California's gold rush - 9th June 2023

California, the Golden State is living up to its name. Almost 200 years since the first gold rush in 1849, miners are heading west once more to seek their fortunes.

This new search for gold has been triggered by heavy rains and flooding which have carried gold bearing rock into the rivers.

Barron Brandon's a geologist.

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."

Whilst fundamental techniques for finding the gold remain unchanged since 1849, nowadays prospectors employ modern equipment such as metal detectors and wetsuits to help them.

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

Gold seeker Albert Fausel has donned a wetsuit in his search 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."

Since the gold rush of 1849, lots of regulations have been implemented to prevent lawlessness and to safeguard the environment. In state parks, the rule is 'hands and pans', meaning you can't use a shovel to dig, but only your hands and a pan.

For those wishing to claim rights, as in 1849, this is still possible on public property. However, wherever mining takes place, all gold seekers must respect the country code, protect the environment and report finds to the landowners.

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

The treasure hunting season will reach its peak in June as water levels drop. Barron Brandon believes there's more than enough gold to go round.

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."