Gold Deposits in Queensland: 10 Fields and Mines Compared

Queensland’s gold history is led by Mount Morgan, which produced about 250 tonnes of gold (roughly 8 million ounces) before it closed, and by Charters Towers, which the Geological Survey of Queensland (GSQ) lists at 6.5 million ounces of production plus resources. The biggest producing mine today is Ravenswood, which made 134,000 ounces in 2025 and holds reserves of 2.8 million ounces. This page compares ten Queensland gold deposits on one table, then looks at the mines, companies, royalty and licence rules behind them.

Units used below: Moz is million troy ounces, koz is thousand ounces, g/t is grams of gold per tonne of rock (the grade), and A$ is Australian dollars. A reserve is the part of a deposit that a company has shown can be mined at a profit. A resource is a wider estimate of gold in the ground with less proof of profit. An inferred resource has the lowest confidence of the resource classes. AISC (all-in sustaining cost) is a company’s cost of producing and selling one ounce, including mine upkeep, royalties and overheads.

How we compared Queensland’s gold deposits

This page is written for mining business owners, licence holders and consultants who want a clear map of what Queensland’s gold fields hold and who works them. We used four rules.

1. Government and company filings first. Deposit size comes from the Geological Survey of Queensland, the Queensland Government’s mine remediation page and company reports lodged with the ASX. Each figure is dated and states what it measures.
2. One metric, with its basis shown. The table ranks by total gold reported: gold already mined, or mined plus resources where the source gives only a combined figure. Because the bases differ, treat the order as a guide, not a precise league table.
3. Deposits of about 1 million ounces or more. The GSQ’s north-east Queensland list sets the north-east cut. Mount Morgan (central Queensland) and Gympie (south-east) are added from separate sources, because the GSQ list covers only the north-east.
4. No share prices and no advice. Company sections give facts from filings. Coal and the state’s other mines are covered on our page about Queensland’s mines, including coal fields.

Queensland gold deposits compared by gold endowment

Ten deposits reach the 1 Moz mark in the sources used; the list is not exhaustive, and Cracow, Ernest Henry and Red Dome/Mungana were not assessed. Mount Morgan is the largest on the figures available, and the Queensland Government describes it as the state’s largest gold mine in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Chart

Eight of the ten deposits compared, by reported gold

Million troy ounces; mixed bases (see caption)

The GSQ figures come from a 2014 presentation, so they are a snapshot of what was known then. Newer filings can differ, as the Ravenswood and Mt Leyshon rows show. Pajingo changed hands in 2016 and again in 2022, and Mt Carlton was sold by Evolution and restarted in 2026 under Wolfram. We could not open a 2025 or 2026 filing for Pajingo, so check the tenure holder’s latest report before you rely on its status. A later, undated GSQ presentation lists Ravenswood at 7 Moz and Mt Leyshon at 3.5 Moz, so compilations differ by date and basis.

Where Queensland’s gold comes from

Queensland gold is not one type of deposit. GSQ geologists group the Carboniferous to Permian gold of the north-east into three families, and each leaves a different kind of exploration target.

• Intrusion-related gold systems. Gold forms around a cooling granite body, in veins, breccia pipes and skarns. The GSQ lists Kidston, Ravenswood and Mt Leyshon in this group.
• Epithermal gold. Gold forms near the surface from hot water. The GSQ lists Mt Carlton, Agate Creek and parts of Woolgar.
• Orogenic gold. Gold forms in veins during mountain building. The GSQ names Northcote and Tregoora in the Mossman Orogen. Researchers describe the Charters Towers goldfield as a base-metal-rich variant of orogenic gold, with some features closer to epithermal (Morrison and others, undated).

The same 2014 GSQ presentation also lists Cainozoic alluvial gold, meaning gold shed into young river gravels, which is the story of the Palmer River. For a wider look at how these styles are explored, see our guides to epithermal gold deposits and prospecting for gold.

