Metal detector, Mick Egan, helps reunite Gold Coasters with valuables lost at the beach

From lost diamond rings to sentimental pieces, meet the man who specialises in unearthing the Gold Coast’s buried treasure.

Mick Egan is a Gold Coast metal detector who helps reunite people with their sentimental items and valuables. Mick working at Harley Park Labrador. Picture Glenn Hampson

Picture an idyllic day on the beach, soaking up the sun and sand, but when you look down at your hand your $30,000 diamond ring is missing.

A pit opens in your stomach as you rummage through your bags and rake through the sand around you to no avail.

Gold Coast metal detector Mick Egan said that’s the moment you should call him.

“The best thing is not to panic,” Mr Egan said.

“Keep a level head and make some marks.”

Mr Egan said he can search an area the size of two tennis courts in about an hour. Picture Glenn Hampson

Mr Egan said he could cover an area the size of two tennis courts in about an hour — efficiency he’s honed over more than seven years of meticulously combing Gold Coast beaches for buried treasure.

He found his first big diamond ring at Broadbeach about five years ago.

“It had been in the tidal sands … for six days,” he said.

“I’d looked for it for five days and on the sixth day I found it.

“It was valued at somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000.”

Mr Egan uses his metal detector skills to help reunite people with their valuables. Picture Glenn Hampson

He also finds a lot of sentimental items for people, including a 13-year-old girl’s chain she’d received as a gift only three days prior.

“She was pretty stoked about that,” he said.

No matter the find, he said the feeling of reuniting people with their prized possessions was priceless.

“When you get what you want back, whether it’s of huge value or sentimental value, you get the same smile,” he said.

“That makes the job worthwhile.”

Originally published as Metal detector, Mick Egan, helps reunite Gold Coasters with valuables lost at the beach