Metal Detecting in Australia: Local Laws, Best Places and Clubs

Australia is one of the countries where metal detecting and especially gold prospecting are incredibly popular activities, mostly because there are lots of gold ore veins, and places with gold dust and nuggets there. This is why Australian government has actually taken effort to develop up-to-date and comprehensive rules and laws for metal detectorists.

Therefore, to make metal detecting activity in Australia successful, the detectorists should, firstly, be aware of the local rules and laws, and secondly, have knowledge and skills of detecting.

We will discuss the rules and laws in this overview; as for detecting knowledge and skills, you can learn more from our book “Time to Detect”.

Peculiarities of Metal Detecting in Australia

Australia is a country comparatively rich in gold and other valuable metals and minerals. However, it is also well-known for its versatile land and environments. In fact, detecting in Australia is harsh due to geology, climate, wildlife, terrain, highly mineralized soils, etc. There are many passionate detectorists in the country, but the conditions they have to deal with are far less welcoming than for many other treasure hunters all over the world.

Due to the fact that Australia is so fond of metal detecting, treasure hunting, and gold prospecting Australia, not only its local laws are up-to-date and well-developed. Local communities are also very advanced. Minelab, one of the leading manufacturers of hobby and professional level metal detectors, was founded in Australia, and one of the main reasons for the company’s being founded was the desire to meet the needs of local detectorists.

In order to make metal detecting activity efficient in Australia, one has to invest some knowledge, efforts, and some money as well. This overview by DetectHistory will shed some light on the most important aspects of detecting in Australia.

Metal Detecting for Gold

Since there are many places where gold dust and nuggets can be found, prospecting for gold is one of the most desired and discussed sub niches of Australian detecting. Many beginners dream of becoming famous and successful prospectors. Yet, first things first! Besides having proper equipment and decent skills, one has to be aware of the laws and rules!

Gold Prospecting Laws in Australia

Australian government does not prohibit gold prospecting or mining. However, most Australian states actually require a Miner’s license that gives permit for prospecting activities. If you are part of the group, every member of the group must hold their own personal license.

Northern Territory, metal detecting laws South Australia, and ACT do not require a Miner’s license. In metal detecting Victoria, Miner’s Right is required. Metal detecting laws NSW (New South Wales) and Queensland require a Fossicking Permit. Tasmania and Western Australia require a metal detecting for gold in Australia license.

For most cases of recreational activities, permits are not needed, unless the detectorist plans to detect in state forests or protected lands. Most permits are granted online, and cost from $20 to $50, and are valid for 12 months.

Miner’s Right/Fossicking Permit/Prospecting License can be obtained for a fee in the relevant local agency. Holder of such license or permit has the right to prospect for gold and minerals, conduct geological mapping, mining, and fossick for gemstones.

Illegal prospecting in Australia will most likely be quickly reported, and the punishments are quite impressive, suggesting huge penalties.

How to Stake Out a Claim for Gold Prospecting

The rules may differ for states and territories, but the rule of thumb is that there are two types of mining claims. The first type is called prescribed and it suggests permits for an area up to 20 hectares. Such claims are obtained for machinery mining to retrieve gemstones and various valuable minerals. The other type of mining claim is a hand mining claim. For such a claim, the maximum size is 1 hectare, and only surface is allowed.

The claim defines maximum area for mining, entitles the holder to mine only specific metals or minerals, and according to the Australian legislation, a holder may only have direct or indirect interest in no more than two claims.

There are several important nuances to keep in mind to stake out a claim:

• You must notify the land owner in written form 10 days before you want to stake out a claim;
• The area indicated in the mining claim must be rectangular, but the eventual size of mining will be defined by the size of the deposit or vein;
• The area for the claim must be described in detail, including proposed route to that area, and GPS coordinates;
• Consent should be achieved with landowner and other tenants;
• Restricted lands (wells, dams, water storages, permanent structures, recreational areas or burial sites) must have at least 200 meter radius from the mining site;
• You must compensate the landowner or the Crown, depending on whether it is private or public land, for retrieving the resources, and the compensation must be agreed upon before the claim is granted;
• The claim holder must provide a security deposit before they start to mine, to ensure that all removal of structures and rubbish, machinery, local fees, etc., will be paid for regardless of the success of mining;
• A mining claim can not be granted for land with already existing mining claim;

Mining claims in Australia are granted online via MyMinesOnline website. The miner must fill the form and wait for a response. If the permit is filed on paper, it should be mailed to Mines Assessment Hub.

