nugget

Gold nugget worth $300,000 discovered in Australia

One Australian gold prospector has hit pay dirt.

The man, described as an amateur explorer who wants to remain anonymous, unearthed a 5.5 kilogram golden nugget 60 centimeters in the ground outside Ballarat, a city about an hour and a half drive west of Melbourne.

Experts say the value of the find is at least $300,000.

"He came in to my shop at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday and had a grin from ear to ear," Cordell Kent, owner of The Mining Exchange Gold Shop, told CNN. "His eyes were sparkling."

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/18/business/australia-gold-nugget-discovery/index.html?iid=article_sidebar

nuggetと聞くと、食べる方の「（チキン）ナゲット」のイメージが先に浮かぶかもしれませんが、もともとは「地中にある金の塊」「天然の金塊」を意味します。また比喩で「 （少量の）価値あるもの」として用いられることがある単語です。念のため。（UG）