Charters Towers: a 6.5 Moz field and a restart under way

Charters Towers was discovered in 1872, according to the Queensland Historical Atlas. An undated AusIMM presentation by Morrison and others puts its historical production at 6.6 Moz at an average grade of 34 g/t (its own summary says about 6 Moz), which is very high compared with modern open pits. The GSQ’s 2014 slide lists the field at 6.5 Moz of production plus resources.

Two companies report on the field in 2026, with very different plans:

• Native Mineral Resources (ASX: NMR) runs the Blackjack plant and, in its quarter to 31 March 2026, poured 667.59 oz of fine gold from 4,712.4 oz of doré, a total of 2,293.43 oz since restart. Mining recommenced on 9 April 2026 at the Blackjack South and North Central pits. NMR also reports an inferred resource of 2.3 Mt at 1.84 g/t gold (138 koz) at Far Fanning.
• Citigold (ASX: CTO) holds the Central Mine area and 175 square kilometres of exploration ground. Its annual report at 30 June 2025 restates its December 2020 estimate: an inferred resource of 32 Mt at 14 g/t (14 Moz), and a probable ore reserve of 2.5 Mt at 7.7 g/t (0.62 Moz). Its March 2026 quarterly says it is planning to refurbish the Central Decline (access tunnel) and that no new drilling took place in the quarter.

Mount Morgan: the state’s largest historic producer

Mount Morgan lies 32 km south-west of Rockhampton. The Queensland Government’s remediation page says the town was founded in 1882, mining continued until November 1990, and about 250 tonnes of gold and 360,000 tonnes of copper were extracted, with about 134 million tonnes of waste rock and tailings produced. At 31.1 grams per troy ounce, 250 tonnes is about 8.0 Moz.

The same page calls it the largest gold mine in Queensland in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The state took over management of the legacy site in January 1993 and manages water treatment at the open pit. Heritage Minerals Pty Ltd is developing a project to recover gold from the old tailings and mullock heaps, which the state expects to begin in 2026. A 2022 ministerial statement quotes an estimate of nearly 10 million tonnes of tailings holding 263,000 ounces of gold and 5,600 tonnes of copper. Those are project estimates, not mined results.

Ravenswood: Queensland’s largest gold mine today

Ravenswood is an open-pit mine in north Queensland, about 130 km south of Townsville by road. In its June 2026 announcement of a gold stream, Triple Flag Precious Metals (TSX and NYSE: TFPM) called Ravenswood Queensland’s largest gold mine and one of the 10 largest in Australia by ore reserves. A stream is a deal in which a company pays money up front for the right to buy a share of future gold, paying a set share of the spot price for each ounce (on Ravenswood, 10% of spot at first).

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Ravenswood: gold in reserves and resources

Million troy ounces; measured and indicated includes the reserves

• Owners: EMR Capital and Golden Energy and Resources Pte. Ltd. (GEAR), with EMR Capital as operator. They bought the asset in 2020 and have since invested more than A$830 million.
• Output: 134,000 oz in 2025, with annual production expected above 200,000 oz by 2028.
• Reserves and resources: reserves of 147 Mt at 0.61 g/t (2.8 Moz); measured and indicated resources of 205 Mt at 0.55 g/t (3.6 Moz); inferred resources of 66 Mt at 0.49 g/t (1.0 Moz).
• Plant and land: an 8.6 Mt a year mill using carbon-in-leach, a process where gold dissolves in a cyanide solution and sticks to carbon granules. The licences cover more than 1,800 square kilometres.
• History: more than 4 Moz mined since discovery. Reserves grew by about 0.8 Moz since 2020, while mining removed about 0.6 Moz.

The grade is the telling number. At 0.61 g/t, Ravenswood works on tonnage, moving millions of tonnes to recover small amounts per tonne, whereas Charters Towers once averaged 34 g/t. That is why one is judged on mill throughput and unit cost, and the other on finding and following narrow high-grade veins. Evolution Mining, which produces gold alongside copper at Ernest Henry, is profiled on our page about Evolution Mining.