What Rules Must Never be Violated

Talking about Miner’s license and hand mining claim, the rules that must not be violated include:

• Limited sampling only with hand-help equipment;
• It is prohibited to remove samples heavier than 20 kgs;
• The metal detectorist must ensure that the least possible damage is done to the surface or vegetation;
• Endangering safety of any person or animal is prohibited;
• Providing safety includes filling in any disturbances made on surface of the land during mining;
• The detectorists must ensure they prevent fire, damage to trees, and damage to livestock alike, at all cost;
• It is prohibited to remove any fencing whatsoever erected around or placed nearby abandoned shafts, wells, tunnels, etc., serving as a sign of the area being unsafe;

Metal Detecting for Relics and Jewelry

Relics and jewelry are among other valuable things popular as targets during Australian metal detecting and relic hunting. Relics can be both valuable in financial terms, but also have historical and cultural significance. Jewelry, on the other hand, can be ancient or modern, and most probably valuable in both cases.

Metal Detecting Laws in Australia

Specifically metal detecting laws in Australia do not differ much from gold prospecting laws. For both types of activities licenses and permits are necessary, the main difference is that one does not need to stake out claims for the sake of simple surface detecting for relics.

There are many specific rules about different lands and areas, and whether one is allowed to detect on these areas with Miner’s Permit, stake out claims, and so on. Unfortunately, it is impossible to list all the rules about all the states in this post. Local Australian detectorists should check the local rules out on an individual basis.

According to the general laws, it is possible to detect and prospect on:

• Unallocated Crown land if there is no claim staked out by another miner (and this last requirement works for any other type of land available for detecting; basically, it is allowed to detect or mine on lands allowed by the law and not claimed by other miners);
• Crown lands that are subject to pastoral lease, lease for grazing or lease for timber;
• Mining tenements, if the tenement holder grants their permission;

Talking about the most popular (and most frequently allowed) places for detecting, they include:

• Playgrounds;
• Picnic areas;
• Camping grounds;
• Sports grounds;
• Jetties and piers;
• Swimming areas;
• Beaches;
• Old battlefields;
• Old goldfields;
• Old mineral exploration areas;
• Showgrounds;
• Race courses;
• Historical town sites;
• Ghost towns and abandoned sites;

However, there are nuances about public and private lands every Aussie detectorist should be aware of.

Public Land

Most public land is allowed for hobby detecting, but as a rule, it is prohibited to treasure hunt within town sites, and sites otherwise classified as reserved – for example, cemeteries, archaeological sites, and certain historically significant sites.

The lands where exclusive native title rights exist can only be entered with permission from the Native Title party. Any Aboriginal heritage sites are prohibited for prospecting and even entering; breaches are punished by huge penalties.

Private Property

Any private property like a farm can only be entered with a Permit to Enter issued by the local or state department of Mining and Minerals. In any case, the landowner must be contacted before the entry, even with the Permit. Moreover, if the detectorist expects any valuable finds on these private lands, they must discuss compensation with the landowner, and agree on it before any treasure hunting or mining starts.

National Parks

In the majority of Australia states and Territories, national parks are prohibited for any land disturbance. Exceptions can be made for hobby detectorists with beginner level machines, but every case must be discussed separately, and depends on local rules that apply. No major mining or treasure hunting is most often impossible in national parks, and permit is unlikely to be granted.

Beaches

Beaches, shallow waters metal detecting, and detecting around beach structures is usually allowed, but with a permit, plus local management should be informed beforehand, and safety measures must be taken according to metal detecting on the beach laws. If deeper underwater metal detecting is attempted, this is only possible within allowed swimming areas near the beach.

Metal Detecting Code of Etiquette

Since Australia is a welcoming place for treasure hunters, metal detectorists, gold prospectors, and miners, the code of ethics is really strong and is promoted by all relevant agencies and departments. So, every wannabe or beginner detectorist must consider the following nuances:

• As attractive as it may be, any private property means you have to ask for permission from the landowner;
• Every detectorist who uses hand-held equipment must learn to dig and pull out ground as plugs when they seek for their targets. Any holes made during detecting must be filled in carefully and neatly;
• Any fencing and gates, fire trails, and structures must be left as you found them. Do not remove the fencing or open\close the gates;
• Any old structures must not be removed or destroyed. Old buildings or ruins must not be disturbed;
• Avoid National Parks or Heritage Listed locations;
• Before detecting in any public park, contact your local Council regarding the specific park you are interested in. Some parks prohibit detecting due to peculiarities of soils or vegetation;
• Any mining activity other than hobby detecting with a beginner-level machine requires individual permit issued by the relevant authority;
• When detecting or researching, don’t do anything that would undermine other people’s trust and would spoil the metal detecting hobby reputation. Every detectorist is an ambassador of the hobby and should pave the way for other like-minded enthusiasts by his or her positive attitude and approach;

