The weak Australian dollar means gold is trading near historic highs at close to $1,850 an ounce, or just under $60 a gram - an ounce of gold is equal to about 31g. More than $1.3 million worth of gold was unearthed in season three of the Discovery Channel production. While most of the country's gold is produced by big mining companies, the allure of the precious metal remains as strong as ever for recreational prospectors using metal detectors and professional small-scale miners who employ heavy machinery. Next month marks 126 years since prospectors Paddy Hannan, Thomas Flanagan and Dan Shea discovered gold at Kalgoorlie, about 600 kilometres east of Perth, kicking off one of Australia's biggest gold rushes. There were 21,348 miner's rights issued between 20.ĭuring that six-year period there has been a 35 per cent increase from 3,199 miner's rights in 2013 to 4,344 last year. The piece of paper costs $25 but gives a prospector legal access to Crown land and the right to remove samples up to 20 kilograms without the need for a mining lease. WA's prospecting resurgence is underlined by a significant rise in miner's rights being issued by the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.

Prospector Bill O'Connor holding two gold nuggets in 2016.

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