Three years ago an Australian man bought a property without knowing it has a gold mine in store for him. Brisbane resident Anthony Doolin was surprised to discover the gold mine in his backyard suddenly one morning. He bought the property for $1.35 million.
The homeowner explored the land spread across 16.5 hectares and came across the treasure hidden in the backyard of his suburban property. Doolin said that the first thing that struck his mind was the movie character Indiana Jones, a popular fictional action hero.
"We weren't told about it, we just found it there one day. I nearly fell over, I just pictured Indiana Jones and underground railroads," he told realestate.com.au. "There was a lot of mining at the turn of the century and in those hills, there are quite a few little mines. It's about six meters deep and is still intact."
The property is located within 12 miles of Brisbane's central business district. The location is possibly a hub of many mines that have remained hidden in the hills since the beginning of the century. However, Doolin opted not to go deep into the search for gold and sold the property last week. The owner decided to sell the house for $1.65 million but then he sold it for the same price he bought it three years ago.
Doolin's mother Jane sold it for him. She said it was tough to get the price fixed earlier. "People seem to move in there and not sell very often (but) it was a damn good investment block because they had commercial sheds that could be rented out," she said.
There have been a few similar incidents around the world where people found treasures buried in their land. Just a few weeks ago, a British homeowner found items associated with WWII in his backyard.
In another incident that was reported from New York in May, a couple discovered a piece of rusty metal in their backyard, which they considered to be merely a part of an electrical box or cable. But it contained around $52,000 cash along with precious metals.
