'Professional Gold Digger' Shares Reality of Discovering $4,300 in One Find

Anne Thompson

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A gold miner has stunned the internet after sharing the reality of finding 6,700 Australian dollars ($4,300) of gold lying around in the dirt during a search. For Tyler Mahoney finding gold is how she makes a living, and it takes her all across Australia and New Zealand at times. Most people would marvel at the prospect of finding more than $6,000 worth of gold, but for Mahoney this is her livelihood, regularly referring to herself as a "professional gold digger." As it is such an unusual occupation, she often shares the realities of the job on her TikTok account (@tylermahoney8) to educate others. On June 19, Mahoney posted a video of the moment she discovered "a different nugget" of gold on the ground in Boulder, Australia.

Gold miner finds gold on ground — Tyler Mahoney, from Australia, shared what it is like when she discovered $6,700 worth of pure gold on the ground. The video has gone viral on TikTok, with many people left amazed and bewildered by... @tylermahoney8

As the camera pans around, viewers might think that gold worth $6,700 might be quite obvious—but Mahoney reveals that it's a tiny amount, the size of a rock, weighing just 56 grams (0.12 pounds). Many TikTok users have been amazed by Mahoney's video, and it has already generated more than 5.7 million views and over 366,000 likes. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explains that hard rock mining involves the discovery and extraction of non-fuel metal and mineral deposits of solid ores. Gold isn't the only mineral that is mined however, as the EPA adds that copper, iron, lead, platinum, silver and zinc are also mined. The mining process can be lengthy, and it's not simply a matter of stumbling upon a piece of gold by chance. The first step is exploration of the area, including surveys to learn about the conditions, and drilling to obtain samples of the ore body for inspection. Another way to gather information about the site area is by doing seismic surveys to measure shock waves, which will have different readings depending on the geological formation beneath the surface. Once an area has been pinpointed, the extraction phase can then begin. The EPA says that the most common way of hard rock mining is through surface mining, which involves digging the necessary area. However, other methods include open pit mining, or strip mining when the deposits are near the surface. Once the mineral has been discovered, the process doesn't end there. In order to turn it into a beautiful piece of jewelry, for example, it has to go through beneficiation, which separates the desired mineral from the waste rock around it. The attention that Mahoney's video received has encouraged her to continue sharing her occupation with TikTok followers. She regularly shares videos of herself on excavation sites, digging for the gold and operating the machinery. The viral post has received over 3,200 comments so far, with a lot of social media users sharing their reaction to Mahoney's line of work. One comment reads: "Sis is living my dream job." Another person wrote: "That's my tuition on the ground." "It's a lot cleaner and larger than I thought," responded another TikTok user. Newsweek has reached out to @tylermahoney8 via TikTok for comment. We could not verify the details of the video. Do you have funny or unusual videos of your job that you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@newsweek.com and they could appear on our site.