Canada-based mining company, RNC Minerals announced the discovery of what may be the two largest gold nuggets ever unearthed in Australia. As per reliable reports, the new-found gold nuggets soared RNC Minerals stocks, doubling their value at the Toronto Stock Exchange after the news became public.
Reliable sources reported that the mining company extracted gold specimens from the Beta Hunt nickel mine in the form of two large gold encrusted rocks, the larger one of which weighed 95kg and contained about 2,440 ounces of gold valued at C$4 million, while the smaller gold encrusted rock weighed 63kg and contained approximately 1,620 ounces of gold estimated to be valued at C$2.6 million.
Senior geologist, Zaf Thanos claims the new-found discovery to be a once in a life time occurrence as gold usually found in most mines is only visible through a magnifying glass. The more surprising fact about the discovery is that the mine, located near the small mining town of Kambalda, has been used for extracting nickel since 1970s and RNC Minerals will be the first mining firm to have extracted gold from the unusual mine.
According to Sam Spearing, Professor at the Western Australia School of Mines at Curtin University, Australian miners are generally able to extract only approximately 2 grams of gold per ton of rock excavated. In the current case RNC Minerals miners extracted a massive 2,200 grams per ton, making a huge exception.
The rocks that contain the gold have found to contain some quartz as well and have been extracted from about 500 meters below the surface of the earth in 3-meter-wide area. According to RNC Minerals President and CEO, Mark Selby, this a relatively small area to pull out C$15 million worth of gold from.
The Australian government receives a royalty on any minerals found in the country. In this case the government will receive 2.5% of whatever profit RNC Minerals makes.