Gold still glitters – but who will mine it? The key takeaways from Diggers and Dealers

August 6, 2026 — 3:00am

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.

Remove items from your saved list to add more.

When it comes to Diggers and Dealers, the true king of resources is not the abundance of iron ore WA produces in the Pilbara, but the shiny yellow metal that drew early prospectors to the Goldfields.

Gold is still king, and this was proven once again at this year’s conference with the number of presentations from mid-tier miners.

The price per ounce of gold rose to a staggering US$5589.38 per ounce in January this year, setting a new record, and while the value has settled again in recent months, it still sits around the US$4000 per ounce mark.

However, the labour required to get the shiny metal out of the ground emerged as a key issue at this year’s forum.

At the Welcome to Country for this year’s event, Indigenous Personnel and Training director Linden Brownley said there was a solution that offered meaningful local employment.

“Because Aboriginal people are tribal, we don’t need to leave our region to go to work – we can work from home,” Brownley told delegates.

“All we need you to do is to say yes.

“They can participate in this industry, which is the lifeblood of the Goldfields.”

Brownley added that one of the key employers in the region was Northern Star Resources – the company behind Kalgoorlie’s iconic Super Pit mine – which employs around 40 Indigenous workers.

“Because [Managing Director Stuart Tonkin] and his team said ‘yes’........

© WA Today