looking at it in the light. If it blinks at you so that it doesn’t shine all the way through no matter what angle you turn it, it’s fool’s gold,” he explained. “If you hold real gold up to the light, you can turn it at any angle and it will still shine the same from every angle.”

How much is gold worth in Australia?

As for value, Leigh said it was difficult to determine from the photo what the man’s find might be worth because gold is typically valued by weight. Currently, the price of gold in Australia is around $3,000 per ounce.

“The only way to get an estimate of how much gold is contained in this quartz is to perform a weight test. This is a water weight test where a formula can calculate the water output compared to your gold weight.”

After a heated discussion about the man’s discovery on social media, it appears the post has been removed entirely.

Do you have a story tip? E-mail: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also continue to follow us Facebook, Instagram, Tick ​​tock, Twitter And Youtube.