The state-of-the art detector, which weighs 8, 500 kilograms, is expected to stay in operation through the lifetime of the space station, until 2020 or longer.

CNN: Space station detector gives first clues to 'dark matter'

He told Australian media the prospector had been using a state-of-the-art metal detector, which meant he was able to find the gold relatively deep underground in an area which had been searched many times in the past.

BBC: The gold nugget found in Ballarat