''Aussie Gold Hunters'' is an Australian

factual television Factual television is a genre of non-fiction television programming that documents actual events and people. These types of programs are also described as observational documentary, fly on the wall, docudrama, and reality television. The genre ...

show which follows crews of gold prospectors in Australia. The series is produced by

Electric Pictures Electric Pictures is an Australian-based television production company which develops and produces factual television programs for various international networks. The company is based in Perth, Western Australia and was founded by Andrew Ogilvie ...

and began on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...

on 15 September 2016. The series has been a ratings success and gone on to air in 125 countries including the United Kingdom. In August 2022 the series was renewed for an eighth and ninth season, with season eight to premiere in 2023. Season seven concluded on 13 October 2022.

Premise

The series follows gold miners in various locations of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to ...

, Victoria and

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

as they strive to reach their individually set season target (measured in

troy ounce Troy weight is a system of units of mass that originated in 15th-century England, and is primarily used in the precious metals industry. The troy weight units are the grain, the pennyweight (24 grains), the troy ounce (20 pennyweights), and ...

s of gold). They use a variety of mining techniques including use of

metal detectors A metal detector is an instrument that detects the nearby presence of metal. Metal detectors are useful for finding metal objects on the surface, underground, and under water. The unit itself, consist of a control box, and an adjustable shaft, ...

of surface or excavated soil for

gold nugget :''"Gold nugget" may also refer to the catfish Baryancistrus xanthellus or the mango cultivar Gold Nugget.'' A gold nugget is a naturally occurring piece of native gold. Watercourses often concentrate nuggets and finer gold in placers. Nuggets ...

s; and sluicing,

dry blowing Dry blowing is a method to extract gold particles from dry soil without the use of water. A machine specialized to use this method is known as a dry blower. It is a form of winnowing. Methods *One method is to pour dry soil from a height into a ...

heap leaching Heap leaching is an industrial mining process used to extract precious metals, copper, uranium, and other compounds from ore using a series of chemical reactions that absorb specific minerals and re-separate them after their division from othe ...

for gold particles.

Production

The first season of eight episodes produced by Electric Pictures premiered on 15 September 2016. In March 2017 the series was renewed for a 10 episode second season, which premiered on 6 July 2017. In March 2018 the series was renewed for a 13 episode third season, which premiered on 31 May 2018. In September 2018 the series was renewed for a 13 episode fourth season, which premiered on 2 May 2019. In October 2019 the series was renewed for 40 episodes across two seasons. The 20 episode fifth season premiered on 30 April 2020. Following the conclusion of the fifth season, three specials featuring highlights from the five seasons premiered on 17 September 2020. The sixth season initially premiered in the United Kingdom on

Discovery+ Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discover ...

on 22 February 2021 before premiering in Australia on Discovery Channel on 29 April 2021. In April 2021 it was announced the series had been renewed for a seventh and eighth season. The seventh season premiered on 2 June 2022. In August 2022, Warner Bros Discovery UK announced the series was renewed for an additional two series, with the eighth and ninth seasons to premiere in 2023 and 2024 respectively. The eighth season will see the return of six teams and the addition of two new teams.

Cast

Not all the miners featured on the show are Australian. Lindsay Ironside was imported from Canada by Vernon Strange.Aussie Gold Hunters 2016 Season 1 Episode 7 Henri Chassaing came from Switzerland.Aussie Gold Hunters 2016 Season 1 Episode 1

Episodes

Season 1 (2016)

Season 2 (2017)

Season 3 (2018)

Season 4 (2019)

Season 5 (2020)

Specials

Season 6 (2021)

Season 7 (2022)

''Parker's Trail'' crossover

In 2020, season four of '' Gold Rush: Parker's Trail'' featured gold mining in the states of Victoria,

, and

. The season saw former Aussie Gold Hunters' cast member Tyler Mahoney in a main role. There were also guest appearances by former cast members Jake Larsen demonstrating

, as well as Ted and Lecky Mahoney teaching the process of pegging land leases.

Reception

The series has been a domestic and international ratings success. The series has been the #1 factual program on Foxtel for four consecutive years from 2017 to 2020. In addition, in the United Kingdom where the series is broadcast on

Quest A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ev ...

''Aussie Gold Hunters'' is consistently the channel's top rating show of the week as well as frequently ranking in the top 10 of non-public broadcasting shows.

Broadcast

As of May 2020, ''Aussie Gold Hunters'' has been broadcast in 125 countries with an estimated reach of 40 million viewers.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aussie Gold Hunters Australian factual television series 2016 Australian television series debuts English-language television shows Television shows set in Western Australia Television shows set in Victoria (state) Television shows set in Sydney Television series by Electric Pictures Discovery Channel original programming