Meet the professional gold digger, who hit the jackpot when she discovered $100,000 worth of gold.
Tyler Mahoney, 27, was interested in panning for gold from a young age, as her entire family works in the industry.
When she turned 18, Ella Tyler moved from Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, to Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, after having “had enough” of living in a small town.
“I’m a gold digger and I found a nugget worth £80,000. Tomorrow I could be a millionaire.”
Gold panning is a rare hobby and an even rarer career, but some are finding enough nuggets that could make them millionaires in the near future.
A woman shares how she “hit the jackpot” after finding gold worth more than £80,000 and she believes she could become a millionaire at any time.
Tyler Mahoney, 27, from Western Australia, is a professional gold digger served by four generations of her family.
Originally from Kalgoorlie, she moved to Melbourne, Victoria, after having “had enough” of small town life.
However, after two years away, Mahoney returned to her small town and her first love, panning for gold.
She works alongside her parents and her brother Reece, 24, and has been able to pan for gold worth up to $100,000 (£80,145).
A woman shares how she “hit the jackpot” after finding gold worth more than £80,000 and believes she could become a millionaire any day now.
Tyler Mahoney, 27, from Western Australia, is a professional gold digger served by four generations of her family.
Originally from Kalgoorlie, she moved to Melbourne, Victoria, after having “had enough” of small town life.
However, after two years of absence, Mahoney returned to her small town and to her first love, searching for gold.
She works alongside her parents and her brother Reece, 24, and has been able to pan for gold worth up to $100,000 (£80,145).
In the summer months, Ms. Mahoney typically works from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., but in the winter she typically works from 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
She explained: “I love prospecting because there is no stability in it. You could make $0 tomorrow or next week, but on the other hand, you could be a millionaire tomorrow.
“It’s so addictive (the chance of you finding that big nugget is really addictive) that you get a constant dose of dopamine.
“In Melbourne I had a stable life with a stable job and I realized that was not my life.”
According to the young woman, being a gold digger and finding treasure gives her a “dopamine hit at all times.”
At the end of the month, when the payment is calculated, the entire family will divide the payment equally between themselves.
Gold prices are set in US dollars globally, but gold nuggets are extremely rare, so they can often be sold for a premium.
Thanks to their 11 years of searching for gold, the family has a lot of contacts they can rely on to make a lot of money.
Mahoney added: “We have owned a gold dealership for 11 years and are lucky to have many contacts.
“If I were to sell my gold to a gold dealer, I would get the spot price. If I were to sell it through my website, I am the gold trader, so I would sell it for a premium.
The price of Australian gold is around $90 per gram, so I would sell my gold nugget to the public for $120 per gram because there is a premium – there are many layers, there is no one size fits all answer. There is a type of gold called sponge gold, they really are.
“We found one of those for triple the cash price (today it costs $270 per gram), something like that is for a collector.”
