"Why are they upset at all the red lights I drive through? I get no credit for all the greens I stop at?"
Five crystal-hunting teams set out to confront the extreme conditions of the Australian Outback, hoping to unearth some of the world's rarest and most breathtaking crystals.
Steve Grahame comes to the rescue in Australia’s largest ever amethyst find
Brand new documentary series ‘Outback Crystal Hunters’ greenlit for production in Western Australia
Not Patrick Gundersen and Kirsty McMullan — who have made a career out of quite literally digging for gold.
Stars of Channel Seven’s new reality show Outback Crystal Hunters, the pair of treasure trawlers prepare to take viewers on a tour of their recent jaunt to WA.
Because they’ve just uncovered the world’s largest ever Amethyst crystal cluster in the State’s remote Pilbara region.
The brand-new series — produced by Perth’s Prospero Productions — follows five recreational gem-hunting teams as they adventure across outback Australia in search of the world’s rarest and most ancient crystals.
Monday night’s series opener sees Cairns-based Pat and Kirsty set off alongside Perth duo Pete Willems and Kyle Archer as they begin their journeys.
At 50, legendary digger Pat Gundersen has long had a lust for what lies buried in the dust.
“I was always fascinated by the colours and shapes of gems and crystals,” he told PerthNow.
“Even as a kid, my best mate had a little quarry on his parents’ property, and we used to crawl around on our hands and knees and pick up his little Quartz crystal.
“So I think that kind of treasure hunt or the thrill of the chase for me started at a really young age, and then progressively as I got older, I got more interested in it. “
Pat has worked in the industry since his 20s, and met digging partner Kirsty, 34, through social media almost eight years ago.
She fell in love with rare stones when the pair travelled to Tasmania on a “crystal digging trip”.
But Pat and Kirsty’s recent trip out West was far more lucrative.
So ground-breaking was their Amethyst crystal discovery, Pat believes it was the catalyst for getting the show on TV.
“The producer ended up coming out to film what we started, what was actually the beginning of this giant, incredible 21-ton amethyst discovery,” he said.
Malchkeoun Krystal
“So I think that’s what kickstarted it for him, as once he saw the scale and the beauty of what it was, what’s possible to be found, he realised he had a show on his hands.”
Having purchased the Great Australian Amethyst Mine for a figure he wouldn’t yet disclose, the seasoned digger had eyed the iconic spot for some time as it lay dormant.
“I did get it at a really good price. Ironically, it had been on the market for so many years, and nobody was willing to touch it,” he admitted.
Viewers will see the culmination of a lifelong journey to Pat’s crystal mecca, and the risks associated with sinking $100k of savings into the somewhat untapped site.
“You don’t know... if you spend all this money, are you going to get it out in one piece? Is it going to break apart? Are you going to have it all?” Kirsty said.
But it might all have been worth it.
“I never thought in my wildest dreams that I would find what I just found,” Pat admitted.
With less than a dozen full-time crystal hunters in Australia, the veteran miner said there’s an element of smoke and mirrors, or “respectful discretion” at play.
“Honestly, there’s a lot of jealousy,” Kirsty conceded.
“People have learned to be a bit secretive about their favourite spots just out of protecting areas that you’ve worked really hard to find, and you don’t want you know your mate, telling their mate, telling their mate... all of a sudden, you go back there and it’s just all completely dug up,” Pat added.
With rare gemstones such as Amethyst, Aquamarine and Topaz comprising a mere fraction of Australia’s subterranean treasures, Pat suggested there’s satisfaction in seeing his finds appear elsewhere.
In a multi-billion-dollar global industry, they can pop up worlds away.
“I have a lot of clients all over the world, from individual collectors through to museums, through to galleries and often pieces that I’ve sold, I’ll see turn up online, on social media or in someone’s collection,” he said.
However, despite feedback online, the miner insists what he’s doing is on a much smaller scale and far less significant than what some might believe.
“I get a lot of comments on social media about taking from the Earth and putting them back because they’re a beautiful crystal or something like that. Nobody would care if it was gold, nobody would care about coal. Nobody would care if it was Opal,” Pat said.
“I try to remind people that the Earth is actually incredibly abundant in crystals, and 99% of them will never be found. They’re literally just lying hidden beneath the dirt.
He asks people to consider where the raw minerals required to make their favourite consumer items come from.
“The lithium in your phone battery and the roads we drive on all come out of holes in the ground, but we just take all that for granted.”
After years of perfecting their craft and coveting their digs, Pat and Kirsty have provided tips for would-be crystal hunters to test the waters from home.
