Because the price of gold is about $1,971.00 an ounce, many people have been interested in ‘mining’ for gold. That could explain a recent Smithsonian article:
Five Places Where You Can Still Find Gold in the United States
Lucky for you, these gold rush hot spots have not yet run their mining course
Carolyn Hagler Staff Contributor
Although I don’t know Ms. Hagler, I do know that she has missed a sixth spot. And it’s not that far away. (But it’s definitely not Danville’s newly opened casino!)
If you look at a map of our area, you may find that the name of one community, relative to finding gold, attracts your attention. Areas in that place, aptly titled Ringgold, were mined for gold years ago.
Because it was never very profitable, gold mining stopped.
But not for me.
As someone so interested in gemstones and minerals that I became GIA certified, I got to know people who bought and sold gems and minerals. Many of the dealers—and collectors— became friends of mine.
When I mentioned to one of them that I was interested in mining for gold, he introduced me to a friend of his who, years before, had panned for gold with him. Although I didn’t know the man, my dealer friend was kind enough to agree to take me to a site where he and I might find gold.
As exciting as that was to me, I was aware that he and I were going to be ‘mining’ for the sake of the experience. That suited me because he had the necessary equipment and I didn’t.
One beautiful fall day, he and I rode in his car to a farm that belonged to a friend of his who had given us permission to mine for gold on his property. And that’s what we did.
Of course, I followed the man to a stream I would never have found without him. He had been there years before. “See the bend in the stream?” he asked. I nodded, then watched as he set up our seining operation near there.
We worked for hours, always hopeful that our pan of seined materials would produce a fleck of gold. As exciting as it was, we did that again and again.
And then it happened. Shining in the grit and tiny stones in our pan, we spotted a bright gold fleck. It was a piece of pure gold.
It didn’t matter that it was not much bigger than the period at the end of this sentence, nor that we’d spent most of the afternoon trying to find it. I suggested that he take and add it to the other flakes he’d collected over decades of searching.
He thanked me and told me his piece might be as valuable as a postage stamp, less than twenty cents then.
It was a great experience, one that helped me understand the excitement of a gold rush. In this case, however, we never wanted to do it again. And we never will.
B.Koplen 5/30/23
