在地下金属探测器和一点点运气的帮助下，内华达山脉山脚下爆发了一股淘金热。其原因是因为在一个贵族的180亩的土地内，挖出了一块价值46万美元的黄金。

地质学家5月16日前往那里探地雷达，以评估多少黄金是无所事事。按月份结束时，他们希望提醒业主出售土地注册高达150万美元。也许更多。

“我们只需要看看我们可以看到，”弗雷德说，地质学家霍拉伯德，谁帮助拍卖的大金块，上月在萨克拉门托46万美元 。

任何希望的另一个8.2磅重的庞然大物等待捣破地下可能会比一铲下响尾蛇的头部扁平化，每个人都参与说。但是，这只是其中的一部分。

“这是一个大金块寻找，但可能有更多的是那地的金子是百分之百，说：”霍拉伯德，谁一直为35联邦政府开采地质学家与财富500强企业年。"“我有多现在还不能说。

“但是它有很大的潜力？是啊。”

该土地所有者一直保持自己的身份，以及他的财产的具体位置，一个不可告人的秘密，现代索赔跳线害怕。

对于销售的目的，但是，它已经显示，该土地附近的华盛顿州（内华达县）历史悠久的小镇，它的利差由松树的山区溪流穿过它有两个切割。有任何建筑物。

“这是非常坚固 - 绝对敲下来，带出，落死了华丽的穷乡僻壤，”霍拉伯德说。“如果你把你的钓竿，你一定会听到一些鳟鱼。”

如何前往黄金另一方面，将需要挖掘工具和流盘。目前的主人发现他的巨大块去年，以及另外两个重达4和10盎司，用金属探测器和一个选秀权。
估计，可能有多达4000积下的污垢盎司黄金。基于登录周五的价格，一点五○五美元一盎司，那么多黄金将约为600万元。

霍拉伯德被怀疑更深入的研究将表明，多的黄金土地上的存在。

“我们等着瞧，”他说。“我会做一个全面的评估之前，我把事情的任何数字。”

西方作家和历史学家罗伯特昌，边缘路由器指出，尽管第四Niners迷人的故事 - 谁，巧合的是，没有围绕华盛顿全镇矿区 - 最黄金开采企业倒闭。

“仅仅因为从来没有去任何地方最地雷并不意味着那里没有黄金，”钱德勒说。 "“记住每到春季，当新的降雨充斥着新件的河床，人们起床有在山上去找他们。

“同在一个新的高金，我觉得主人会很乐意出售，现在，”他说。“这是最佳时机。”

With a little luck and some mechanical help, a gold rush will explode next month in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Actually, it'll be a minirush - specifically for the 180-acre plot of land where the biggest Sierra gold nugget in existence was recently dug up.

Geologists are heading there on May 16 with ground-penetrating radar to assess how much more gold is lying around. By month's end, they expect to advise the owner to put the land up for sale for as much as $1.5 million. Maybe more.

"We'll just have to see what we can see," said geologist Fred Holabird, who helped auction the big nugget last month in Sacramento for $460,000.

Any hopes that another 8.2-pound whopper waits underground will probably be smashed flatter than a rattler's head under a shovel, everyone involved said. But that's just part of the picture.

"That big nugget was a 1-in-a-billion find, but the likelihood that there is more gold on that land is 100 percent," said Holabird, who has been a mining geologist for the federal government and Fortune 500 companies for 35 years. "Just how much I can't say just yet.

"But does it have a lot of potential? Yeah."

The owner of the land has kept his identity, and the specific location of his property, a tightly held secret, afraid of modern claim-jumpers.

For the purposes of selling, however, it's been revealed that the land is near the historic town of Washington (Nevada County) and it consists of mountainous spreads of pines with two streams cutting through it. There are no buildings.

"It's very rugged - absolutely knock-down, drag-out, drop-dead gorgeous backcountry," Holabird said. "If you bring your fishing pole, you're bound to catch some trout."

Getting to the gold, on the other hand, will require digging tools and stream pans. The current owner found his gigantic chunk last year, as well as two others weighing 4 and 10 ounces, with a metal detector and a pick.

Assayers have estimated that there may be as many as 4,000 ounces of gold underneath the plot's dirt. Based on prices logged Friday, $1,505 an ounce, that much gold would be worth about $6 million.

Holabird was skeptical that more in-depth studies would show that much gold existed on the land.

"We'll see about that," he said. "I'm going to do a full assessment before I put any numbers on anything."

Author and Western historian Robert Chand-ler noted that despite the glamorous tales of the Forty-Niners - who, coincidentally, did a lot of mining around the town of Washington - most gold-mining ventures go bust.

"Just because most mines never go anywhere doesn't mean there isn't gold up there," Chandler said. "Remember every spring, when new rains fill up the streambeds with new pieces, and people get up there in the hills and find them.

"With gold at a new high, I would think the owner would be very happy to sell right now," he said. "It's the perfect time."