Aussie Gold Hunters is an Australian television show which follows crews of gold prospectors in Australia. It is produced by Electric Pictures and began on the Discovery Channel on 15 September 2016. The series has been a ratings success, and has 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 which premiered in 2023. Season seven concluded on 13 October 2022.
The series is presented as if factual television, but large portions of the shows are scripted and involve contrived scenarios.
Premise The series follows gold miners in various locations of Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland as they strive to reach their individually set season target (measured in troy ounces of gold). They use a variety of mining techniques including use of metal detectors of surface or excavated soil for gold nuggets; and sluicing, dry blowing or heap leaching 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+ 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 Name Nickname Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Christine and Greg Clark The Gold Gypsies colspan="5" colspan="4" Vernon Strange The Dirt Dogs colspan="4" colspan="5" rowspan="6" Lindsay Ironside colspan="3" Leon Marsh colspan="3" Jake Larsen colspan="2" colspan="2" Marko Smith colspan="2" colspan="1" Kal Henderson, Leigh Henderson, Steve Bult colspan="3" colspan="1" Henri Chassaing and Kellie Carter colspan="2" colspan="7" Rick Fishers colspan="2" colspan="7" Ted and Lecky Mahoney rowspan="2" rowspan="2" colspan="2" rowspan="2" colspan="7" Tyler Mahoney colspan="2" Alex Stead and Eric Richards The Scrappers colspan="2" colspan="2" colspan="5" Neville Perry and Mick Clark Victoria Diggers colspan="3" colspan="2" colspan="4" Marcus McGuire rowspan="3" colspan="4" colspan="3" colspan="2" Linden Brownley colspan="4" colspan="3" colspan="2" Dale Harring colspan="5" colspan="2" colspan="2" Rob Dale and Rob ‘Turbo’ Linton The Gold Timers colspan="4" colspan="3" colspan="2" Shane Calegari rowspan="4" colspan="4" colspan="5" Russell Nash colspan="4" colspan="4" colspan="1" Kate Dundas colspan="7" colspan="2" Amy Doherty colspan="8" colspan="1" Paul Mackie, Jake Armstrong, John and Mike The Dust Devils colspan="4" colspan="3" colspan="2" Brent Shannon The Poseidon Crew colspan="3" colspan="5" Ethan West colspan="3" colspan="5" Paul West colspan="6" colspan="3" Caden Shannon colspan="7" colspan="2" Neville Perry colspan="7" colspan="1" Jacqui Buzetti and Andrew Leahy colspan="5" colspan="4" Rob Beeton, Ryan Peters, Bridget, Levi North and Zane Mettner [S8] The Ferals colspan="5" colspan="3" colspan="1" Brad McGhie and Chris Smith Gold Retrievers colspan="6" colspan="2" colspan="1" Paul Mackie, Alex Stead and Melanie Wood Gold Devils colspan="7" colspan="2" Alan Williams and Caleb 'Salty' Davenport colspan="7" colspan="2" Vince Malacria, Bibbi Gerali and Murray Cox colspan="7" colspan="1" colspan="1" Brad McGhie, Wendy McGhie and Family The McGhies colspan="8" colspan="1" Justin Borg, Chloe Boissier Heli Hunters colspan="8" colspan="1" Brett Brumby and Kateva Dubberley The Brumbies colspan="8" colspan="1"
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, Queensland, and Western Australia. 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 heap leaching, 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 was 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, Aussie Gold Hunters is consistently the channel's top rating show of the week, and frequently ranks 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.
See also Gold Rush, a similar show set in Canada and Alaska Yukon Gold, a similar show set in Canada
References
External links