Prospector strikes it rich after finding ‘fair dinkum’ gold nugget in central Victoria

A prospector has struck it rich after finding a gold nugget weighing more than 2kg in central Victoria.

Mick Brown said he “cracked a can” after finding the 87-ounce nugget while prospecting alone near Wedderburn.

“It took a while to name it but everyone that looked at it was like “fair dinkum”, you know, so that’s what we called it, the fair dinkum nugget,” Mr Brown said.

He told 9NEWS he plans to keep his cards close to his chest as to where he found the buried treasure but said he thought others had already searched in the same area.

While sizeable, the nugget is much smaller than the “Pride of Australia” which was found outside the same town in 1981 and weighed-in at 256 ounces.

The nugget is valued around $135,000 but Mr Brown said he wouldn’t be parting with it for anything under $200,000.

“You know what it’s like when you’re married with four daughters,” he said, “you don’t get to see much of that money,” he said.