Golden guru Tom Wenman to launch second book as part of Aussie Gold Hunters promotion

Gold prospecting legend Tom Wenman will launch his latest book next weekend at the same time his life’s work features in an international TV series.

The lifelong prospector and go-to expert on the region’s mythical gold resources is back with his second book Tracker’s Lost Gold Reef in Margaret River.

The new project is a follow up to his 2005 tome There’s Gold in Margaret River and Mr Wenman will be signing copies of the new book and talking on his passion at The Margaret River Bookshop on Saturday, September 28, from 11.30am.

He told the Times the latest work was subject to research for decades.

While his first book was an overview of the history of gold mining and fossicking across the region, the new volume looks into the lives of specific prospectors, including the unidentified by mysterious “Tracker”, as well as what Mr Wenman argued was solid evidence for a huge gold reef in the region to rival that of the famed Lassiter’s find.

“The new book is a story, backed up with facts from the mid-1870s to the present day,” he said.

“The story is ably supported by maps, historical records and pictures of some of the key areas where Tracker’s lost reef may lay.

“Tracker’s story of luck and misfortune in finding and then losing the position of the rich hillside in thick bushland can only be compared to Lassiter’s lost reef, but in his story death plays no part,” the author said.

“Tracker’s lost reef features the many prospectors that have searched over many years to the present day reliving their excitement searching for the reef and in doing so discovering gold in their prospecting ventures in Margaret River.”

While the identity of the man behind the alleged find remained unknown, Mr Wenman said his own exhaustive research which included digging through the personal records of legendary merchant and forestry pioneer M.C. Davies confirmed the author’s belief of a major untapped gold find in the region.

That lifelong conviction was front and centre of the prospector’s appearance in two recent episodes of the Electric Pictures series Aussie Gold Hunters which filmed in the region late last year.

The ninth season of the show has already screened on television in Europe and was due to debut in the US, Canada and Australia early next year on the Discovery Channel.

Mr Wenman said it was a pleasure and an honour to feature on the program which he said offered insight into the region’s rich mineral history where it still remained possible to find nuggets in the wild.