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.
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.
In Victoria, hobby gold hunters must possess a miner's right, which allows them to keep any gold they find. Anyone caught panning or fossicking without a miner's right permit can face penalties up to $36,984 under the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Act 1990 .
Gold is taxable, and taxation is based on the total value in dollars rather than weight. You are liable to taxation only when you make a profit from selling gold. Typically, the more profit you make the more tax you will have to pay.
Most state courts, including those of Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Oregon, and Wisconsin, have decided to stick to the tried and true “finders keepers” concept. If you found it (and it didn't involve trespassing), you get to keep it!
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.
In Australia, gold prospectors have so many opportunities to become very rich. The time spent moving from one location to another, searching for gold with metal detectors, is worth it.
If you're looking to get started with crevicing for gold, a good place to begin is in a creek with large areas of exposed bedrock as you will not have to dig through much (if any) material to reach the crevices in the rock.
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.
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. It weighed gross, over 2,520 troy ounces (78 kg; 173 lb) and returned over 2,284 troy ounces (71.0 kg; 156.6 lb) net.
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.
It is important to note that gold prospecting and fossicking cannot be carried out in national parks, nature reserves, on Aboriginal land and heritage sites, within townsites or other classified areas such as cemeteries. You must seek permission from the landowner to enter private property, such as farmland.
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).
You need a miner's right for recreational prospecting in Victoria. A Victorian miner's right lets you prospect and fossick for gold, gemstones and other minerals in Victoria: where you've got permission. on Crown or private land where it's allowed.
If you're in the Northern Territory, ACT or South Australia, you don't need a permit but remember that treasure hunting, fossicking and prospecting in national parks is banned right across Australia.
If you choose to store your gold with a bullion dealer, you'll be charged per ounce of gold that you'd like to store or as a percentage of the gold's total value. For gold, this tends to be around 1% per annum, but this can change depending on the dealer.
Investors can buy, sell and store gold, silver and platinum at The Perth Mint Depository. We have an extensive network of secure facilities including central bank grade vaults to protect your precious metal holdings.
An investor may choose to store their gold in a locked safe deposit box at their local bank. Safe deposit boxes are relatively inexpensive storage options and require far less individual protection efforts than home storage (as you are entrusting the bank with your gold).
Q: Will any metal detector find gold? Yes. Most metal detectors are capable of finding gold but some will do a much better job than others. Since gold has rather low conductivity, metal detectors that use higher frequencies will spot gold better than low-frequency detectors.
Gold and Platinum are Not Magnetic
The security system at airports is among other things looking for magnetic metals. You are more likely to set off the alarm wearing cheap costume jewelry, frequently made with magnetic metals, than fine gold and platinum jewelry.
Usually, you'll be able to reclaim the property if no one steps up to claim it. If you're unsure of the value of the bar, it's best to find out by consulting with an expert in precious metals who can guide you through the next steps.