The Best Places to Hunt for Gold in Australia Golden Triangle in Victoria. The goldfields of Western Australia. Fields in New South Wales. Fields in Queensland.
Your finds
Minerals are the property of the Crown. If you discover gold or other minerals or gemstones on land not covered by a mining tenement, and the ground is Crown land (under the Mining Act 1978), then you are free to keep what you have found (as long as you hold a Miner's Right).
About 60% of Australia's gold resources occur in Western Australia, with the remainder in all other States and the Northern Territory. Virtually all resources occur in primary deposits, many of which have undergone some degree of weathering.
Most of the commercial gold mines in Australia are open-pit mines, but some mining is also done underground. Western Australia has the largest number of commercial gold operations, with the rest scattered around the Northern Territory and the other states in Australia.
Considered by most authorities to be the biggest gold nugget ever found, the Welcome Stranger was found at Moliagul, Victoria, Australia, in 1869 by John Deason and Richard Oates.
Victoria's gold-bearing rocks are sandstones, siltstones and mudstones, deposited in deep marine conditions some 400 million years ago. Today they form a bedrock spine that runs east to west through Victoria, with the Great Divide running along the crest of Victoria's Western and Eastern Uplands.
There are several types of gold deposits occurring in different geological settings across Victoria including: orogenic gold, volcanic-hosted massive sulphide deposits, intrusion-related gold, and alluvial gold.
There is no restriction on the weight or value of precious metal. However, all Australian gold dealers must adhere to laws regarding the buying and selling of gold.
Declarations. Goods valued at more than AUD1000 require an import declaration. Goods valued at, or below, AUD1000 require a self-assessed clearance (SAC) declaration.
There is a limit to buying and selling gold and silver without personal identification of up to $4999 every 24 hours.
When prospecting in a river, you will want to look for both fast and slow-moving water. The bends in the river where the gold can get trapped. Gold is found where water flow is altered by obstacles such as boulders and logs or by watercourse contours, such as bends in river.
As mentioned, some of the best time to go gold panning include: After Heavy Rainfall or Flooding - When there's a lot of rainfall or even a flood in local mountain regions, water helps remove some of the top layers of soil, bringing down a lot more material from the mountains.
Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie are the famous gold mining centres in Australia. Gold is also available in certain parts of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland.
Gold is usually found embedded in quartz veins, or placer stream gravel. It is mined in South Africa, the USA (Nevada, Alaska), Russia, Australia and Canada.
Gold is most often found in quartz rock. When quartz is found in gold bearings areas, it is possible that gold will be found as well. Quartz may be found as small stones in river beds or in large seams in hillsides. The white color of quartz makes it easy to spot in many environments.
The most common mineral mistaken for gold is pyrite. Chalcopyrite may also appear gold-like, and weathered mica can mimic gold as well. Compared to actual gold, these minerals will flake, powder, or crumble when poked with a metal point, whereas gold will gouge or indent like soft lead.
Lucky Strike is not the biggest nugget found in Australia – that honour belongs to “the Welcome Stranger” found near Moliagul, Victoria, in 1869, which yielded 2,300 ounces of gold.
Australia is estimated to have the world's largest gold reserves, with 9,500 tonnes or 17 per cent of the total world estimated gold reserves of 57,000 tonnes.
Make sure you have permission to pan for gold, as no one would be happy to find you trespassing on their land. You'll need to pick up a Miner's Right Permit to do any prospecting in Australia. You can easily apply for one online or at some tourist centres. Then you need to find a good spot to settle down.
The Pepita Canaã is the world's largest gold nugget and was found in the Serra Pelada – the 'Naked Mountain' – in Brazil in 1983. With a gross weight of 60.82kg and containing 52.33kg of gold, this equates to 1,682 troy ounces and would be worth $2,999,510.60 based on metal value alone at today's gold price.