TIPS FOR FINDING RARE GEMS AND CRYSTALS
Join a gem club or lapidary club
“Check out if you’ve got a local gem or lapidary club in your area because a lot of major towns or cities in Australia do have a gem club. And those clubs would often do local field trips, and it’s just a great way to kind of learn,” Pat said.
“You can bring your family along. And that’s kind of how I started when I was really getting in my late teens and just starting out, I was part of a gem club.”
Read books
“There are some great books online. There’s lots of online resources that people can use if they do better research.”
Reach out for advice
“Anyone who messages me through Instagram who wants to learn, I’ll try and point them in the right direction of what books there might be out there that they can read up on. So, the gem club one is a great one for people who are keen to learn. Okay, I’m not sure that.
Obtain a fossicking license
“Most states do have public fossicking areas, so they’re areas set aside by the Government where people can go and dig the gems, and all they need is like fossicking license, which they can buy online.
Download WA’s Gemstones guide
“There’s a free PDF produced by the mines department. It’s called gemstones of Western Australia, and I think it’s like 380 pages, and you can download that entire PDF for free off their website, and then that book basically lists every single gem and crystal that’s been found in Western Australia.
“It gives locations for somebody from Western Australia wanting to learn.
“Grab that book, download it, because it’s free, and have a look at what’s in your area. And then literally, it’s, it’s getting out there.
“If it’s on private property, make sure you get landholder permission and all that sort of stuff.
“So there’s an incredible amount of information available online for those willing to do and that is part of that treasure hunt.”
In the hostile Australian Outback, five courageous crystal hunting teams confront extreme conditions, from scorching deserts to frigid underground mines, in a bid to unearth some of the world's rarest and breathtaking crystals.
Fuelled by celebrity endorsements and a four-trillion-dollar-a-year global wellness industry, the crystal trade is booming, and Australia has some of the most ancient & richest deposits on earth.
Outback Crystal Hunters are on a quest to uncover these geological marvels - from giant million-dollar Amethyst clusters to magical, colour-changing Zircons. All these impassioned crystal hunters are driven to unearth and showcase these ancient wonders to the world while hungry to secure a life-changing payday.
Episode 1 - Million Dollar Baby
Patrick and Kirsty unearth a giant million-dollar Amethyst cluster, Pete & Kyle struggle to extract extremely fragile and rare Crocoite crystals while the Rockhounds desperately need a haul of lucrative Topaz crystals to pay their bills.
Episode 2 – Hot As Hell
Patrick Gundersen confronts over forty degrees Celsius temperatures to recover Australia’s biggest ever, million-dollar Amethyst cluster as the Rockhounds also face searing tropical heat while in stark contrast, Pete and Kyle struggle in frigid conditions to extract a hundred-thousand-dollar Crocoite crystal.
Episode 3 - Diggers, Dingoes & Debt
Patrick and Kirsty search for rare Aquamarine crystals on their remote Queensland lease, Frankie & Ebriony face off against wild pigs and the threat of Dingos while veteran prospectors Terry & Paul hunt for thirty-thousand-dollar Zircon crystals.
Episode 4 - Hour Of Need
Hugh and Jarrin need an eleventh-hour miracle to keep their mining operation alive, Patrick and Kirsty are desperate for an $80,000 payday of high-grade crystals while veteran prospector Terry sets up a makeshift forge and overcomes extreme temperatures in his hunt for the oldest mineral on earth.
Episode 5 – Mookaite n Miracles
The Rockhounds need an eleven-thousand-dollar miracle to turn their season around, Kirsty and Patrick urgently need to find rare Ocean Kyanite crystals to have any chance of recouping their huge debt while Kyle Archer strikes a monster $200,000 payday of Mookaite.
Episode 6 - Thrill of the Hunt
Pete and Kyle take the biggest gamble of their season hunting valuable Tourmaline crystals as Hugh and Jarrin tackle the world’s only Stitchtite quarry while Patrick and Luke explore not far from where a $250,000 crystal was unearthed.
Episode 7 - Deadly Crocs - Dangerous Air
The Rockhounds hunt a tropical rainforest river system not far from crocodile-infested waters as Patrick and Kirsty return to the site they found their million-dollar Amethyst. Jarrin and Hugh confront low oxygen levels and crumbling mine walls.
Episode 8 - Crystal Climax
In the final week of the season, Patrick gets an offer for their million-dollar Amethyst cluster while his team race to unearth $200,000 of crystals, The Rockhounds face dangerously high tropical heat & humidity while Hugh and Jarrin hunt for $25,000 of Crocoite crystals in just five days, over 50 metres underground.
