The Gold Rush of '08

With the price near record highs, more people are trying their luck panning

By Dan Vierria - dvierria@sacbee.com

Published 12:00 am PDT Thursday, April 3, 2008
Story appeared in SCENE section, Page E1

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Mike Nowack, a fourth-grader at Genevieve Didion School in Sacramento, pans for gold during a field trip last week to Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma. Hector Amezcua / hamezcua@sacbee.com

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The Sierra Nevada is littered with gold, the celebrity element that rocked financial institutions last month at a record $1,000 an ounce in futures trading. Suddenly, gold panning has become a hot recreational activity.

"We're inundated, sending people away," says Brent Shock, owner of Gold Prospecting Adventures in Jamestown. "It's remarkable."

For the past 25 years, his company has taught folks how to find gold and has led groups into Calaveras County forests in search of riches, but mostly good times. This year, Gold Prospecting Adventures is booked solid into June.

"Since it's gone the way it has (gold prices and business), we're bringing back the helicopter trips," Shock says. On those trips, groups of four or five are dropped into rugged mountain areas to search for gold.

Since its record high, gold has hovered around $900 an ounce. In 2000, gold was around $280 an ounce.

"In California, they say, 80 percent of the gold is still in the gold fields," says Mark Michalski, a ranger at Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma.

Gold panning is alluring both in a get-rich sense and for its scenic value – towering trees; icy, clear water; clean air. It's ideal and inexpensive for solo and family outings.

Realistically, recreational gold panners aren't likely to get rich, but the prospect of a few hefty nuggets glistening in the pan is enticement enough.

"Everybody is getting a little excited," says Frank Sullivan, owner of Pioneer Motherlode Mining Supply in Auburn. "The old-timers who retired a few years ago are coming back out. Of course, the people who have cabin fever are coming and buying sluice boxes, pans and digging tools."

Last spring, Sullivan said, somebody discovered a 19-ounce nugget using a "metal locator" or detector. The biggest he's ever seen is a 3-pound chunk of gold.

"I've never found one that big, of course," he says. "But the thing about gold is that your luck is always as good as the next guy's."

Sullivan says gold plucked from rivers around the Auburn area is 83 percent to 86 percent pure gold, the rest being silver and impurities. He added that the north fork of the Yuba River "has always produced the biggest pieces of gold. South of there, the gold gets finer."

Any experienced gold seeker will tell you that the stories about hot spots and nugget size aren't necessarily the whole truth.

"Gold miners are like fishermen. Believe about half of what they tell you," warns Mike Koettle of Miners Emporium in Sierra City.

Then he offers his own treasure-hunting tales. He remembers a 28-ounce nugget found in recent years, but he says that was minuscule compared with those unearthed back in the day.

"Way back when, there were nuggets that weighed several pounds," he says. "One weighed 95 pounds back in the 1800s."

Gold nuggets scattered about on Main Street in Jamestown is a story to be believed. While a new sewer line was being dug down the middle of Jamestown's Main Street in 1984, a pair described as "amateur prospectors" began plucking gold nuggets from the piles of excavated soil and rock.

After a three-day gold rush in the middle of the street, the contractor began hauling the piles away to a lot with a locked fence.

In 1993, the Jamestown Mine put a 60-pound chunk of gold, then valued at $3.5 million, on sale. Smaller gold chunks, some reportedly weighing as much as 20 pounds, had broken off the main piece.

Gold is nearly twice as heavy as lead. Despite its density, gold is soft. In the prospector's pan, gold settles to the bottom as the motion of the water washes other material away. You're much more likely to find gold flakes in the pan than gold nuggets.

Gold's value isn't just based on weight. The shape of a nugget can increase its value two- or threefold. Gold can be sold to prospecting stores, jewelers, other hobbyists and businesses like Security Gold Exchange Inc. in Grass Valley.

But before you buy a pack mule, there's one more important lesson to learn about gold panning. Rangers get a little testy when visitors begin digging holes in search of gold in state and federal parks.

Panning is harmless enough unless you're doing it on a staked claim, private property or public lands where it's prohibited (see accompanying story).

"The general rule is once you learn how to pan for gold, the next thing you need to know is whose land it is and the regulations," says Michalski, the park ranger. "You wouldn't like it if I went to your house and starting digging in your backyard."

Jonathan Soon, a Genevieve Didion fourth-grader, tries his luck on the south fork of the American River. Hector Amezcua / hamezcua@sacbee.com

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People are heading to the gold fields in a more serious search for nuggets (rare) or flecks (not so rare). Randall Benton / Sacramento Bee file

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This vial holds one ounce of gold. Lezlie Sterling / Sacramento Bee file

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Gold panning in the Sierra foothills for years has been mainly a good excuse for a family outing. Joe Jaszewski

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GOING FOR THE GOLD
Gold panning doesn't require much of an investment, which is a major perk when money is tight. Here's what you'll need.

