Posted on 04/28/2023 11:26:24 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Lucky for you, these gold rush hot spots have not yet run their mining course
Millions of Americans have tried their luck at gold panning. In 1852, the peak production year of the Gold Rush, $81 million worth of gold was discovered in California alone, coming to about $3.2 billion in today’s dollars. And still, two centuries later, prospectors search for gold in public areas across the American West.
“Once you see your first flake of gold pop out of the pan, it hooks you,” says Andy Brooks, president of the Central Valley Prospectors gold panning club based in Fresno, California. After decades of prospecting, he still finds joy in the hunt.
Many prospectors, like Brooks, enjoy the hobby of gold panning for more than just the possibility of striking it rich. Searching for gold has a vibrant past, attracting history buffs and adventurers alike. “We are like family,” says Brooks. “It’s an interesting fraternity.”
The California Gold Rush started in 1848, when, by chance, a Sutter’s Mill employee was inspecting the sawmill and discovered an abundance of gold flecks in the water. This would start a cross-country migration that changed the United States forever.
“I constantly find out new things about areas either archaeologically or historically,” says Brooks. “That's just as exciting to me as finding a piece of gold. It enriches your soul when you find out about history.”
The price of gold is always changing, but over the past few decades, its value has been increasing significantly. With a current rate of almost $65 per gram, it’s a great time to have a stake in the game. Here are five national hot spots where you can start your search.
Spend 3 minutes on social media, you’ll find plenty of gold diggers.
GOLD is where you find it.
But you can always find SILVER under the Lone Ranger.
Yeah, Fort Knox.
Get to liking rattlesnakes before prospecting in those places.
Apparently, Instagram, if you are a man who is willing to dress up as and act like a high school teenager in a rude, crude woman-mocking style!
bring 3 friends with 3 pistols and 3 big dogs
Back when we had real music...
Yeah, Fort Knox.
~~~
Prove it
There is so much gold under the ghost town of Bodie, CA, they could be in the black for decades.....but the green weenies wont let them strip mine the desolate hills around it.
There is more gold around than many acknowledge. Within twenty miles of where I live in western Oregon there is a creek where people pan for gold, and find some. It’s enough for a fun hobby, but you will not get rich there.
I had some friends that used to have a hard rock mining claim somewhere along the southern bank of the Columbia River. They gave up their claim the year before President Nixon legalized holding gold again in the 1970’s, and somebody else jumped in before they could return and reclaim it.
They said that the claim only broke even at $32 an ounce, but they would have got rich quick on the takings of that mine at the higher prices.
They find gold in Central VT. Not a lot…but you can get enough to keep you in beer.
I had a placer claim in Siskiyou Co. The wonderful Fish police decided that dredging killed salmon. Panning is OK for exploration but not an extraction method. Claims are considered real property. We filed a takings case and they eventually settled rather than loose. After that, a jumper filed a claim over mine. I failed to file on time. He then graciously offered to sell it back to me for 20K as it was literally in the front yard of my house. He now has the privilege of paying maintenance fees for something that cannot be used.
.
It was there in ‘77. Lots of it.
“But you can always find SILVER under the Lone Ranger.”
That doesn’t sound right.
1977 is ancient history.
We ended the gold standard just 6 years before that.
I don’t trust all the corrupt SOBs in our government not to have raided what gold we had in the loooong time between then and now, just like they raid our social security money and spend our tax money faster than union bosses spent everyone’s pensions.
The family visited a prospecting park in Colorado back in the early 70’s. I vaguely remember the location, such as the stream coming down the mountain, but I vividly remember the shape of an old prospector’s thumb: like an inverted scythe.
It can be found in the black mining hills of South Dakota...
In wyoming...south pass city and atlantic city
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