Veteran Australian prospector Brent Shannon says others are finally catching up to him when it comes to excitement about gold.
Shannon made headlines in 2020 when he found two nuggets worth a combined $350,000 in Victoria. Today that find would be worth between $650,000 and $700,000, he says.
The 47-year-old from Bendigo has been an enthusiast for two decades – prospecting is his “full-time job” – but recently has noticed a huge uptick in the number of people wanting to invest in gold or heading to Australia’s forests and waterways in search of it to cash in on its record price run.
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“Interest in gold is at an all-time high, along with the price,” Shannon says.
“You can see that by the number of people out in the bush with metal detectors, gold pans – there has definitely been an increase over the last 12 months with the rising gold price.”
Gold has nearly doubled in value since early 2023. It hit a record high this month when it rose above US$3,500 (A$5,340.57) an ounce, surpassing its previous April peak. On Monday it had reached US$3,599.57 an ounce, according to the ABC Bullion price tracker.
Many Australians are now trying to cash in. While some have headed out prospecting in search of the precious metal, others are selling their gold jewellery and coins.
In Shannon’s view, people should hold on to their gold – investments, physical pieces or jewellery – if possible.
“I wouldn’t be looking to sell any gold right now,” he says. “You [should] keep holding it until you have to sell it. And if you absolutely have to sell it, you should look for a reputable buyer.”
Shannon says that those selling nuggets or small pieces shouldn’t accept less than 5% off the spot price from a reputable buyer, who he says can be found by asking a shop that sells prospecting equipment.
He says gold jewellery is harder to price because the purity – or carats – can vary greatly between each piece, though he recommends buyers such as the Western Australian government’s Perth Mint.
Volatile global markets driving up price
John O’Donoghue, the general manager of the depository at the Perth Mint, says there has been a big increase in people selling their gold jewellery and coins to the mint, coinciding with the recent hike in prices.
However, O’Donoghue says while the elevated gold price has generated “considerable interest and excitement”, it is in keeping with historical patterns.
“Demand for precious metals has always been cyclical in nature,” he says.
O’Donoghue says the price spike has created “a double-edged sword” for the mint’s business.
“On one hand, we’re seeing increased demand for our refining services and rising institutional demand for our investment products,” he says.
But he says retail sales of bullion and minted products take a hit as the higher costs reduce demand from “mum and dad” investors looking to buy physical gold.
The stellar price run has come at a curious time, given the safe haven asset has surged at the same time as equity markets in many nations, including Australia and the US, hit record highs. In the past, investors have typically flocked to gold when the stock market has fallen.
Jon Mills, an equity analyst at Morningstar, says the gold rally is being driven by volatility elsewhere in the global markets.
In the US investors are turning to gold due to concerns about the budget deficit and the potential for the president, Donald Trump, to interfere with the central bank’s independence, Mills says.
Other central banks around the world have bought more gold over the past four years because of uncertainty generated by the war in Ukraine and, more recently, tariffs, he says, which have also contributed to the price increase.
The central banks of India, China, Turkey and Poland are among those that have been adding gold to their reserves.
Last year, gold overtook the euro to become the world’s second largest reserve asset behind the dollar, according to a European Central Bank report.
Jump in prospecting tourism
Financial adviser Gareth Colgan, the managing director at Wellbeing Wealth, says the downside of investing in gold is that it doesn’t “produce an income”, but he still recommends it make up 2-5% of a diverse portfolio.
“The thing about gold is it’s typically seen as a safe haven asset,” he says. “What we see is the gold price increase dramatically during times of uncertainty.”
Colgan says investors who want a dividend – or active income – from gold could buy shares in a gold mining company. But, because prices are so high, he says it’s hard to know whether to increase their investment allocation towards gold now.
“We’re looking at silver now being a potential investment,” he says.
While Western Australia is now the country’s largest producer of gold, historically Victoria has produced more gold than any other state relative to its size, and it is still popular with individual gold seekers.
The gold frenzy has also reached those who are hoping to get lucky and find some themselves, according to Jason Cornish, the president of the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria.
Cornish says interest in gold has “jumped exponentially” including among people overseas, many of whom have been enticed by YouTubers and TV shows such as Aussie Gold Hunters.
“We’ve got people calling us from Sweden, France, [saying]: ‘We’re coming to Australia and we want to go gold prospecting’,” Cornish says.
“I’ve still got the first bit of gold I found [15 years ago],” he says. “Sometimes you find stuff smaller than a match head, other times you might find an ounce piece … and that’s five-and-a-half grand in your pocket.”
