Mining Tenement Maps for Gold Prospecting

A tenement is a granted mining or exploration title held by someone else — it is not public land, and detecting on it without permission can mean trespass. Detector Maps shows you the holder, the status and the boundary so you can check before you go, and links the official record in-app. It’s a guide to help you stay legal, not legal advice — rules vary by state, so always confirm your access and Miner’s Right requirements with the relevant government source.

Tenements are refreshed every weekday morning, roughly between 4 and 6am local time, state by state — so when a register changes, the map follows close behind.

Broadly: a mining lease grants the right to mine, an exploration licence grants the right to explore, and an application is ground someone has applied for but doesn’t yet hold. Detector Maps colour-codes each status so you can read live, pending and open ground at a glance.

With every live and pending tenement drawn and colour-coded, the un-held gaps between them stand out, so you can narrow your search to ground that isn’t already taken. Always confirm a parcel’s current status against the official register before you act on it.

The tenement layer is live across the major Australian gold states, with each polygon linking back to its state mining department’s official record — so you’re always one tap from the authoritative source.