Australian Farmer Digs In, Reaps a Golden Harvest

BEENLEIGH, Australia — Fruit grower Bob Boyce had an early harvest Tuesday when he uncovered a huge gold nugget, worth about $70,000, in a hole intended for a citrus tree.

“I’ve dug hundreds of holes for trees on my property and I’ve never found anything apart from a few river stones,” Boyce told reporters Wednesday after the nugget weighed in at nearly 10 1/2 pounds, or 155 troy ounces.

At current prices the gold content of Boyce’s nugget could be worth more than $70,000, and the unwitting prospector said he may name it “Mortgage Buster.”

“I’m hoping that it might take care of my mortgage and my car repayments and if there’s enough left, a holiday,” he said after government officials confirmed that the 8-inch-by-14-inch nugget was gold.