Gold pan: $6-$12. Buy a 12-inch or 14-inch pan. Anything larger may be too heavy to use when full. Smaller pans are available for youngsters. Plastic pans are lighter than steel and won't rust.

Sieve screen: $10-$23. Sits inside the pan and screens coarse material.

Scoop: $8-$20. For filling your pan.

Crevice tool: $9-$15. Used for scraping cracks and loosening packed material. A screwdriver may also do the job.

Snuffer bottle: $3. A plastic bottle that sucks tiny gold particles from the pan.

Two or three vials: $1. For storing your nuggets. (Optimistic, aren't we?)

Panning kits: $12-$50. Buy it all together in one package. Price depends on quality and how many of the above tools are included. Figure on $35 for a decent kit.

– Dan Vierria

Sources: Pioneer Motherlode Mining Supply, 943 Lincoln Way, Auburn (www.pioneermining.com); Gold Mine, 2866 Fulton Ave., Sacramento

GOLD PANNING BASICS
• Scoop some sand and small gravel into the pan.

• Fill with water and mix thoroughly.

• Rotate the pan in a fast circular motion to settle the gold.

• While continuing the circular motion, tip the pan slightly to get the lighter material to the top.

• With your thumb, scrape the lighter and larger pieces out of the pan.

• Repeat the process until only a small part of the pan is covered with concentrate.

• Leave just enough water to "feather" the tailings as you lightly swirl the material.

• The heavier material, including any gold, will be at the tail of the feather. Source: www.visit-eldorado.com

EXPERT'S TALK DRAWING A CROWD
If you believe there is gold in them thar hills, you might be interested in Dave McCracken, a gold prospector and author of books about finding gold. He founded a prospecting club, The New 49ers, and produces a newsletter and a Web site for it (www.goldgold.com).

McCracken operates mining and gold-mining training out of Happy Camp, near the Oregon border. He will speak at 7 tonight at the Brenden Theatres, 1985 Willow Pass Road in Concord (about a two-hour drive from Sacramento).

Tom Lutrel, a spokesman for a new gold mining equipment store in Concord, Gold Pan California, said 400 people have signed up to hear McCracken at the free event. To contact the Gold Pan, call (925) 825-4653. Lutrel said McCracken may be reached at (530) 493-2012.

– Dan Vierria and Bob Ehlert

WHERE TO DIP YOUR PAN
Nobody likes a claim jumper, so watch for posted claims and pan only at sites and parks where the public is welcome. It's always a good idea to call ahead, visit Web sites and stop at the ranger station to make sure you know the rules.

These areas and parks allow public access for gold panning.

Auburn State Recreation Area: Includes 40 miles of the north and middle forks of the American River. From Auburn, reach the area from Highway 49 or Auburn-Foresthill Road. (530) 885-4527, www.parks.ca.gov.

South Yuba River State Park: Includes a 20-mile stretch of the Yuba River's south fork. Off Highway 49, north of Nevada City. Nearest town is Bridgeport. (530) 432-2546, www.parks.ca.gov.

Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park: Gold panning in Humbug Creek, behind buildings in North Bloomfield. Malakoff Diggins is 26 miles from Nevada City. (530) 265-2740, www.parks.ca.gov.

Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park: South fork of the American River at Coloma, where gold was discovered in 1848. Panning lessons daily, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Cost $7. For large group reservations: (530) 295-1850. For more park information: (530) 622-3470, www.parks.ca.gov.

Columbia State Historic Park: Look for Matelot Gulch Mining Co. inside the park for panning lessons. Cost is $8; (209) 532-9693, (209) 533-3105. Park is three miles north of Sonora off Highway 49. For more park information: (209) 588-9128, www.parks.ca.gov.

Hangtown's Gold Bug Park & Mine: A 61.5-acre park in Placerville, 2635 Goldbug Lane. Gold panning in the troughs. Pan rental is $2 an hour. Check in at Hattie's Gift Shop if you want to pan. (530) 642-5207, www.goldbugpark.org.

Tahoe National Forest: A few areas have been designated for public gold panning in the Tahoe National Forest:

• Two square miles along the South Yuba River near the town of Washington have been set aside for gold panning. (530) 265-4531.

• The Forest Service also has a gold panning parcel at the Union Flat Campground on the North Yuba River. (530) 288-3231.

Eldorado National Forest: Gold panning is allowed, and the Eldorado National Forest Web site recommends two areas – PiPi Campground and the Cache Rock area. It also provides some good advice: "... it is your responsibility to determine whether you are on private land or a mining claim." Maps are available at ranger offices in Pioneer, Georgetown, Pollock Pines and Camino. www.fs.fed.us/r5/eldorado.