What Valuables You Can Find

Australia is rich in potential finds, and these go far beyond modern things like smartphones or jewelry during beach metal detecting, or typical finds like coins or some old jewelry. In fact, there are many different types of metal detecting activities one can pursue – from hobby detecting and treasure hunting, to shallow water and underwater detecting, to gold prospecting, to mining minerals or gemstones!

More or less full list of potential finds includes (but is not limited to!): coins, relics and antiquities, old and modern jewelry, battlefield relics, aluminum ore, iron ore, lithium, gold, lead, diamond, uranium, zinc, ilmenite, zircon, rutile, nickel, silver, cobalt, copper, tin, titanium, magnesium, monazite, garnet, emerald, sapphire, ruby, opal, topaz, jade, molybdenum, niobium, tantalum, mineral sands, agate, amber, amethyst, aquamarine, jet, onyx, obsidian, moonstone, malachite, turquoise, tourmaline.

Of course, most of these potentially valuable finds are unavailable with beginner-medium level hobby metal detectors. To get an efficient machine, check out deep seeking metal detectors and metal detectors for gold.

What To Do With The Finds

Most finds can be kept by the detectorist, if these are pieces of modern or ancient jewelry, coins, or small battlefield relics. However, bigger hoards or old relics should be shown to local relevant authorities or museums, since certain finds can have historical significance and therefore they belong to the Crown.

If you locate gold, other valuable metals, minerals, or gemstones, there are three options for you. According to the Australian law, minerals are the property of the Crown. If the land where you have discovered minerals, metals, or gemstones, is Crown land and it is not covered by the mining tenement, then by the law you own the find. If the land is covered by the mining tenement, you can only keep the find and use it with the tenement holder’s permission (if you had their permission to prospect!). For all cases other than these two, the detectorists/miners must seek consultation from Exploration Licence holders and the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) within 2 weeks.

If you would like to learn more about what to do with the finds in terms of handling, cleaning, storing, evaluation, etc., you can check out Detect History blog and reviews.

Where to Look for Help?

Most beginner metal detectorists and treasure hunters may lack certain knowledge or skills purely due to lack of experience (and in treasure hunting, experience only comes with time!). So, little surprise that help and advice are sometimes needed even in seemingly simple situations.

There are many places to seek help and advice, and the simplest way is online. Firstly, you can check out the Detect History Book which is extremely useful for any beginner detectorist, and covers all major aspects and nuances needed to start the hobby successfully. The book will certainly help you avoid some widespread mistakes.

Other places to seek help include specialized metal detecting forums Australia, social media groups, and of course local metal detecting Australia clubs.

Forums and Social Networks

Specialized forums on metal detecting, treasure hunting, and gold prospecting are usually international, and therefore they are available for enthusiasts from around the globe, and are very informative. The biggest and the best metal detecting forums include Friendly Metal Detecting Forum, Treasure Net, Find’s Treasure Forums, Detector Prospector, The Dankowski Metal Detecting Forum, American Detectorist, and The Treasure Depot. You can learn a bit more about these forums in the blog post.

Purely metal detecting forums Australia include Gold Detecting and Prospecting Forum, Prospecting Australia Forum, Australian Metal Detecting and Relic Hunting Community.

You can also search for relevant groups on Facebook or Instagram, or other social networks you use. Most big websites or forums have their communities on social media, or even YouTube channels.

Clubs

Many Aussie metal detecting clubs also have only communities or groups on social media, but some clubs have their own websites. Local Australian clubs include The Victorian Seekers Club, Brisbane Metal Detecting Club, Adelaide Detector Club Inc., Prospecting Tasmania, Southern Rockhounds, Bribie Island Gem & Fossicking Club Inc., West Coast Metal Detector Club. Joining a metal detecting club is always both helpful and fun; they usually form tightly knit communities that not only educate themselves on the hobby and go out on locations together, but have meetings, celebrate birthdays, and so on. Beginner detectorists can borrow or rent metal detectors from other members of the club, join more experienced colleagues for the search sessions, and get useful contacts of museums or private collectors.

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