Golden Eagle – This is the largest gold nugget ever found in Western Australia. It was found on January 8, 1931 by 16-year old Jim Larcombe just 45-cm below the surface of the ground in Widgiemooltha, now known as Larkinville. It weighed 1136 troy ounces or 35.3 kilograms, measured 62-cm long, and required two men to lift it. It was given the name “Golden Eagle” since it resembled a bird. Its discovery symbolized hope for Western Australians at the time of a major worldwide depression.
The Golden Eagle Nugget was sold to the State Government for £5,438, and at the height of the Depression in December 1931, the nugget was melted down to realize funds for the State. Today, a replica of the nugget can be seen at the School of Mines Rock and Mineral Museum in Kalgoorlie.
Ausrox Nugget – is the world’s third largest gold nugget in existence weighing at 23.6 kg, which is only behind the Hand of Faith and the Normandy Nugget. It was found by an anonymous prospector in April of 2010 from the eastern goldfields, near Kalgoorlie.
Golden Stonefish Nugget – is a commercial nugget found by Janet Mears, a.k.a. the Lady of the Lake, since most of her nugget finds were retrieved on or around salt lakes in West Australia. Its official weight as per the Australian Mint is 226.87 troy ounces or 7.056 kilograms. The nugget was found in northern Kalgoorlie in 2004, and is 91-95% pure (22K).
Normandy Nugget – was once considered as the world’s second largest existing nugget when it was first exhibited publicly for the first time at the Perth Mint on 9 April 2000. It was found by an anonymous prospector in the Kalgoorlie Region in 1995. The nugget was hidden under the prospector’s bed for many years prior to attempting to sell it in the United States. It is currently owned by an Australian mining company, and the 819-troy ounce lump of almost pure gold is now worth well over a million dollars.
Besides being renowned of owning the honor as the first state where gold was discovered in Australia, New South Wales also holds the claim of producing the largest mass of gold that was ever recovered and countless other remarkable large nuggets. The humongous nugget was the Holtermann Nugget, which was found in Hill End in 1872. It weighed 630 lbs or 93.2 kg and netted an estimated 3,000 ounces of gold.
Another notable nugget found at Hill End was the “Rita’s Dream Nugget”, found in 1979 and weighed 37 ounces. The second largest nugget, named “Kerr’s Hundredweight”, weighed 300 ounces and was found at Big Nugget Hill in Hargraves in 1851.
The third largest was the “Brenan Nugget”, weighed at 1,364 ounces. It was recovered in Meroo Creek, which is a tributary of the Turon River. Also along Turon River, the “King of the Waterworn” nugget was found in the following year. Its official weight was at 157 ounces.
The “Fathers’ Day Nugget” was a specimen with an overall weight of 199 ounces and a net weight of gold at 168 ounces. It was retrieved at Ophir in 1979 and became the fourth largest nugget found in the state.
