Australian gold hunters find two nuggets weighing 7.7 pounds

Aug. 20 (UPI) -- A pair of Australian gold diggers revealed they discovered a pair of large gold nuggets that weighed 7.7 pounds combined, with an estimated worth of $250,000.

Brothers-in-law Brent Shannon and Ethan West, whose quest for gold was documented in Thursday night's episode of the Discovery Channel Australia's Aussie Gold Hunters, said they found the nuggets on the same day near Tarnagulla, Victoria, in an area that was home to historic gold fields.

"I reckoned we were in for a chance," Shannon told the 7News Sunrise talk show. "It was in a bit of virgin ground, which means it's untouched and hasn't been mined."

The men said it took them months to obtain a permit to allow them to search for gold in the area. They said they have found thousands of small pieces of gold in their years of searching for the precious metal, but nothing quite as large as the two nuggets.

"These are definitely one of the most significant finds," West said. "To have two large chunks in one day is quite amazing."

Experts estimated the gold pieces could fetch up to 30% more than their estimated value if sold to a collector.