Victoria has long been known for its high gold reserves, with the boom in the 1800s setting the benchmark. Now, a possible revival could usher in a new surge if the state were to hit a million ounces of production in the next decade.
This comes from a recent report released by Orizontas, commissioned by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), detailing significant economic benefits if Victoria were to achieve this milestone.
Essentially, this milestone would put $1.2 billion in wages into the pockets of Victorians.
The MCA said despite the increased price of gold in recent years, production had fallen from its 2021 peak, reinforcing the need for better policies to encourage mining investment and exploration.
Speaking on this exploration, miners in the state are making strides in discoveries and production, the exact process the MCA wants to see bolstered.
Just last year, Adelong Gold’s maiden drilling program in October saw the Apollo Gold Project in Victoria’s Costerfield region delivering broad mineralised zones and high-grade intercepts from beneath historical workings.
The miner’s managing director Ian Holland said those assay results represent an “important step” forward for Adelong, with strong potential for resource growth.
Continuing the momentum, a report by the ABC on December 2025 highlighted Southern Cross Gold’s Sunday Creek project east of Kilmore and the Four Eagles joint venture between Catalyst Metals and Hancock Prospecting near Mitiamo, which were preparing to move underground to test the economic potential of high-grade mineralisation beneath surface workings.
The masthead coined the development as a “renaissance” in Victorian gold mining, alongside record-high gold prices and the success of the Fosterville Gold Mine east of Bendigo.
The MCA’s report outlined that at least $150 million in annual exploration investment would be needed to identify new deposits, alongside around $1.75 billion in capital investment to develop new mining capacity across multiple projects.
In that development phase alone, new mine construction would generate roughly $2.2 billion in economic output, supporting more than 4500 jobs and delivering $462 million in wages across Victoria.
The body also added that by tripling gold production, it would quadruple gold royalties to $188 million per year, to fund vital services and infrastructure across the state, saying that the Victorian Government “should support new mines and increased production”.
There is no question about Victoria’s current potential, with the next phase, as dictated by the MCA, to be defined by how effectively the state can align exploration success, investment conditions, and regulatory support for sustained output.
