An Australian treasure arrived at the Ballarat Gold Museum yesterday morning.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Security was stepped up when the largest gold nugget in Australia - believed to be the second largest in the world - was unloaded for exhibition during Gold Week.
Weighing 25.5kg, the Newmount Normandy nugget is worth more than $1 million.
Sovereign Hill marketing assistant Janelle Gilbert said the nugget was the most significant display ever exhibited at the Gold Museum.
"It's very exciting because it's something people have never seen before," Ms Gilbert.
"It's fascinating, it sort of glows and it's beautiful."
The Normandy nugget was discovered in 1995 in Western Australia by a prospector using a pulse indication metal detector near Coolgardie.
The prospector exported the nugget to America for auction, but it was recalled by the Federal Government when it became clear it had left the country without the required permit.
It was sold to the Australia's largest gold producer Normandy Mining in 2000 and placed on public display in Adelaide.
The nugget was found one metre below the surface and is ranked 26th on the scale of the largest nuggets ever found.
In another first, Sovereign Hill will leave $200 gold nuggets to be found daily in the diggings area during the week.
The tourist attraction will also run the Gold Super Mine tour, taking visitors to areas that are not usually accessible across Sovereign Hill's site.
Gold Week runs from Sunday, April 18 to Saturday, April 24.
The Gold Museum is open daily from 9.30 to 5.30pm, and the Normandy nugget is on display until May 23.