Hello - looking to buy a lease!

[PinkiePie]

Hello everyone, my name is Kate - I'm married, 2 children, and my husband and I have been looking at gold prospecting and mining for quite some time over here in New Zealand, and recently decided perhaps my native Australia would be better suited and more adventurous for our family!

We were hoping to be able to spend 3-5 months of the year back in Australia on a good size lease, but it's a big struggle to find them for sale online. Most websites seem to be really old, or the contact details don't work for the listings. I had been looking for a forum like this for some time and stumbled across it off YouTube, of all things (nothing came up from Google until I searched the web name specifically).

So good to see a community of like-minded individuals, and I hope we can organise a trip in the near future!

 

[madtuna]

Hi Kate,
what specifically are you wanting to do? Use detectors, pans etc or machinery eg bobcats dozers etc?

 

[PinkiePie]

Hi Kate,
what specifically are you wanting to do? Use detectors, pans etc or machinery eg bobcats dozers etc?

Thank you for your reply

All of the above, more or less! My husband is very experienced with heavy machinery, so we'd be happy to roam around with detectors for the kids and also use bigger gear, like gold trommels, excavators, etc. A nice large sized workable area that we can potter away on for the next decade with the family, basically!

 

[madtuna]

Ah okay so you're after an M not a P.
I know there are a few in my area (Laverton WA) but usually sold via word of mouth not through adverts or brokers.

 

[PinkiePie]

Yes that sounds right... We figured a lot of it was word of mouth!

Is it worth putting up a notice on here in case any members are selling? Got friends and family in Perth and that's where I was born, so it would be good to be in WA, but we're also not fussy about the location and happy to travel anywhere really!

 

[madtuna]

Worth a shot. Put a notice in the wanted section.

 

[LORD]

Check out gumtree australia, i see them on there a bit.

 

[RM Outback]

G'day PinkiePie welcome to PA sounds like your family has great plans :Y:. Have you contacted Family in WA and have them put out feelers. All the best with your plans keep us posted.

 

[PinkiePie]

Thank you for all your helpful replies I'll scout GumTree and maybe put a wanted ad up there! My family back in WA are fairly clueless about gold and prospecting/mining, ahaha. But one can try! It's nice to finally be at a place to be able to take that time out for an adventure like this with a young family!

 

[SWright]

Lived and worked in WA and all over Oz in mining. Perhaps a good thing to do is go over to Kal or somewhere similar, work at something else for a while and have a good look around. Dare I say that someone wanting to sell a going concern is rare. Many of the leases I saw were flogged to death. You also need to know exactly what you are looking for as a concern that need water maybe nowhere near water at all. Government fees and all that can also be the death of some small miners. Also anything near a good local town Like Kal, Leonora, Laverton or Meeka would be difficult to get unless you right there at the time. Usually if a bloke is retiring for example the guy next door will go for it if its a good lease. Better potential ground can always be found in the Pilbara but you are going to be very remote and such places can be dangerous for the unprepared. In the exploration game we would not go into those areas without heavy support up to and including helicopters. NEVER NEVER ASK SOMEONE IN A LOCAL PUB. Ask around when you are there and try to find a retired old timer miner with no skin in the game anymore. He maybe able to steer you in the right direction or to the right person who may be in the know.

Araluen

 

[PinkiePie]

Thank you SWright, that confirms a few of our concerns! We always debated why someone would sell something that's as great as they make it out to be in the ad, unless they're retiring. My husband is a helicopter pilot, and we had actually discussed using this to our advantage, as we are happy to head out way into the middle of nowhere. We run a construction and earthmoving company back here in Auckland, so very comfortable amongst machines and gear. I think I'd do the road haul with a good caravan, he'd bring the helicopter and we'd settle in.

The most important thing for us is making contact with people and getting the right leases/claims to work

Have you done any mining out in "the wops"? Pilbara would be a bit of fun!

 

[SWright]

G'Day PinkiePie

With that set of skills you should not have much problem getting work in WA either in minerals exploration, mining or even cattle mustering. The Pilbara is a hard but beautiful place. One of the hot exploration areas up there is in and around Nullagine. Remote and hot but a decent base. Its also expensive with everything having to be trucked in. decent chance of getting a lease that someone had trouble with, mainly having bit off more than they could chew and being totally unprepared. I would do a google search of companies working out there and see if they have any opportunities. My mining experience in WA was almost exclusively in and around Kalgoorlie, but exploration all over the state. Kimberley is another lovely place but little in the way of available ground and is very seasonal. Can't move during the wet and the place virtually shuts down then and during the dry its wall to wall grey nomads and tourists.

Araluen

 

[PinkiePie]

Thank you very much for your helpful tips - it's a big help as we don't know the industry and area that well. I'll keep an eye out for things that pop up in those areas, and I think plan our next holiday over there so we can see the area and hopefully meet a few of the locals!