Australia
Miner's Right Victoria: Cost, How to Get One and the Rules
A Victorian Miner's Right costs $29.40 for 10 years, rising to $41.40 on 1 January 2027. How to buy one, what it lets you do, and the rules attached.
The DetectingLog Blog
Field-tested guides for smarter hunts and more keepers.
Australia
Metal Detecting in the Northern Territory: Permit and Land Access
The NT has required a fossicking permit since June 2026. How the free permit, fossicking notices, pastoral land, Aboriginal land and gold limits work.
Australia
Metal Detecting in South Australia: No Permit, Always Permission
South Australia needs no fossicking permit, but every block needs someone's consent. How Crown land, parks, Jupiter Creek and Mount Crawford work.
Australia
Metal Detecting in Tasmania: Prospecting Licence and Reserves
In Tasmania a detector needs a prospecting licence, is banned from fossicking areas and cannot be carried onto reserved land. How the rules fit together.
Australia
Metal Detecting in NSW: Fossicking Rules, Forests and Goldfields
NSW needs no fossicking licence, but it has permits, take limits and a strict relics law. Where you can detect in New South Wales and where you cannot.
Australia
Metal Detecting in Queensland: Fossicking Licence, Areas and Gold
Queensland needs a fossicking licence everywhere and written permission off designated land. How the licence, fossicking areas and GPAs work in practice.
Australia
Metal Detecting in Western Australia: Miner's Right and Tenements
In WA a metal detector counts as prospecting. What a Miner's Right allows, how tenements, pastoral leases and 40E permits work, and where the gold is.
Tips
Digging and Recovery: Cut a Clean Plug, Leave No Trace
Recovery is the skill that decides whether you keep your permissions. Tools, plug technique by ground type, and how to get the target out undamaged.
Australia
Metal Detecting in Victoria: Miner's Right, Parks and Goldfields
Victoria has Australia's richest detecting ground and a dense rulebook. What a Miner's Right covers, where it stops, and how to read the goldfields.
Australia
Metal Detecting the Australian Goldfields: A Field Guide
Where Australia's gold country is, why nugget hunting needs different gear and technique, how to read old diggings, and the safety that actually matters out there.
Beaches
Beach Detecting After a Storm: Reading Sand Movement
Storms strip sand and expose years of lost jewellery. Here is how to read cuts, scallops and black sand, when to go, and how to work a scoured beach safely.
Gear
Pinpointers: Why They Matter and How to Use One
A pinpointer is the highest-value accessory in detecting. What it does, how to use one properly, what to look for when buying, and the habits that make it pay.