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Gold prospecting clubs

Gold prospecting and metal detecting clubs in Victoria

Last checked: August 2026
Victoria has the deepest prospecting club network in the country, and it runs on two levels. Local detecting and prospecting clubs hold a monthly meeting and take weekend camps out to the Golden Triangle and the central goldfields. Above them sits the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria, the state land access body, whose eight regional branches also run their own meetings and field trips. Between the two you can find a club within reach of most of the goldfields, and almost all of them will let you come along before you pay anything.

Clubs in Victoria

13 gold prospecting and metal detecting clubs we could confirm from their own pages or an association listing. Clubs change meeting nights and venues, so check with the club before you turn up.

The Victorian Seekers Club Inc

Melbourne, meets in Mulgrave
Focus
Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting
Meets
General meetings at 8pm in Mulgrave, with dates and camps listed on the club's events and news pages
Visitors
The club states that it is usual for prospective members to attend two club outings or meetings first, to better understand the club and its activities
Club page →Active

Sunbury Metal Detecting Club

Sunbury
Focus
Gold Prospecting, Coins & Relics
Meets
First Wednesday of each month, 7:30pm, at Sunbury Neighbourhood House, except January
Visitors
The club says new faces are always welcome and that you do not need any gear or experience to come and say hello. It suggests attending meetings and camp-outs before applying to join
Club page →Active

Victorian Fossickers Club Inc.

Lilydale, Yarra Ranges
Focus
Gold Prospecting & Metal Detecting
Meets
Fourth Thursday of the month at 8pm, February to November, at the Lillydale Lake Community Room, Lilydale
Visitors
The club states that visitors are welcome to attend any one meeting and one club camp, to assure themselves that the club is the right fit before becoming a financial member
Note
Members also detect for coins, gemstones and relics, and pan and sluice.
Club page →Active

Victorian Metal Detector & Prospectors Association

Central Victoria and the Golden Triangle, with camps at locations including Moliagul and Inkerman
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Visitors
The club offers a free three camp trial membership, inviting prospective members to come along to any three camps to experience the club and meet other members
Club page →Active

PMAV Ballarat Branch

Ballarat
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Meets
Monthly meetings at the City Oval Bowling Club, 1406 Sturt Street, Lake Wendouree, at 7pm on the third Tuesday of each month, with field trips on the first Sunday
Visitors
The branch page states that everyone is welcome, and that monthly field trips to goldfields around Ballarat are organised at the meetings
Note
A branch of the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria, the state prospecting and land access body.
Club page →Active

PMAV Central Goldfields Branch

Maryborough
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Meets
Third Tuesday of each month, 6pm for dinner and 7.30pm for the meeting, with field trips organised for the first Sunday of the month
Note
A branch of the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria.
Club page →Active

PMAV Melbourne Metropolitan Branch

Mitcham, Melbourne
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Meets
Second Tuesday of each month at 7pm, at the 1st Mitcham Scout Hall, 17 Brunswick Road, Mitcham
Note
A branch of the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria.
Club page →Active

PMAV Geelong Branch

Breakwater, Geelong
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Meets
First Monday of each month at 7pm, at the Raiders Bingo Centre, 54 Fellmongers Road, Breakwater
Note
A branch of the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria.
Club page →Active

PMAV North East Branch

Yackandandah
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Meets
Third Wednesday of every second month, in January, March, May, July, September and November, at 7.30pm at the Senior Citizens Hall, Welsford Street, Yackandandah
Note
A branch of the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria.
Club page →Active

PMAV East Gippsland Branch

Stratford
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Meets
Last Thursday of each month at 7.30pm, at the RSL Hall on the Princes Highway, Stratford
Note
A branch of the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria.
Club page →Active

PMAV West Gippsland Branch

Drouin
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Meets
Second Thursday of each month, at the CWA Hall, 10 Sinclair Street, Drouin
Note
A branch of the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria.
Club page →Active

Bendigo Prospecting Club

Bendigo
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Club page →Activity unconfirmed

PMAV Bendigo Branch

Whipstick, Bendigo
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Meets
The branch page says it typically meets on the last Saturday of the month at the Notley camping ground in the Whipstick, and asks you to contact the branch to confirm
Note
A branch of the Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria.
Club page →Activity unconfirmed

What joining a club actually gets you

Go along before you pay anythingMost Victorian clubs expect it. Sunbury Metal Detecting Club says you do not need gear or experience to come and say hello. The Victorian Fossickers Club invites visitors to attend one meeting and one club camp. The Victorian Seekers Club says it is usual to attend two outings or meetings first. The Victorian Metal Detector & Prospectors Association offers a free three camp trial membership. The PMAV Ballarat branch states plainly that everyone is welcome.
Fees are modest where clubs publish themAnnual fees sit in the tens of dollars rather than the hundreds. Sunbury lists $60 single and $80 family. The Victorian Fossickers Club lists $50 a year single or family, plus a $5 joining fee. Most other clubs do not publish fees online, so ask at a meeting.
The camps are the pointClub camps move around the Golden Triangle and the central goldfields, and they are where the ground and the company are. The Victorian Metal Detector & Prospectors Association camps at locations including Moliagul and Inkerman. PMAV branches run field trips on set Sundays: Ballarat on the first Sunday of the month, Central Goldfields on the first Sunday as well.
Consider the state body as well as a local clubThe Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria was set up in 1980 as a voluntary body to protect the rights and opportunities of people who prospect, fossick or mine in Victoria. Its eight branches are listed below alongside the local clubs, so you can join a branch near you and get the advocacy at the same time.
Know the ground before you driveCamps and branch field trips move, and Victoria's public land status is not uniform. Members commonly mark up meeting points, access tracks, historic workings and land status on a mapping app such as Detector Maps before heading out, then confirm the detail with the trip organiser.

State associations and federations

These bodies keep their own member lists, which are the most current source if a club below has moved on.

Prospectors and Miners Association of Victoria (PMAV), branches

Run a prospecting club in Victoria?

Claim or correct your listing

This directory is maintained by hand and it will drift. If your club is missing, has moved, or is listed wrongly, tell us and we will fix it. Listing is free and always will be, and we do not charge clubs anything.

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Keep reading
Where to fossick in VictoriaThe public districts Victoria is known for, when to go, and what has actually been found.Victoria fossicking lawsWhat licence you need, where you are allowed to dig, and what club membership does not replace.

Know the ground before the club camp.

Detector Maps puts Victoria's legal fossicking ground, live mining tenements, historic gold workings and LiDAR hillshade in one place, and it keeps working when the phone signal stops.

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Gold prospecting clubs Victoria · Detector Maps