"The Welcome Stranger" Gold Nugget, weighing 2,280 troy ounces is the largest gold nugget that has ever been found in the world. The nugget was discovered at Moliagul, Victoria, Australia by Deason & Oates on the 5th of February 1869.

You may visit the cairn at Moliagul that marks the spot. The nugget was brought to the small town of Dunolly to be weighed and sold. The nugget was to big to fit on the bank's scale, so the local blacksmith was called to cut the nugget into three pieces. The anvil used by the blacksmith is now on display as a cairn in front of a small town museum located on the main street in Dunolly, Victoria, Australia.

Gold from Ballarat and surrounding goldfields is recognized as being of some of the highest natural purity gold found anywhere in the world. It is not uncommon for gold from the Ballarat and surrounding goldfields to have a natural purity of 97% or higher than 23 Karats.

California Gold Rush!

On January 24, 1848 James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill located in California of the United States, touching off the California gold rush.

Central Victoria Australia

Gold Prospecting to the famous Central Victoria Australia Gold Fields.

Tag-a-long with our resident Metal Detector expert, licensed Australian Miner, Gold Prospecting Specialist,  and Computer System Engineer, Mr. Gene Casanova to the out back of Victoria Australia for a fantastic one-of-a-kind adventure.

Metal Detecting lessons  will be made available and specialized metal detectors can be rented. Rental fees will apply towards a metal detector purchase made within 30 days of the rental receipt.

Expeditions are planned for data gathering and field exploration in the goldfields of 1850 and later periods. The areas include small gold rush towns and crown land. The itinerary is half based on the tag-a-long companions. Goldfield diggings and mine tailings of the original gold rushes are visited and open for prospecting.

Expedition durations are pre-planned for 1 week min. to 1 month depending on tag-a-long companions. A local guide can be hired. Accommodations available:  camping in state parks,  private camp grounds, Bed & Breakfasts, motels and hotels. Note, these small towns have very basic accommodations.

US citizens:

Basic Requirements:

• Valid US Passport ( Allow a month for processing time for new or renewal passport)
• Travel Insurance
• Two month previous confirmation and confirmed roundtrip ticket. (We can give online booking assistance. Plan to spend between $1,500 to $2,000 USD ( US dollar) for airline tickets from Chicago to Melbourne Australia. The roundtrip cost is less from California International airports.
• Tag-a-long companions are responsible for themselves 100%. We are not providing a guide, guided trip or travel package here. We are simply offering the chance to follow our expert on an exciting real world adventure.

Email for further details and your interest: Tag-a-log@Casanovas.org

Update: Feb. 2002 Expedition yields one 10 gram 23k+ gold nugget (pictured above); smaller nuggets; one resembles a shark tooth and some some great stories from a fantastic life adventure to the land of OZ.

Spring, 2002 Expedition Highlights: New goldfield diggings not presented on any locally developed maps were discovered and documented. Two very small nuggets found. Many new maps were obtained along with many publications on the history of the local gold rushes. Books were obtained and new stories collected. Information from the past was collected during visits to the Melbourne Gold Treasury building and museum and the Chinese museum located in Melbourne's Chinatown.

The expedition was a great success. The goal was to collect as much new data as possible on known and undocumented gold discoveries and large nugget recoveries as well as gather the most recent government maps of the gold fields and privately developed and published maps of the goldfield diggings and nugget discoveries. All this information will not be read and documented in one main database and then transferred to the most current topographical maps available to date. These maps will be used to plot the potential and probability of the area for future gold exploration and discovery.

Point of interest: While discovering new goldfield diggings, I had to wonder about the days the men dug the fields and the struggle the people endured. Not only is there the real potential of gold discovery in the area, but also a great opportunity to discover relics and relive the history and period.

A person interested in serious relic hunting would love to visit the goldfields and old gold rush towns. There is a great potential of finding lost tools, money, and tokens used for trading nuggets in for bread during the gold rushes of the 1850s. I was able to bring back one such bread token.

What an adventure.... outback hiking in the wilderness, camping, a personal challenge working with maps, compass and GPS, relying on your own skills, learning and discovering history, then add the excitement of that potential gold discovery!

Return with a treasure load of one-of-a-kind adventure stories to tell.

I am now slowly finding time to edit pictures from the goldfields and will add a new section for the expeditions. Stay tuned.

• Central Victoria Goldfields of Australia

Gold Nugget Detectors

Metal Detectors Designed Specifically For Professional Gold Nugget Prospecting

Models Designed For Hobby, Recreation, And Professional Applications.

Click Here