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Gold prospecting clubs

Gold prospecting and metal detecting clubs in Western Australia

Last checked: August 2026
Prospecting here is organised almost entirely through APLA, which runs branches from Perth and Mandurah down to the South West and Albany and out to Kalgoorlie. Membership carries public liability cover and a voice on land access, which is why most WA prospectors hold one.

Clubs in Western Australia

7 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.

Amalgamated Prospectors and Leaseholders Association of WA (APLA) Goldfields Branch

Kalgoorlie
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Meets
The last Thursday of every third month at 7pm, in the Regency Room at the Tower Hotel, corner Maritana and Bourke Streets, Kalgoorlie
Visiting and joining
Visitors
The branch page states that visitors are welcome.
Club page →Active

Amalgamated Prospectors and Leaseholders Association of WA (APLA) Mandurah Branch

Madora Bay, Mandurah
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Meets
Sundays at 1.30pm at Madora Bay Hall, Orelia Street, Madora Bay
Visiting and joining
Visitors
The branch page states that new and prospective members are always welcome. It says meetings include guest speakers, raffles, a best finds competition and afternoon tea.
Club page →Active

Amalgamated Prospectors and Leaseholders Association of WA (APLA) South West Branch

Stratham, near Bunbury
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Meets
7pm at the Capel Golf Club, Bussell Highway, Stratham. The branch page lists its meeting dates rather than a fixed cadence.
Visiting and joining
Visitors
The branch page says it is for people in the South West who enjoy the outdoors, gold prospecting and fossicking on the beach or in old mill towns, and that it welcomes like minded people.
Club page →Active

West Coast Metal Detector Club Inc.

Meets in Rivervale, Perth, with trips to the Goldfields
Focus
Metal Detecting & Gold Prospecting
Meets
The third Tuesday of each month except December, gathering from 7pm for a 7.30pm start, at the Western Australian Lapidary and Rock Hunting Club, 31-35 Gladstone Road, Rivervale
Visiting and joining
Visitors
The club states newcomers are welcome to come along to one of its field days, where you may be able to borrow a metal detector and be shown the basics of its use, with no obligation or cost involved. It also states membership is not restricted to owners of metal detectors or to any particular brand.
Note
The club states membership is not restricted to owners of metal detectors or to any particular brand.
Club page →Active

Amalgamated Prospectors and Leaseholders Association of WA (APLA) Perth Branch

Rivervale, Perth
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Meets
All meetings are held on a Wednesday starting at 7:30pm, at the WA Lapidary and Rock Hunting Club, 31-35 Gladstone Road, Rivervale
Club page →Activity unconfirmed

Amalgamated Prospectors and Leaseholders Association of WA (APLA) Albany Branch

Albany
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Meets
The third Saturday of every second month at 3pm, at the Albany Mens Shed behind 77 Sanford Road, Albany
Club page →Activity unconfirmed

Little Ripper Gold Inc.

Based in Perth, with club prospecting leases in the Leonora, Kalgoorlie and Meekatharra areas
Focus
Gold Prospecting
Visiting and joining
Visitors
The club states ordinary membership is open to any person over the age of 15 who holds a WA Miner's Right, and that an ordinary member can detect or prospect on any club lease.
Club page →Activity unconfirmed

What joining a club actually gets you

Insurance is a real reason people joinAPLA states that financial members are automatically covered by $20 million public liability insurance when they are prospecting as an amateur legally. That cover, and the association's land access work, is why many WA prospectors hold a membership even if they rarely make a meeting.
One club gets you onto its own leasesLittle Ripper Gold states that an ordinary member can detect or prospect on any of the leases the club holds, in the Leonora, Kalgoorlie and Meekatharra areas. Membership is open to any person over 15 who holds a WA Miner's Right. For ground you could not otherwise get onto, that is the whole proposition.
You will still need a Miner’s RightThe West Coast Metal Detector Club notes that if you intend prospecting for gold anywhere in Western Australia you will need a Miner's Right from the state mines department, listing the 2026/2027 cost as $30. Little Ripper Gold requires ordinary members to hold one. Club membership does not replace it.
Try a field day before you commitThe West Coast Metal Detector Club invites newcomers to come along to one of its field days, where you may be able to borrow a metal detector and be shown the basics of its use, with no obligation or cost involved. APLA's Mandurah branch says new and prospective members are always welcome.
Published feesAPLA lists $120 full, $160 family and $90 pensioner. The West Coast Metal Detector Club lists $75 single, $100 family and $20 supervised junior. Little Ripper Gold lists $100 for an ordinary member. Treat these as the figures published at the time of writing and confirm with the club.
Access is not assumed, even for a clubThe West Coast Metal Detector Club states that as an incorporated club it cannot and does not enter any ground for metal detecting without the appropriate authority. Knowing whose ground you are standing on is the same job on a club trip as on your own, which is why members check tenements and tenure on a map such as Detector Maps before a trip.

State associations and federations

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

Amalgamated Prospectors and Leaseholders Association of WA (APLA)

Run a prospecting club in Western Australia?

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 Western AustraliaThe public districts Western Australia is known for, when to go, and what has actually been found.Western Australia 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 Western Australia'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 Western Australia · Detector Maps