Gold prices are booming, and Australia is setting off a “new gold rush”! Even retired shop assistants and construction workers joined

The Zhitong Finance App learned that as the price of gold continues to soar, Australia has set off a new round of gold rush.

In the heart of Australia's historic gold mining region, Vicki Plumridge jumped with excitement as she dug up a small piece of gold from the dirt. The retired clerk was learning to use her new metal detector at the time. Suddenly, the detector “beeps” next to the ruins of a mossy building. After Plumridge used a plastic shovel to remove the gold grains from the shallow soil, the guide estimated that it weighed about 0.2 grams and was worth about 40 Australian dollars ($26.58).

“But for me, it's worth a million,” said the 63-year-old. It's only been a few days since she bought the detector. “My heart is singing.”

The Plumridge story is becoming more common. Today, many amateurs flock to the 9,600-square-kilometer “Golden Triangle” region in central Victoria, which is considered one of the most promising areas in the world to find natural gold nuggets.

According to more than a dozen gold diggers interviewed, the record price of gold, the influence of social media, the success of the TV show “Aussie Gold Hunters”, and a love for outdoor activities all inspire people to get involved.

The probe Plumridge bought was Minelab's Gold Monster 2000 and cost 2,999 Australian dollars. According to Leanne Kamp, co-owner of Lucky Strike Gold, a gold mining equipment store in Geelong, the model sold out nationwide within a few weeks after its launch on October 20.

“This price is very attractive. Our sales have increased dramatically this year, in part because the price of gold has aroused everyone's interest,” said Kamp, who has been organizing gold mining tours since 2007.

“We have a lot of international customers. Some Germans are coming next week. The Germans love gold. The Swiss seem to like it too. “Others came from the US,” she added. As the detectors are updated time and time again, the chances of finding gold nuggets in historic mining areas are also increasing, which is why the new model will trigger a rush to buy as soon as it is released.

The birthplace of the world's largest gold nugget

Amateur gold diggers flocked to 19th-century “gold rush” towns such as Ballarat, which laid the foundation for Melbourne's early wealth and helped Australia become one of the world's top three gold producers.

The region once produced the largest gold nugget in the world — the “Welcome Stranger” gold nugget discovered in the 1860s, which weighed 72 kilograms; there was also the “Hand of Faith,” which weighed 27.2 kg, discovered using a metal detector in 1980, which was the largest gold nugget discovered by detectors at the time. According to Victorian government data, just in February 2023, an amateur prospector also discovered a 4.6-kilogram gold nugget with a detector in the area.

The yearning for large gold nuggets is one of the reasons that attracted 39-year-old construction worker Damian Duke. Duke used to go gold digging with his father, who died three years ago, but now he is taking his son Ethan with him.

Duke said in an interview that 11-year-old Ethan inherited his grandfather's detector and that he himself recently upgraded his gold mining equipment.

“With the current price of gold, it is entirely possible that you can find a life-changing piece of gold.”

Since this year, international gold prices have continued to set new historical records, breaking the $4,500 mark per ounce last Friday. Goldman Sachs predicts that the price of gold will rise to 4,900 US dollars by the end of 2026. At the same time, it was pointed out that if private investors continue to diversify their portfolios against the backdrop of geopolitical and financial uncertainty, the price of gold may rise further.

In Victoria, gold diggers must purchase a license from the state government. Licensees can only use hand tools to mine for gold, and they own the gold they find.

According to data provided by Victoria's Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, the state's demand for a “gold digger rights license” that costs $28.60 and is valid for up to 10 years has reached a record high. As of November this year, the number of licenses issued was close to 16,000, compared to only about 11,000 for the whole of last year. Currently, the total number of active gold mining licences in Victoria has exceeded 100,000.

Gold diggers say that what drives people out of their homes is probably the dream of becoming rich overnight, but what really keeps them entertained is the psychological satisfaction brought by the gold mining process — the intense search, the comfort of being close to nature, and the joy of communicating with others.

“Being here is really good for my mental health. You'll be fully involved and have no time to care—I love seeing all the wildflowers,” said Kelly Smith, a 50-year-old resident from the small town of Condruck, who is attending a training event organized by the Maryborough Gold Center with her partner. “You can't guarantee you'll find something. But if you don't look for it, you won't find anything.”

The gold rush that has taken the world by storm

Ben Harvey, executive general manager of the Minelab division of Adelaide-based Codan, the world's largest manufacturer of handheld metal detection equipment, said Victoria's recent “gold rush” is part of a broader phenomenon.

In addition to Codan's communications division, strong sales of its detectors in the Australian market and Africa and America have also helped the company's stock price double this year.

Harvey notes that in Africa, demand may come from cooperative artisanal miners formed to improve living standards. In an interview, he said that in Latin America, there are also amateurs who are keen to search for coins and other treasures out of leisure.

He pointed out that the success behind this stems from Codan's engineering team's efforts to improve technology to reduce background noise, so that explorers can focus on finding gold.

“When prospectors go out, they want to find gold and more than they found last time,” Harvey said.