High gold prices, reality TV and closed border see prospecting boom in WA

On TV it goes something like this. Armed with a metal detector and a pick, a prospector approaches a likely patch of red dirt, setting off a telltale whine from the machine in her hand. “This is exactly where the gold should be,” she says. After a little digging with the pick she comes up with a sizeable gold nugget, potentially worth more than $800 at current gold prices of more than $2600 an ounce. “I’m shaking,” she tells the camera filming her, with a chuffed grin. “That’s a nice nugget.” Such a find, which played out on an episode of Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail filmed in WA with fourth-generation Kalgoorlie prospector Tyler Mahoney — no slouch in the prospecting game — is a best-case scenario for those exploring the outback in search of gold. But the reality for most involves big outlays, long days and finding enough gold to cover the cost of your gear and petrol — if you are lucky. Nevertheless, a combination of record gold prices, the popularity of reality TV shows like Aussie Gold Hunters and Gold Rush, and WA’s closed border is fuelling a mini prospecting boom in the State. WA’s Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety is responsible for issuing the $28 miner’s rights any amateur needs if they want to go prospecting. “It’s a pretty powerful bit of paper,” is how Amalgamated Prospectors and Leaseholders Association Perth president Greg Young puts it. “That enables you to go on Government land, it enables you to go on pastoral leases by advising the pastoralist that you’ll be coming, where you’ll be and how long you’ll be there.” Ten years ago, the department issued 2959 miner’s rights a year. Five years ago, it was 3037. So far this year, despite the impact of WA’s border closure which has kept out the usual steady stream of interstate prospectors, it has issued 4258. That includes more than 500 in the past month. This surge of fresh interest, coupled with significant supply shortages caused by the pandemic, means “you can’t buy a metal detector” in much of WA, according to Mr Young. “They’ve sold all their stocks of detectors. There’s not a detector in any of the shops in WA, unless it’s just a play one,” he says. Aaron Raddock, who owns Reeds Prospecting Supplies in Midvale, says they have experienced a jump in newcomers since West Australians were again allowed to move around the State. “When the internal borders opened up we saw a lot more people that were starting to say: ‘Oh, I’ll try a bit of prospecting’,” he says. “It went from the prospectors having the State to themselves to a few more people getting out there. Something we really found is there’s a lot of young families that have taken the kids out camping and: ‘What can we do with the kids?’” “The guys that just don’t want to be in the cities, who love to be away from the city, that’s overly stereotyping. It’s quite remarkable how many younger guys and younger families are out there.” Even before the world had heard of coronavirus, the influx of newcomers into the game had been such that Ms Mahoney last year founded The Prospector’s Club to teach would-be prospectors the basics. Despite being just 24 she is something of a veteran and has a profile, thanks to stints on Aussie Gold Hunters and Gold Rush. “I’m fourth generation: my great grandfather was based in the Murchison, my grandmother was a prospector, both my parents are prospectors and my brother is a prospector ... I tried to leave when I was 19 and now I’m back in the red dirt,” she says. “Since I can remember our school holidays and weekends were prospecting out in the bush while all my friends were going to Bali or Exmouth. I started it (The Prospector’s Club) because I was getting a heap of messages from people about prospecting and what metal detector to buy and the legalities and it was taking up quite a lot of my time. “If you’re a new prospector you can’t go to uni or Tafe, it’s one of those things that’s so hard to get into and I wanted to help pass this information on to people. I am so interested in the history side of prospecting and if we don’t continue with this knowledge it’ll be lost.” Her take on the new surge in interest is that it is being driven by a confluence of factors. “Definitely a combination of the gold shows have created a huge rush in prospecting,” Ms Mahoney says. “I’ve been prospecting 15 years now and in the last year, since all these shows have started, people have had so much more interest ... everyone wants to go find a massive nugget. Also the high gold price makes it a lot more affordable to go prospecting and cover your costs ... and then with COVID people obviously can’t travel overseas or interstate.” Those who love it have different but frequently overlapping reasons for doing so. One newcomer, who asked to be known only by his nickname, Baggas, recently quit his job, bought a $7000 metal detector and taught himself how to use it. Since then he has been out just about every day in the Pilbara. “I guess the trigger for me was the chance to get out in the bush exploring with the slight chance of finding a bit of gold,” he says. “The biggest lure is the chase and learning about the earth, rocks and formations.” Jim Waddell took it up when he retired and says he will “never forget the feeling