Prospectors strike gold as stock market drives record price growth

Australia’s gold rushes* may be in the past, but one Aussie hopeful has been investigating whether it’s possible to make a living from gold panning.

Gold has been going up in value amid trade tensions* between the US and China, as well as talk of interest rate cuts in the US.

The precious metal soared to AUD $6450 per ounce (US$4200) for the first time in history on Thursday.

The gold price has been good news for Chris Bogusis, a prospector* and content creator from Victoria who runs a mining equipment shop in Beechworth called Old Mouldy.

Mr Bogusis has been panning for gold in rural creeks – and he has been making a lot of money in the process.

In one outing, he made $1000 over just three hours.

Australia is the world’s third largest producer of gold, with almost 20 per cent of known deposits. The nation’s gold exports are now expected to overtake liquefied natural gas exports next year, leaving them second only to iron ore.

The gold rushes of the 19th century ended long ago, but panning remains a popular hobby, requiring only a pan, shovel and snuffer bottle*.

Some waterways outshine others, but last month, during a three-hour session at a publicly accessible creek in Victoria, Mr Bogusis found a “spectacular” 5.67 grams of gold, then worth $1066.

“That is a ridiculous amount of money to recover out of public land, completely for free,” he told viewers in a social media post, adding that he had since returned to the same spot several times.

In another session he found more than $600 worth of gold during eight hours of prospecting.

On yet another trip, Mr Bogusis challenged himself by travelling to a creek he wasn’t familiar with – which meant he had no prior knowledge of where gold deposits might be – where he used a small pan to search for gold.

After six hours of prospecting, he said it was “repetitive, tedious* and hard work”.

“It’s not for everyone. I struggle with doing this kind of panning, it’s hard,” he said.

But as he sifted through flakes of gold from the creek, he predicted he would still make good money from the day’s work.

“This is the power of the gold price right now … You don’t need a lot to make good money,” he said.

The trip earned him 0.52 grams of gold worth about $95 – a $75 profit* after he factored in costs.

“Here in Australia, that would count as pretty solid part-time work,” he said.

WHY GOLD IS GOING UP
Gold’s surge in value over the past year has left gold dealers* like ABC Bullion in Sydney’s Martin Place buzzing, as crowds wait around the entrance.

The price of silver has also spiked, as the value of the US dollar falls and investors put their money in precious metals.

This past week, silver traded above US$52 per ounce for the first time, breaking its previous record price set back in 1980.

Analysts* at Bank of America Corp have forecast the gold price has room to move even more, tipping it might hit US$5,000 per ounce in 2026, while silver could reach US$65 per ounce.

However, they also warned the price might fall in the near term.

So why has gold been going up so much in value?

It really has to do with the movements of investors in the stock market and how they respond to the political and economic world around them.

Gold has traditionally been considered a “safe haven” for investors during times when the stock market and the economy are both a bit unstable.

When shares and currencies lose value, investors tend to put their money into assets that are more stable, to try to protect themselves financially. Gold has long been considered a sturdy asset to invest in during times of economic upheaval because it has held its value well historically. It has solid value as a precious metal and often performs well during times of financial uncertainty.

In the US, growing government debt, the government shutdown and doubts about the future independence of the Federal Reserve* have all made “safe haven” assets such as gold more attractive to investors.

Meanwhile, emerging economies such as China and Russia are stockpiling* gold to reduce their reliance on the US dollar.

More people buying gold, whether that’s through stock market shares or in its physical form, means there is more demand, which drives up the price.

And that is good news for gold panners like Mr Bogusis, who can find gold out in nature free of charge and sell it for lots of money.

POLL

GLOSSARY

• gold rushes: when huge numbers of people flocked to parts of Australia in search of gold, starting from 1851. The gold rushes lead to a huge increase in population and the start of multiculturalism in Australia. The huge numbers of free immigrants entering the country changed it from a series of convict colonies into more progressive cities
• trade tensions: the US has imposed a series of steep tariffs on Chinese goods, beginning in 2018, and China has retaliated in what has been described as a “trade war” between the two companies
• prospector: someone who looks for minerals such as gold
• snuffer bottle: a plastic bottle than sucks up small particles of gold from a gold pan for collection
• tedious: very slow, boring and time consuming
• profit: money you make after subtracting costs
• gold dealers: businesses that buy and sell gold
• analysts: experts that analyse the stock market and economy and forecast what might happen to the price of things in the near future
• Federal Reserve: the central bank of the United States, which sets monetary policy and manages the supply of money in the country. The Federal Reserve is an arm of the US government but can act without the approval of the government. The future of its independence has come into question after US President Trump reportedly threatened to fire Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell if he didn’t lower interest rates
• stockpiling: getting and keeping a large supply of something for future use

EXTRA READING
Buried treasure creates gold fever
Second gold rush on Oz horizon
Gold finds kept secret before the Rush

QUICK QUIZ
1. How much is gold now worth?
2. Why has it been going up?
3. What technique has Chris Bogusis been using to find gold?
4. In what century did Australia’s gold rushes occur?
5. Which other precious metal has also recently gone up in value?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Sell me some gold
Two person role play:

Person 1 is playing a gold seller. Person 2 is playing a customer that walks into the gold store.

The seller must try to convince the customer to spend their money on gold today. They should explain the benefits of gold over other investments, as well as why buying gold would be better than spending your money on other things you want like new clothes or the latest device. To be very convincing you could even draw some quick graphs, pictures or diagrams to illustrate how gold investment is beneficial.

The customer should ask the seller some challenging questions and ultimately decide if they will invest in gold today, giving a reason for their choice.

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; HASS/Economics and Business

2. Extension
Did this news story inspire you to pick up a gold pan, head into the bush and try your luck? Or are there better ways to spend your time?

Write a paragraph to explain why you would or would not like to go gold panning. Provide logical reasons that explain your view on whether it is a worthwhile activity.

Time: allow 10 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English; HASS/Economics and Business

VCOP ACTIVITY
Up-level it
Scan through the article and see if you can locate three words that you consider to be basic, or low level. These are words we use all the time and that can be replaced by more sophisticated words. Words like “good” and “said” are examples of overused words.

Once you have found them, see if you can up-level them. Think of synonyms you could use instead of these basic words, but make sure they still fit into the context of the article.

Re-read the article with your new words. Did it make it better? Why/why not?