Hi All,
I'd come across this a couple of months back, and a discussion on gilding yesterday made me remember it. The Art Gilding Academy in Sydney, Australia offers 3 different workshops spanning 2 hour, 2-days & 9-day immersive experience to learn the ancient craft of gilding. 2-hour workshop is priced at AUD $39 per person and gives a pretty good introductory session on gilding & participants create a leafed Abalone Shell with natural Mother of Pearl during the workshop itself.
More details here:
http://www.artgilding.com.au/Regards,
Sunish