Barry Dunn wasn’t looking forward to celebrating his 66th birthday today – despite travelling from Central Queensland to have a few beers with his long-lost mates in Sydney.

Barry – a gold trader and shop owner in the mining town of Clermont, south west of Mackay -- was down in the dumps.

“I don’t know how I could be so careless?” he told his wife at breakfast this morning.

He was retracing his steps over the past 24 hours when the words “Mackay”, “gold” and “airport” boomed out of the radio.

“You little beauty – they’ve bloody found it,” he said. “I’ll buy them all a beer when I get back home”.

Barry was referring to a 4 oz gold nugget he’d “lost” between Mackay and Sydney yesterday.

The $2000 nugget surfaced in a plastic tray that had just been scanned by a security x-ray machine at Mackay Airport. Security officers were shocked when no-one claimed the precious rock.

The news bulletin quickly had Barry dialing Mackay Airport this morning.

“I can’t believe someone’s found it. I thought I’d lost it on the plane – or it had fallen out of my pocket,” an elated Barry Dunn told Mackay Port Authority communications manager Colin Wilson.

Barry recounted how he had emptied his pockets into a plastic tray and entered the security departure area at Mackay Airport.

“As I went to pick the stuff up my mobile phone rang. I was talking on the phone holding the mobile with one hand and putting all the items in my pocket with the other,” he said.

“Apparently I must have left it in the corner of the tray. Afterwards, when I was thinking back – how could a person be so stupid to leave it in the tray?”

Mr Dunn had only purchased the nugget from a local prospector in Clermont that morning and was taking it to Sydney to show his mates

He now plans to celebrate the good news with a few beers and a slice of birthday cake with his friends this evening.

“I’d just like to say thank you to the security staff at the airport,” Barry said. “Tell them it’s my shout when I get home. It has really made my day.”

Barry’s on holiday at the moment and will have to wait until November 30 to slip the nugget back into his pocket.

“But, the wife reckons she’ll look after it from now on,” he said.