Gold nuggets found in Victoria’s golden triangle by prospectors.
Victoria is on the cusp of a whole new gold rush, with bush blocks where owners have found the odd nugget becoming hot property.
Towns across the state’s former gold fields, and especially in the golden triangle bounded by Bendigo, Ballarat and Wedderburn, have wannabe prospectors hunting for cheap land to hunt for the valuable mineral.
With the price of gold surging over the past decade the leading lobby group believes more and more people will be looking to stake a claim to an alluvial address.
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Prospectors and Mining Association of Victoria president Jason Cornish said more people had begun looking to buy a cheap bush block amid fears the state government would turn Crown land, where prospecting is currently legal into National Parks, where it is not.
While the state government late last month pledged not to stop public use of state forests, Mr Cornish said retirees looking for a tree-change and families seeking an affordable getaway, both hoping for the chance to find free money lying around would continue to spur sales.
The number of Victorians with miners rights has gone from 40,000 before the pandemic to 78,000 earlier this year, almost doubling in the span of five years.
“And it’s just kept going up with the price of gold,” Mr Cornish said.
Mr Cornish shows off a piece of gold and quartz he has uncovered.
Originally just prospecting on the weekends, he has now gone full time in the Dunolly region himself.
“I threw my job in nine months ago, in the city, as a commercial refrigeration mechanic,” he said.
“It was good money, but I’d prefer to be up here. Though I haven’t sold any of my gold.
“People love the thrill of chasing the nuggets, and there’s health and social benefits to going out to the bush.”
Mr Cornish added that a wet and stormy spring was also providing the conditions needed for fresh finds of the precious metal, with topsoil being washed away and nuggets caught in plant roots being unearthed amid tree-toppling winds.
Stockdale & Leggo Bendigo sales manager Grant Hosking said he was seeing good numbers of retirees relocating from Melbourne to take up a prospecting hobby in their golden years.
Buyers have been homing in on blocks anywhere from 4ha to 40ha.
“In Wedderburn, property has never sold that quick, but we are selling them very, very quickly at the moment — and getting good prices for them,” Mr Hosking said.
“And most of it is weekenders and hobby prospectors.”
Bush blocks with water features, even dried out waterways, can provide good sources of gold.
PropTrack data shows the town’s $305,000 median house price has doubled in the past five years.
Among the more recent sales was a property with an old miner’s hut still intact that has already yielded its new owner a number of new pieces, and he said the prior owner went out with a metal detector before selling and found a significant amount.
Elders Real Estate Ararat director David Jennings noted he too had seen people who had bought blocks in that region turn them into a golden opportunity.
“There’s been a few locals who have bought land not far away from the block and done quite well out of it,” Mr Jennings said.
Lynn Pendergast bought a bush block with a “very rustic cabin” and an old camping hut as a weekend getaway a few years back.
“I was there for 12 months before I found my first nugget, after I’d bought a new metal detector,” Ms Pendergast said.
“That same day I went up the hill and kicked aside a rock. It turned out that rock was quartz with a bit of gold in it.
“And I reckon you have more chance of finding a gold nugget than you do of winning the lottery.”
Among the trees of this golden triangle regional property past owners have found small fortunes.
Having found more than 70 pieces on the block, which she has yet to cash in on though estimates could be worth a few thousand dollars, she recently sold the property to move closer to family, but said prospective buyers had been intrigued by the plot’s gilt past.
“I still believe there’s some good nuggets down there,” she said.
“And it certainly helped sell the block. I told the agent where I had found the gold, so the next owner will have a bit of a head start.”
Brett Frazzani is among the latest Victorians to buy a bush block in the state’s golden triangle and embrace prospecting as a hobby.
“I have found a little bit of gold in the space of two or three months,” Mr Frazzani said.
With gold-hunting relatives in the area steering him towards the block he bought, he’s happy with the finds — but not planning to turn professional.
“I don’t go out there with the thought that I will make myself rich or anything,” he said.
“I’m more interested in the memories and the fun doing it and the excitement. For when the detector goes off and you’re wondering is it a bullet or is it gold or a bit of old miners junk.
“And once you do find a bit, you just get gold fever and it’s in your blood.”
Another piece found by Mr Cornish as he has searched around Victoria’s golden triangle.
Gold prospecting requires a miner’s right in Victoria, which can be obtained for $27.80 and can only be done on public land with non-mechanical tools where permitted or private land with the owner’s consent.
The world’s largest gold nugget, the Welcome Stranger, and the world’s largest nugget found by gold detector, the Hand of Faith, were both found in Victoria’s golden triangle.
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