The Department of Mines and Petroleum has moved to curb illegal prospecting on crown mining land by calling on lease- holders to report suspect activity.

Amalgamated Prospectors and Leaseholders Association president Sean Ashcroft says "pirate" prospecting on WA tenements is on the rise and costing industry millions of dollars each year.

The DMP campaign was launched in response to reports of "a lot of illegal activity" that have not provided enough information to identify offenders.

The department's investigation and enforcement manager, Kevin Mancini, said the department had been prevented from acting on several complaints because of a frustrating lack of detail.

He said investigators would be spending more time in regional areas with communities in an attempt to thwart pirate prospectors. While some offenders are armed with just metal detectors, others brazenly used light machinery.

Despite rising claims of illegal mining, only 12 official complaints were made last financial year for the Goldfields region.

"Only four of those complaints provided any information that would assist in identifying any potential suspects," Mr Mancini said. "We want the prospecting and mining community to be aware of the sort of information the department needs to investigate claims of illegal mining."

Mr Ashcroft said the mining boom was attracting people to WA who didn't know the rules, as well as drawing criminals wanting to capitalise on strong gold prices.

He said the difficulty in getting timely information was frustrating.

He wants more collaboration between government departments and has called for the establishment of a database to share information.

"We've got people here in Kalgoorlie who go out on their own block to find that people have pinched their machinery to mine the property," Mr Ashcroft said. "By the time they act on it these guys are gone."