Gold Digger

The wild stories of gold and the Australian outback from a young woman defying male conventions in pursuit of the mother lode.

If you haven't seen a Discovery Channel gold-hunting show, you might picture a gold prospector as a relic of the Wild West: a TNT-toting, bearded old man wildly swinging a pick on the hunt for nuggets, guided by old maps, superstition, legends and instinct. It's still predominantly a man's world, and still often fanatical, but these days the golden dream attracts people from all walks of life – and 25-year-old Tyler Mahoney (Australian star of the Discovery Channel's Gold Rush series) is leading the way.

Hailing from Kalgoorlie, Tyler is a fourth-generation gold miner and has seen up close how gold fever makes normally reasonable people do the most irrational things. From mysterious corpses in the desert to huge heists, backstabbings to life-changing finds, Tyler unearths hair-raising stories and legends from Australia's gold prospecting past and present, while sharing her experience forging her way in a traditionally male domain. She writes candidly about the push and pull of the gold world in her own life, as well as her struggles with bipolar disorder – a mental-health challenge that in some ways parallels the feast-or-famine nature of prospecting itself. 

With humour, grit and an infectious zest for life, 'gold digger' Tyler Mahoney stakes her claim.

Well known to Australian and international viewers of Discovery Channel as the Aussie woman from the hit show Gold Rush, Tyler Mahoney is a fourth-generation gold prospector from outback Australia renowned for her drive and prospecting skills. After starring on two seasons of the spin-off Gold Rush: Parker's Trail, Tyler will appear on the flagship show in 2022 and a third season of Parker's Trail in 2023. Her success is a terrific example for any woman fighting to succeed in a man's world, and her struggles with bipolar disorder also make her a powerful advocate for mental health. Tyler has a podcast, Let's Unpack That, and a business, The Prospectors Club, dedicated to sharing her gold-hunting knowledge. Gold Digger is her first book.