Prospecting Qld father and sons found

A father and his two teenaged sons have been found alive and well after failing to return from a prospecting trip in outback Queensland.

David Hickmott, 51, and his sons aged 16 and 18 were reported missing after they didn't return to Townsville from Richmond on Monday as planned.

A police spokesman told AAP they were found at Halifax, near Ingham, on Thursday afternoon shortly after an air and road search had been launched where they'd last been seen.