California, the Golden State - 9th June 2023

California is famous for gold. In 1849, many people went there. They found gold. Now, people are going there again. They're looking for gold.

Rain water pushes rocks with gold into the rivers.

Barron Brandon studies rocks.

Barron Brandon: "And now we're talking about flood gold. So when you have a huge rain event, big rains come and they wash all the sides of the rivers down into the river basin again, and bring gold with it as it happens. And that's how the deposits occur down in the river."

Now, miners have technology and special clothes to help. But they use the same methods as in 1849.

Albert Fausel: "There you go, that's easy, that's good guys."

Albert Fausel's wearing a wetsuit. He's digging for gold.

Albert Fausel: "I got a hole down there that I haven't even gotten to the bottom of and I got this much gold. It's like, there's got to be more gold in the bottom of that hole. Will I ever get to it? I might not."

California made some rules in 1849. The rules keep people safe. They save the environment too. In parks, people have to use hands and pans. They can't dig the ground with shovels. They can look for gold on public land. But they have to tell landowners. Everyone has to follow rules. They have to care for nature.

Albert Fausel: "Dude, that's killing it right there. That's good, that's good."

In June, there'll be less water. It'll be easy to find gold. There's still lots of gold.

Barron Brandon: "There's claims that only about 80% of the gold in California has been found. But recent claims are that it's much less than that. I think if you really took it all into consideration, probably 15% has been found."