A SINGLE mother has vowed to keep working despite receiving a windfall of $1.3 million in Saturday's Gold Lotto draw.

The Cairns woman, who does not want to be identified, did not check her winning ticket until Tuesday night. She had bought it on a whim from the Mt Sheridan Newspower after changes at her workplace.

"I can honestly not believe this, especially the timing,'' she said.

"The reason I bought a lotto ticket was because my role at work just changed and I thought, 'I would love to just win the lotto right now', and it's actually happened!

"I'll continue working, you wouldn't want to give up altogether at this stage.''

The woman, in her 40s, said she would share some of the prizemoney with family.

"I'm so happy I'll be able to give something back to my parents who have been so amazing in my life,'' she said.

The winner had not updated her contact details on her Winners Circle account so Golden Casket was unable to contact her for two days, until she checked the ticket herself.

The woman said she did not buy entries regularly and wasn't in the habit of checking tickets immediately after the draw, but called the office late on Tuesday night after having a look.

The woman becomes the Far North's sixth overnight millionaire this year as the region continues to enjoy an unprecedented lucky streak, which began when an Atherton couple grabbed almost $970,000 in last year's New Year's Eve Gold Lotto Super Draw.

Saturday's winner is also the Far North's biggest individual prize of the year  $210,000 more than a Cairns retailer in his 60s who picked up $1.18 million in February.

Golden Casket public relations executive Zoe Knobel said there could likely be more big  winners before new year with Saturday Gold Lotto's $30 million Megadraw on December 29.

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