The Central Deborah Goldmine has a new visitor attraction after being given a replica of the largest gold nugget still in existence.
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Bep Hillier, the widow of Kevin Hillier who found the Hand of Faith nugget near Bridgewater, presented the replica to the mines on Tuesday.
Mr Hillier upturned the 27.2 kilogram gold nugget in Kingower in 1980.
It hadn’t been a lucky day. The Hilliers had been out detecting all morning, and had found nothing.
It was after lunch, and they soon had to get back to Bridgewater to pick their kids up from school.
They stopped at Kingower and began prospecting in separate areas.
Mrs Hillier heard her husband shout out, but a car had just passed by, so she thought he was talking to them.
Then she heard him call again.
She arrived at the scene to find Mr Hillier digging up a gold nugget, lying vertically in the ground.
As he kept digging more and more gold was revealed.
The nugget they discovered weighed 27.2 kilograms. The largest ever found with a metal detector.
The Hilliers didn’t know what to do with their find at first.
They drove past the bank, but didn’t deposit it.
They drove past the police station, but didn’t take it in.
In the end they went back to the Bridgewater caravan park and put the nugget in a baby bath under their bed.
They didn’t know what to do, so they told a woman who worked at the caravan park.
Luckily she had a connection to Cyril Kovak, one of the biggest gem dealers in Australia, who helped them sell the nugget for US$1 million. Its now housed in the Gold Nugget Casino in Las Vegas.
CEO of Bendigo Heritage Attractions Peter Abbott said he hoped the nugget would see more people visit Bendigo’s Central Deborah Goldmines, and stay for longer in the area.
It adds to “the allure of gold” which Mr Abbott believes is what draws most people to visit the mines.
"For us it’s a great opportunity to tell Bendigo’s Goldfields story,” he said.
“We are quite honoured that [Mrs Hillier] thought of coming to us and putting something that’s obviously pretty special to her family on display at Central Deborah.”
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