I know a guy who prospects here in NM. Doing pretty well. The first gold rush was in the 1830’s near Madrid NM. In the 1970’s when gold was “high” they went in and ground up all the remaining adobe structures near the mine and were able to recover enough to make it worth their time.
15-20 years ago, there was a kid who worked his way through college by panning gold in the summer...and gold prices were a lot lower then.
Gold will go much higher as China, OPEC, India and others decide that that they don’t want to get caught holding dollars as 0, Ben, and Tim ramp up the printing press.
I find this thread rather intriguing. After a couple of trips to Alaska, my husband got “gold fever”. We live in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where there is a history of gold mining. He is semi-retired and this hobby, thank God, gets him out of this house and gives me a break. After nearly fifty years of marriage, I still love him dearly, but I treasure the quiet times when he is out prospecting. He has invested nearly two thousand dollars in his “equipment” (sluice boxes, pans, dredges, pumps, metal detectors, etc.) He has a great time doing it and has actually found enough flakes and “pickers” to pay for his investment. Our youngest grandson loves to go with him. He also caught “the bug”. It’s a great hobby....just don’t count on it being a job.
There’s plenty of gold where I live if you want to break your back prospecting. Georgia was where America’s first gold rush began and people still work the streams. Most would do better working at a Burger King but there is always the chance of that big strike.
“”You’ve got this pretty metal—what does it do?” said James Hamilton, economics professor at University of California, San Diego. “It doesn’t create dividends, it doesn’t create more productivity; it’s a hedge against certain kinds of risks.”
What an idiot... electronics, computers, some medicines and jewelry are all heavily dependent on gold.
LLS
I guess it’s time to reread this book...
Bacon and Beans from a Gold Pan
Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Bacon-Beans-Prospecting-Treasure-Hunting/dp/0944194125
Partial review from Bedrock Dreams website:
If you are a true placer gold mining enthusiast then “Bacon and Beans from a Gold Pan” (by Jesse Coffey with George Hoeper) is a must read. This little gem of a book chronicles the true story of a young married couple (Jesse and Dot Coffey) who used small-scale placer mining methods to support themselves at the height of the Great Depression during the 1930s.
Unlike so many these days, they never felt sorry for themselves, played the roles of “victims,” or expected others (including the government) to bail them out of their predicament. Instead, they worked (and often struggled) together as a couple and as a team, keeping life and limb together through perseverance, hard work, and a good grasp of fundamental placer gold mining principles. And, in the end, they triumphed. Even with gold at a spot price of $35.00 per troy ounce.
http://goldbedrockgold.blogspot.com/2008/10/bacon-and-beans-from-gold-pan.html