One Troy Ounce
Join a gold club.
Posted on 03/25/2009 9:47:04 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Within an hour of downtown Los Angeles people are seeking that one sure commodity.
"I'm here to find gold," said Kevin Brown. “I'm a studio lighting technician in Hollywood, between the writers strike that happened last year, and the Screen Actors Guild... whatever they want to call it. Lately I've had to turn to having to do it for extra cash.”
Geologists estimate that during the gold rush of 1849 in California about 80-percent the gold was never found. Today with the price of gold soaring and the economy falling, the idea of panning, digging or diving for precious metal has become serious business.
"There's definitely gold nuggets down in the bottom here,” Brown said. “Just a matter of getting 30 feet down lower than any old timer or modern prospector has done."
And for those willing to put in the effort -- it's paying off.
"I just wanted a little California Gold. That’s all I initially started at”, said David Perkins, an unemployed aerospace worker from the South Bay. “And one thing led to another and within my first year I actually picked up close to two pounds of gold."
Where's the best place to find gold? In the "Mother Lode" country just east of Modesto, Calif., experts say.
But prospecting is not easy money. It takes time and a lot of hard work. John Gurney, who came out to California from the East Coast to find gold, was able to pull out about $35,000 worth of gold nuggets over a couple of months. Then there was a dry spell -- and now, John is at it again.
"Some days you sit here an make two cents, some days you make a couple of hundred dollars. I had one good day and made about $10,000”, Gurney said.
And this was another one of those good days. Gurney was able to recover several hundred dollars in gold nuggets from the river. And after running the dirt through a slough --he took the rest down to the river and sifted out the gold.
"See these two pieces,” said Gurney. “They’re just sitting right there."
California's second gold rush has also created at least one recession proof business.
Keene Engineering of Chatsworth makes the equipment you need to find gold -- from plastic pans to large commercial rigs. The owners say their business has doubled.
"There are hundreds of people coming in here to buy gold pans and sluice boxes and take their chances of finding gold in the local hills and mountains,” said sales manager Patrick Keene. “There are a whole new flood of prospectors and miners.”
Gold is also found in Southern California along river banks in the San Gabriel Mountains. One hot spot is a canyon above Azusa, where the road is often lined with campers.
"Back in my childhood I use to come up quite a bit with my parents,” said David Perkins. “But not until I was in my early 20s did I know that gold was in the river. There aren't many places like this and once more people find out about it, it’s going to get really crowded up here this year."
When asked if prospectors give out the location of a really good find, Perkins responded, "If we sitting on a good spot with good gold were going tell you to go about a mile down the river and that's where your going to find the gold.”
bump for later
Uh oh, just wait until the Cali-coms in Sacremento get wind of this...
So...... the real money to be made is in mining equipment........
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a “gold bug”, it’s just that things never change ...... the industries that crop up to support the mining prove to be golden themselves.... Good work, Mr. Keene!!
Perhaps one ought to view this more soberly and remember that, wherever precious metals or gemstones are found, it's never economically feasible to attempt to recover 100% of the goods. That's right: Most of the gold in California is still there, untouched - in virtually inaccessible locations, or accessible, but in such low concentrations that it isn't worth the bother going after. One should, after all, also differentiate between "known reserves," "suspected reserves," "estimated reserves," etc.
This article is all together too naively optimistic for my taste.
Regards,
Join a gold club.
Gold won’t see a significant advance until these Tupperware parties have relieved the masses of their loose gold and these stories find less of an audience.
That’s coming though; I just don’t know when.
Is “Gold Fever” still being shown? If yes, what network?
ping
That’s beautiful! Did you pan that yourself?
Isn’t there still gold in the Yukon Territory and along the Yukon River?
North! To Alaska!
obama plans to dig all the dead people with gold teeth and tax their family members for hiding gold.
I’m sure anyday now some whiny lib will convince a judge that panning for gold is disturbing the yellow-bellied-whallish-owl-serpbird and should be banned forever!
ping
Gold like that is worth more as jewelry than melted down. For instance, I’ve seen nice clear pendants filled with a sprinkle of gold go for FAR more than the granules intrinsic value. From your stash, I believe that you recognize that.
“Gold!”
The best part is when you eat your shoes.
I think it’s on Discovery. I’ve seen it many times and I love it.
Er, Clams? LOL! “Claims”
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