▶ Follows a gold nugget from rock to ring: drilling, crushing, leaching on carbon, melting and refining. · 5:27

Gold mines in Queensland: who produces and restarts

These are the gold-producing or gold-restarting operations we could confirm in company filings from 2026. Mine status changes quickly, so each row names its source. Mt Carlton restarted in April 2026 according to company reports, and we did not open a primary release for it or for Pajingo, so neither is in the table.

FY26 means the 12 months to 30 June 2026. Evolution’s FY26 results announcement bases its FY27 guidance on a gold price of A$5,700 an ounce, together with a copper price of A$18,000 a tonne. The guided AISC for Ernest Henry is negative, from A$3,700 to A$3,500 an ounce below zero. For other large Australian gold operations in the west, see our page on the Goldfields St Ives mine.

Cracow gold mine output and costs

Aeris Resources (ASX: AIS) owns and operates the Cracow gold mine in Queensland and the Tritton copper operations in New South Wales. In its June 2026 quarterly report, Cracow produced 40.6 koz in FY26, inside its 36 to 46 koz guidance. It milled 634.0 kt at 2.21 g/t with 90.1% recovery, which is what the output implies: 634,000 t at 2.21 g/t holds about 45,000 oz, and 90% of that is about 40,600 oz.

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Cracow quarterly gold, FY26

Troy ounces, produced and sold; axis starts at 3,000 oz

The all-in sustaining cost was A$3,549 an ounce for the year and A$3,812 in the June quarter. The company reported drill results at Golden Plateau including 14.2 m at 9.1 g/t, and extended that drilling for a further 12 months to test whether it can become a major ore source.

Palmer River, Gympie and the old alluvial and reef fields

The Palmer River rush began in 1873. According to the Queensland Historical Atlas, it drew more than 20,000 people, including more than 18,000 Chinese residents by 1877, and the rush lasted about three years. The GSQ lists Palmer at 1.5 Moz.

Gympie was found in 1867 and, in a paper by Gympie Eldorado Gold Mines, then the operator, produced about four million ounces at 29 g/t to 1927 from more than 1,500 shafts over a field 10 km by 4 km. That paper (2002) reports a further 266,000 oz since 1995, and resources of 783,000 oz. Treat the resource figure as historical, since it predates current reporting rules.

Largest undeveloped gold resources in Queensland

Among the sources in this guide (Cracow, Ernest Henry and Red Dome/Mungana were not assessed), the largest single resource figure is Citigold’s 14 Moz at Charters Towers, but it is all in the inferred class, which has a stated confidence of plus or minus 30% on contained ounces. The ore reserve, the part with a mining case, is 0.62 Moz. Ravenswood is bigger in reserves (2.8 Moz) but is already a producing mine. Mount Morgan’s tailings estimate is smaller, at 263,000 oz.

Chart

Reserve and resource figures from recent Queensland filings and statements

Thousand troy ounces; different confidence classes, not additive

The chart compares the reserve and resource figures reported in these filings. The classes are different confidence levels, so do not add the bars together. Grade explains the difference in style: Citigold’s inferred resource is 14 g/t and its reserve is 7.7 g/t, while Ravenswood’s reserve is 0.61 g/t and its inferred resource is 0.49 g/t.

Explorers are active elsewhere too. Ballymore Resources (ASX: BMR) reported broad, shallow intersections such as 84.5 m at 0.247 g/t at its Seventy Mile Mount prospect, about 7 km from the historic Mount Leyshon mine, which produced 2.5 Moz. These are drill results, not a resource.

Queensland gold companies compared

These companies report gold from Queensland assets in 2026 filings. The notes give facts from the filings, not recommendations.

