For gold diggers, prospects are slim
Gold prospecting has become a popular thing to do in Southern California, even if just for fun. But even though the yields are meager, the process of mining for them is illegal in some areas. Rico Gagliano reports.
Young prospectors pan for gold at Gold Prospecting Adventure in Jamestown, Calif. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
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Steve Chiotakis: Gold's been in the news a lot lately. There's its price for one thing; it's going for $973 bucks an ounce now. Then there are all the folks prospecting for the yellow stuff here in California. But if the promise of easy riches sounds too good to be true, at least in one popular mining area, it probably is. Here's Rico Gagliano.
Rico Gagliano: The Angeles National Forest is an hour's drive from Los Angeles, up twisty mountain roads. On a Tuesday morning, it's mostly empty. Except for a stretch along the San Gabriel River. That's where dozens of prospectors camp out just about every day.
Robert Herstrom is one of them:
Gagliano: So how long've you been doing this?
Robert Herstrom:Not very long, coupla months.
Gagliano: And how you doin'?
Herstrom:Not very good!
That's putting it mildly. After weeks of standing in the river, sifting soil through what's called a "sluice box," Herstrom says he's found a fraction of a gram of gold dust - not worth enough to pay for his trip here. He doesn't mind; he's retired.
Herstrom: It's just recreational. Somethin' to do. Stay out of watching TV.
He could be sincere. Or hiding a wounded ego. But one thing's sure: Lots of people have suddenly taken interest in this form of recreation. And some of them expect more than a good time.
Sherry Rollman is a public affairs officer for the Angeles National Forest. She says over the last few months, gold fever has led to phone calls like this:
Sherry Rollman: A gentleman from the East Coast said he'd spent the last of his savings on some mining equipment and wanted to know where he could go mining here on the Angeles National Forest.
This concerns Rollman. And not just because it's a kind of pathetic story.
Rollman: Unfortunately, all the lands on the Angeles were withdrawn from mineral entry by the 1928 mining act.
Which means it's illegal to take minerals out of this stretch of the San Gabriel River. The public parts of it, anyway. And the area is a patchwork of public and private land -- it's hard for prospectors to know when they've strayed from one to the other.
The Forest Service says they'll be taking a quote "closer look" to see if regulations are being violated. For now, though, prospectors keep hunting for treasure.
One of 'em, an unemployed machinist named Don, uses this dredger. It sucks soil -- hopefully along with gold -- from the river bottom. Even with the dredge, Don says he only finds an ounce a year. But I understand the allure when he shows off some of his stash.
Don:I find a whole bunch of that.
Gagliano: Kind of looks like a test tube full of like, gold flakes.
Don:But little of this.
Gagliano: Wow, now those are the size of, like, pebbles. That's gorgeous stuff. You wanna give me one of those?
Don:No thanks.
In Los Angeles, I'm Rico Gagliano for Marketplace.
Comments
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From Redmond, OR, 05/31/2009
check this site out ; www.arizonaminingclaims.com
They got some great info on prospecting tips .
From Mount Holly, NC, 05/31/2009
I need to add this, also. I know everyone says the price of gold is so high now but... what is it's real purchasing power in the US today versus 1850? Figure what it could buy in 1850 and what it can buy today. Use land for example. Gold in 1850 had a value of right at $20 per ounce. I've got a documented land record of 1 acre of land in NC that sold at $1.44 per acre in 1850, average price per acre in NC was $3.xx in 1850, so I could buy 10 acres of that land with .72 (point seven two) ounces of gold. Today, the market rate on the same land is $5,000 per acre, so I can buy 10 acres of the same land today with 51 ounces of gold at a spot price of $980. That's right, it takes me 72 times the amount of gold today at $980 an ounce to buy the same thing as it would have in 1850. Given the circumstances and purchasing power of gold in 1850, I can see why there were gold rushes. I would be quitting work and panning tha you know what out of creeks too.
From Mount Holly, NC, 05/31/2009
Let me preface this by saying that I love gold prospecting and will continue to do so. It can be very addicting and the gold is beautiful. I liked your story very much, and it is (bolded and underlined on the "is") scary that expectations are set so high by many people. Gold Prospecing is kind of like the "Power Ball" lottery. I guess there are 1 in a million that hit something that will pay them off, meaning cover all expenses into profit zone. Gold prospecting is a great pass time and escape from the everyday world. I've been doing it for 12 years and have old family land in NC that sits in an old mining district and I gold prospect on it. The hardest thing about gold prospecting and mining is learning what it is and what it ain't, and the most valuable thing to learn is "what it ain't". Most of the gold cannot be seen with the human eye, and the successful mines know or knew this. A Geologist once told me that 99% of the worlds gold will fit through a window screen hole. That doesn't mean there is not visible gold, because there is, and I find it too. For the majority, gold, like any thing else is... "it takes money to make money", and LOTS of money, LOTS of land, and a very expensive setup to process the ore to get out the "invisible" gold, core drilling, assaying, etc. etc. I use to be like everyone else when I started and kept wanting the "big ole nuggets". They are there, but rare. I think society has set false expectations about in what physical state gold is mostly found. Also, I saw somewhere last week where a nugget of gold was defined as >= 2mm, that's right, 2 millimeters. Two reputable geologists told me that they defined a nugget as anything they could see with their eyes. HaHa Just "food for thought for the day".
From Las Vegas, NV, 05/30/2009
When it comes to prospecting for fun people should belong to an orginization like Lost Dutchman Assoc. or G.P.A.A. These clubs encourage Legal mining and are great resources and comeradery. Why was there no mention of them in your story? You make it sound as if it is the wild west and your story dicredits the thousands of people who do this activity responciply. How would your journalist enjoy being the target of such reporting?
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