WE BOUGHT A MINE & HIT THE JACKPOT!

Pat and Kirsty are making a tidy fortune hunting for amethysts

- Jacqui Lang

Queensland couple Pat Gundersen and Kirsty McMullan are probably Australia's best known - and luckiest - amethyst crystal prospectors.

The duo were propelled to fame last year, after featuring in Seven's Outback Crystal Hunters, which filmed them finding a geological marvel, Australia's biggest-ever amethyst cluster.

There in the dirt in WA's remote Pilbara region, Pat discovered a spectacular giant purple-hued formation, potentially worth a fortune.

"You dream of a find like this, it's a once-in-a-lifetime find!" Pat, 51, tells Woman's Day. "Uncovering this beauty was the highlight of my career. It was completely unexpected!"

Weighing a whopping 21 tonnes, it then took months of effort and frustrating logistical setbacks in searing WA heat - and cost more than $100,000 - to extract the giant gem and truck it away for safekeeping.