1. Ravenswood Gold (EMR Capital and GEAR)

Best for: readers who want the state’s largest producing gold mine. Strengths in the filings: reserves 2.8 Moz and a land package above 1,800 square kilometres. What to check: it is privately owned, so the main public data comes from third-party releases such as Triple Flag’s; the reserve grade is low at 0.61 g/t, so cost per tonne matters.

2. Aeris Resources (ASX: AIS)

Best for: readers who want a listed gold producer with a Queensland mine. Strengths: Cracow met FY26 guidance and extended its Golden Plateau drilling. What to check: Cracow’s AISC was A$3,549 an ounce in FY26 (AISC is not comparable across mines with different ore and by-product mixes), and Aeris also depends on copper from Tritton.

3. Evolution Mining (ASX: EVN)

Best for: readers who want gold produced alongside copper. Strengths: Ernest Henry gold guidance of 50 to 60 koz at a negative guided AISC. What to check: Mt Rawdon’s last stockpile processing was scheduled for the September 2026 quarter, and the Queensland Government did not prioritise its pumped hydro project, as the August 2026 results report states.

4. Native Mineral Resources (ASX: NMR)

Best for: readers following a small restart at Charters Towers. Strengths: 95.1% reconciled plant recovery and a new drill program. What to check: output was 667.59 oz of fine gold in the March 2026 quarter, and about A$16 million of debt remained on one facility at the end of March 2026.

5. Citigold (ASX: CTO)

Best for: readers who follow large, high-grade underground concepts. Strengths: 14 Moz inferred resource at 14 g/t and 175 square kilometres of tenure. What to check: most ounces are inferred, and the company still describes the mine as a planned restart.

6. Ballymore Resources (ASX: BMR)

Best for: readers following exploration near Mount Leyshon. Strengths: shallow, wide intersections. What to check: no resource has been declared at Seventy Mile Mount; the company says follow-up drilling is planned.

7. Triple Flag Precious Metals (TSX and NYSE: TFPM)

Best for: readers who want to see how streams finance a mine. Strengths: a stream on Ravenswood of 5.50% of payable gold, stepping down to 3.75% after 194,200 ounces are delivered. What to check: it holds a contract on gold output, not the mine.

Royalty, licences and fossicking for gold in Queensland

The Queensland Revenue Office says gold falls under base and precious metals, with a variable royalty rate between 2.50% and 5.00% of value, set by average metal prices. A threshold applies, and gold and silver do not get the processing discount that other metals can claim. The rate for each period is published in the office’s quarterly metal price tables.

To look for gold by hand, the Queensland Government says you need a fossicking licence, issued for 1 month, 6 months or 1 year, although you do not need one at tourist mines that charge an entry fee. Licences cover individual and family use, and the state publishes the current fee table. Metal detecting for lost items does not need a licence, but fossicking does. Always get landholder permission, follow your licence conditions, and never use mercury.

To see who holds ground, use GeoResGlobe, a state map viewer with more than 600 layers including exploration and production permits, historical resource authorities and native title areas, and no registration. Company exploration reports and GSQ datasets are searchable in the GSQ Open Data Portal.

Gold margin calculator for a Queensland project

Use the calculator below to test a mine idea with your own numbers. As a reference, Cracow’s FY26 milled grade and recovery are 2.21 g/t and 90.1% (Aeris, July 2026), and the gold price assumption in Evolution’s FY27 guidance is A$5,700 an ounce. The royalty input follows the 2.50% to 5.00% range above. Our page on how gold mining companies respond to the gold price explains why margins swing so widely when the price moves.

How satellite data screens Queensland gold ground

Satellites cannot see gold. They map the rock around it: iron-oxide staining, clay and mica minerals, silica and faults, which are the clues that hot gold-bearing water leaves behind. Soil, vegetation and weathering can cover the rock, so these clues help rank where to sample or drill, not whether gold is there. A satellite result is an exploration target that sits ahead of a resource estimate, and it is no substitute for sampling, drilling or an assessment of land access.

