The Rise and Fall of Mt Palmer: Western Australia's Short-Lived Gold Boom in the Yilgarn

A rich find, a frantic rush, a proper little town with a survey and a name, a mine that paid extraordinary returns — and then war, labour shortages, and a played-out reef, and the whole thing folds up and blows away with the red dust. In this post I want to walk through the lot: how the gold was found, what the mine and the town were actually like, why it died, and — for those of you keen to go and stand on the ground yourself — exactly what you need to know about getting there and, crucially, why you can't just wander in and swing a detector

Southern Cross Gold: A Beginners' Prospectors Roadmap

The Southern Cross region is legendary. It’s a cornerstone of the Western Australian gold industry. But here’s the thing: you can’t just drive out there, wander aimlessly through the scrub, and hope for the best. If you want to actually find something—and more importantly, if you want to do it without getting a fine or getting stuck in the middle of nowhere—you need a plan. You need to know the ground, you need to know your gear, and you absolutely need to know the law.

Stop Guessing and Start Digging: How to Find Your Own Gold Mine Without Leaving Your Desk

Most prospectors spend their weekends driving through the bush, swinging a detector at random and hoping to get lucky. This "hope-based" prospecting is a recipe for frustration and wasted fuel. Professional geologists don't find gold by accident; they find it by doing their homework. The secret to commercial-grade results is that the exact same tools used by industry professionals—comprehensive Western Australian government databases—are completely free and accessible to anyone with an internet connection. By shifting from a "weekend warrior" mindset to a data-driven approach, you can identify high-potential ground before you ever leave your house.

Why Old Workings Are The Best Prospecting Ground In WA — And Why Most Prospectors Are Reading Them Wrong

An old working isn't a hole where the gold used to be. It's a hundred-year-old geological survey. Those men who dug it were very good at what they did.