of self-satisfaction” from his first gold find. “It’s worth what it’s worth but the biggest reward from my finds is the benefit from my wanderings to my health by way of the free exercise and fresh air.” Others told The Sunday Times it was about “a week in the bush enjoying the outdoors” and “the thrill of possibly pulling a small nugget out of the ground”. Forget about getting rich quick. A good trip, according to Mr Young, a Vietnam veteran who has been prospecting for 13 years, means finding enough gold to cover his costs. “Some ex-army mates decided they wanted to do it and they invited me along, and then I got into it by buying all the gear and a vehicle and all that,” he says. “I spent 20 years in the army and I enjoy just being out in the bush, walking around with my own thoughts. I enjoy sitting around the fire at night. Now I’ve been doing it for about 13 years I expect to cover costs. We go out and it’s not like we’re eating tins of baked beans or anything like that. When I go out we cook chicken roasts and I cook a leg of lamb roast and self-saucing puddings, so we’re not eating rubbish.” But he worries some newcomers, perhaps blinded by the slickness of reality TV, may fail to take their safety and legal obligations seriously. “They just make you think you can go out there and do whatever you like, and they don’t explain how you have to apply for approval,” Mr Young says. “So I frown about that.” His advice for newcomers is simple: be prepared. That means knowing the laws, knowing where you are at all times and looking after your own safety, whether that’s via training courses or technology like GeoVIEW, a free program via the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety that can let you see where you are on the ground. “Be prepared. Know where you are at all times. There are things that can help you.” Too often prospectors make the news for the wrong reasons, by getting lost — or worse. Deep in the outback it is possible for anyone to lose their way and when temperatures soar the conditions can be particularly deadly. Even WA’s most famous prospector, Mark Creasy, has had his moments. He told the Australian Financial Review in a 2015 interview of the time he got lost and needed to use aerial photos he had brought with him to find his way back to camp. “If you are in a place where it is flat and you have mulga, or you have reasonably standard, open but nevertheless trees all over the place, it is easy to not have the slightest idea where you are unless you have tracked yourself the whole time,” he told the newspaper. Prospectors are not required to carry personal locator beacons, but in 2014 the State Coroner recommended they do so following the death of a person after a massive month-long aerial and land search failed to find him. At the time, then police minister Liza Harvey said none of the nine prospectors who had been subject to land searches in the past year had been carrying a PLB. Mother Nature can deliver the ultimate punishment for those who fail to take safety precautions. But in WA the law is not above inflicting its own penalties for those who take a similarly laissez faire approach to knowing the rules about where and when they are allowed to prospect. Ignore the small print and you could pick up not so much a gold nugget as a $150,000 fine. According to the department, anyone considering going prospecting must have a current miner’s right, should be familiar with the Mining Act 1978 and have permission to explore the land where they need to do so. For example, someone prospecting on a granted mining tenement would need permission from the tenement holder, while someone prospecting on a pastoral lease would need to notify the pastoralist and potentially receive written consent. A Section 40E Permit may be needed — in addition to a miner’s right — to access granted exploration licences. Other rules also apply. For example, a prospector cannot remove more than 20kg of samples and must fill in any holes they make. The willingness of so many prospecting veterans and newcomers to speak to The Sunday Times for this story is indicative of the role that community plays in attracting and retaining new devotees. For all that the prospecting stereotype of a grizzled loner who wants to get away from civilisation persists and has some merit, others enjoy the opportunity to swap war stories, meet fellow enthusiasts and indulge in some mostly friendly competition. Mr Raddock says despite talk of “secret fishing spots”, the sense of community was mostly good. “There’s always people out there sneaking around that the world hates ... but the vast majority are doing the right thing,” he says. Still, when money is involved — and gold is worth a lot of it — tensions can follow. And the reality, Ms Mahoney says, is not always so pleasant. She makes an effort to be surrounded by the best types of gold enthusiast, but has no illusion that less pleasant people are also part of the community. “I would love to say that the prospecting community is all wonderful but it is honestly one of the most cut-throat games,” she says. “It seriously can tear families and friends apart so you have to be very careful. Gold does funny things to people.”

High gold prices, reality TV and closed border see prospecting boom in WA

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