Farmonaut’s satellite-based mineral detection takes a licence boundary as KML, KMZ or a polygon and delivers a report in 5 to 20 business days. To discuss a Queensland licence, use the mining quote form. For other Australian states, see our guide to gold exploration in Australia by state.

▶ Explains how satellites map the rock around gold, such as iron stains, clay and faults, rather than the gold itself. · 4:25

What to check before you rely on a Queensland gold figure

• Production, reserve or resource. A deposit with 14 Moz inferred is not a 14 Moz mine. Look for the class and the cut-off grade.
• The date. The GSQ figures above are from 2014; company reports are from 2025 and 2026.
• The basis. Some figures are for the whole field, others for one mine or one pit. Mount Morgan’s 250 tonnes covers its whole life.
• The tenure holder. Pajingo and Mt Carlton have changed hands more than once since 2016. Check GeoResGlobe and the latest ASX or company filing.
• The price and cost basis. Compare AISC in the same currency and period.

This page is about gold. Queensland coal and the state’s other metals are covered on our Queensland mines overview.

Frequently asked questions

Where is gold found in Queensland?

Gold occurs across north, central and south-east Queensland. The GSQ’s north-east list includes Charters Towers, Kidston, Pajingo, Ravenswood, Mt Leyshon, Mt Carlton, Palmer River and Mt Wright, and the state’s records add Mount Morgan in central Queensland and Gympie in the south-east.

What is the biggest gold mine in Queensland?

Triple Flag’s June 2026 release describes Ravenswood as Queensland’s largest gold mine. It produced 134,000 ounces in 2025 and holds 2.8 Moz of reserves.

Which Queensland goldfield produced the most gold?

On the Queensland Government’s figures, Mount Morgan produced about 250 tonnes (roughly 8 Moz). Charters Towers is next in this guide, with 6.6 Moz mined according to an undated AusIMM presentation by Morrison and others (about 6 to 6.6 Moz).

Are there gold mines operating in Queensland now?

Yes. In 2026 filings, Ravenswood, Cracow and the Blackjack plant at Charters Towers report gold production, and Ernest Henry produces gold alongside copper. Mt Rawdon’s last stockpile processing was scheduled for the September 2026 quarter.

Is there gold on the Gold Coast?

None of the deposits in the sources reviewed here is on the Gold Coast. The goldfields listed in this guide are in north, central and south-east (Gympie) Queensland. If you plan to fossick anywhere in Queensland, you need a fossicking licence.

Where is alluvial gold found in Queensland?

The Palmer River on Cape York Peninsula is the best-known alluvial field. Its 1873 rush drew more than 20,000 people, and the GSQ lists the field at 1.5 Moz.

Do I need a licence to look for gold in Queensland?

Yes. The Queensland Government says a fossicking licence is required for hand fossicking, except at tourist mines that charge entry. A metal detector used for lost items does not need one.

What royalty does Queensland charge on gold?

The Queensland Revenue Office lists a variable rate of 2.50% to 5.00% of value for gold, depending on average metal prices, with no processing discount for gold.

How much gold did Charters Towers produce?

An undated AusIMM presentation by Morrison and others gives about 6 to 6.6 Moz at an average of 34 g/t. The GSQ’s 2014 slide lists 6.5 Moz as production plus resources.

Who owns the Ravenswood gold mine?

EMR Capital and Golden Energy and Resources Pte. Ltd. own it jointly, with EMR Capital as operator, according to Triple Flag’s June 2026 release.

What is Queensland’s largest undeveloped gold resource?

Among the sources used here, Citigold’s Charters Towers project reports the largest single figure, an inferred resource of 14 Moz at 14 g/t, with a probable reserve of 0.62 Moz. Inferred ounces are the least certain class.

Where can I find Queensland exploration reports?

The GSQ Open Data Portal holds company statutory reports, geoscience datasets and publications, and GeoResGlobe maps the tenure over any area.