WA Police launch fresh search for gold prospector missing in same region as German backpacker

West Australian Police are launching a new search for missing gold prospector Barry Podmore.

This masthead understands the new search, which was originally scheduled for earlier this year, is set to begin on Thursday after it was derailed in July by the case of missing backpacker Carolina Wilga.

It is understood police are acting on new information they have received, including the possible search area.

Podmore was prospecting near Karroun Hill, about 310 kilometres north of Perth and on the edge of the state’s Wheatbelt region, when he went missing in December last year.

The 73-year-old was seen on December 4, and was last heard from on December 5 by phone.

Six months after his disappearance, police found Podmore’s distinctive army-camouflage four-wheel-drive on a remote track in Mount Jackson in the Karroun Hill Reserve.

The car sparked another search by police, who said they were specifically looking between Paynes Find and Southern Cross.

“A team of police officers from the emergency operations unit and the Wheatbelt district has been deployed to the region to undertake searches in the Karroun area,” a spokesperson said.

The search yielded no further information.

However, two months later police were out searching again.

They had planned to again comb the outer Wheatbelt region, but significant police resources were diverted when German backpacker Carolina Wilga went missing in the same area.

It is not yet known when the search is set to take place.

There is a $500,000 reward on offer for any information that helps find Podmore.

He is described as Caucasian, about 170 centimetres tall with a solid build, short grey hair and hazel eyes.

WA Police were contacted for comment.