Jobless Turn To Prospecting For Gold, Rather Than Jobs

washingtonpost.com:

COLUMBIA, Calif. -- Maybe it was the nail in Ray's head. Maybe it was the economy. His wife said one as much as the other drove the decision to auction off everything that wouldn't fit in the trailer and leave Vermont for the mother lode.

Read the whole story: washingtonpost.com

Comments

[obamaelection]

obama reappoints Bernanke 'beagle boy' Ben

yay another example of no change. voters were deceived.

good articles 4 slow news day: http://www.iamned.com

guess who will be sitting home on November 21st 2012?

[NC4Obama]

Well i dont know about gold but iam sure they can find some mercury if they are searching in the water.

[RJII]

I'd rather just rob a bank. But to each's own.

[blueskybigstar]

No more borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.

[blueskybigstar]

This is not the article I thought I was commenting on.

[msjimmied]

What a testament to the human spirit, never give up...sad yet uplifting at the same time.

[OkieMon]

bush recession (third of his presidency) begain in oct 07 and morphed into the bush depression of july 08 which continues today and tomorrow..­.triggered by bush's 150 dollar a barrel oil and loosey goosey credit bush/neo*c­ons/repu*g­s own this sh*it until the dems/obama can fix it how ever long that may take......­20 years???? and that is with the rapid development of cheap renewable and green energy....­.

[RJII]

we knew things were going south back in 2007 and did nothing.
Bush was the worst president. He wreaked this country and destroyed too many folks on main street.

[Brute]

They'd have better chances of striking it rich playing the lottery.

[Crass Innuendo]

*runs off to buy more lottery tickets*

[OkieMon]

.....the jobless turn to stealing as even families with two incomes can no longer make ends meet....

[timbonotes]

If you're going to make some really money on gold you should have bought back in 1999 when it was going for about $250 an ounce. Either that or go to Alaska and pan for gold up there if you're willing to work and freeze your butt off. Gold prospecting in the the continental U.S. is hopeless. How sad and clueless these people are.

[rich misty]

There is gold out there. It's backbreaking work (I did some in my youth) but it can pay if you know what you are doing.

[mjeffn]

I carry a pan around with me, along with with my fly fishing gear. I fish and I sift gravel both for fun. I catch and release both fish and flakes. I love living in the mountains.

[CptKendrick]

Thanks. I just got back to suburban hell after a vacation. Way to cheer me up.

[leduck]

talk about desperate
panning for gold is insane
we're not in the 1850s. the easy to find gold is gone. this is why we have minning companies.
you'd be much better off buying a lottery ticket (which is another insane idea)
but at least your odds are better, with a possible big time payoff.
panning for gold is a complete waste of time.

[Forester]

Back in the day when I lived in the Sierras, on a hot hot day, I would take my lawn chair down to the creek with a cooler of beer, dig a 5 gallon bucket full of paydirt from the bank, and pan away the day in hopeful bliss.

I did find some nice pieces, some of which I still have for memories. Friends of mine with small hydraulic dredges did well enough to pay for gas and beer, but occasionally hit on some nice color that netted out a couple thousand dollars. The biggest problem with those dredges was the diver would get exhausted, and there were some fatalities. 90% of these guys were on disability or welfare, and grew weed or other misc income sources. If you live in the mountains, you make a dollar ten different ways.

These days, with water quality such a major issue in the west, dredging and panning can be a significant source of fine sediment in fish-bearing streams - not to mention the env impacts of people living near a stream for extended periods.

[tundramonkey]

I have a buddy who goes out on the summer weekends with a suction dredge and leases part of a claim near Girdwood. He has made up to 10,000 dollars a summer swimming in a creek. Not always fun I'd think but he likes it.

[stargazer13]

well it may be a complete waste of time but there is no work ! for we have looked in five states

and what else should a person do when they have no options

it is an honest days work and considering that only 5% of the gold has been found you know that leaves 95% left for all of us to find

and is it not better to work a day away instead of worry the day away

[stargazer13]

you would not believe how many out of work people are trying to make a living by prospecting

including my self !!

we are going to starve because we have not found enough gold to buy breakfast

but it is honest to god hard work and that in it self is the saving grace because you don,t have time to worry about the future and at the end of the day you are so tiered you can,t stay awake past sunset

[stargazer13]

P.S. as the salt rises the gold sinks

[msjimmied]

Realistically how much gold can you find on average? There are some that thinks your chances are abysmally low...Ther­e is a great story in here somewhere stargazer, and I hope you found enough for a steak dinner today!

[stargazer13]

two penny weight a day is considered a good day

three penny weight is worth about 105,,00 dollars
of course they only give 75.00 when you go to sell

thanks for the hope because I truly love steak

[publicradio]

country is going down the tubes and there's nothing we can do about it

good articles: http://www.iamned.com

[TheAlchemist]

Do you have anything else to say?

[totaldisbelief]

thanks for that insight.

[TheAlchemist]

Alchemy