“We’ve got a gold panning area for everybody to access just outside of town. You will find gold, it’s a designated fossicking area – but the larger pieces like that are not found very often these days.”
He estimated the nugget could sell for around $25,000, given both its size and rarity.
“That’s not unrealistic today for a large piece of gold,” he said.
“The larger nuggets do have a premium because they’re just so rare to find. They always hold their value, so a piece like that is quite collectable.”
With gold prices climbing, the timing couldn’t have been better.
“Gold was trading at $7025 an ounce this morning,” Eden said.
“It’s had significant gains in the last couple of years. It’s just one of those things, like a house in Queenstown – it just keeps going up.”
Eden said the find had left the prospectors “absolutely rapt.”
“Imagine if you found it,” he said.
“It’s not going to pay off your mortgage or buy you a section, but it’s definitely a boost. Once they sell it, it might pay off the credit card.”
He said the discovery was a reminder for would-be gold hunters to stick to legal fossicking zones.
The prospectors found the nugget at a claim near Arrowtown, a historic gold mining town and popular tourist destination near Queenstown.
“While there are designated fossicking areas around New Zealand, it is an offence to start fossicking on somebody else’s claim,” he said.
“If you’ve got a claim, it’s cost you a lot of money to buy and maintain it. If somebody comes along and helps themselves – that’s stealing, and it is a punishable offence.”
He said that the 70g nugget was found in a legal claim by the lucky prospectors – though they would not be disclosing its location.
Arrowtown remained one of the best places in the country for beginners, Eden said.
“Our town has a two-kilometre fossicking area, which is huge,” he said.
“It’s a great place to bring the kids, a very safe river, perfect for a picnic or a swim. And you might just find a bit of gold as well.”
Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.