Matt ‘Dusty’ Cook spends more time than he ever thought he would counselling customers who are utterly hooked on the rush of gold hunting to give it some thought before quitting their jobs.

Gold fever has even got to some his more seasoned prospecting network, who would normally have packed up for the summer to avoid the searing heat of the Goldfields, but are “staying out there because the gold price is just unbelievable”.

Dusty’s prospecting gear shop, the aptly named Finders Keepers, became so inundated with queries and customers over the past 12 months that he’s opened up a new shop in O’Connor.

During that time, gold’s screeching run has broken record after record, with an ounce crashing through the $US4000 an ounce threshold in October.

The precious metal’s rise and fall is espec

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