California's new gold rush

California's called the Golden State because of its gold. After almost 200 years, people are searching for gold again. Heavy rain and floods brought rocks which contain gold into the rivers.

Barron Brandon's a geologist who explains this process.

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."

Some basic methods for finding gold haven't changed since 1849. But modern gold miners are using advanced equipment like metal detectors and wetsuits.

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

Albert Fausel wears a wetsuit while he searches 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."

Because of the situation during the first gold rush, California created some rules. These rules maintain order and protect the environment. In public parks, no shovels are allowed for digging, only hands and pans. Similar to 1849, individuals can still claim gold which they find on public land. But, it's important to follow rules. They must take care of the environment and inform landowners of all gold discoveries.

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

In June, the water levels will be low. This will make mining easier. Brandon thinks 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."

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