ncclaymaker
Sr. Member
- Aug 26, 2011
- 370
- 316
- Detector(s) used
- Minelab 1000, A Motorized Power Glider Trike, 17 foot travel trailer behind my Jeep. 4" suction dredge/high banker.
- Primary Interest:
- Prospecting
I am presenting this as a matter of apprising everyone what is out there reporting ALT-TRUTH, a foreign entity at that. The British Broadcasting Company (BBC). Find the text below at - BBC - Earth - There are people mining gold illegally in California's hills .
Their article is as follows -
If you travel 40 minutes east of Los Angeles, above a canyon town and up a winding mountain road, on a river that leads to nowhere, you can go back in time to the 1849 Gold Rush.
Beyond the sage and yucca lining the San Gabriel River, there are men in waders and cut-off shorts. Bent over, with beards long and caps low, they are searching for gold. Some squint into 14-inch pans. Others swing pick axes until they strike bedrock. They heave shovels of dirt into sluice boxes, then use the river's current to sift silt from stone.
"We're prospectors," one old-timer mutters.
Some proudly flaunt their discoveries. Others are secretive, and for good reason. What they are doing is against the law.
Laws like the General Mining Act of 1872 are clear that removing minerals from this river is illegal. Dredging, a practice similar to taking a vacuum cleaner to the earth, is banned. It is loud and expensive, and requires heavy machinery.
The Bureau of Land Management does list a few locations in Northern California where "casual panning" is allowed. But using tools is a no-no, and the San Gabriel River, in the eponymous range outside L.A., is not on the approved list.
In May 2016, I spent two days in these mountains. I saw no rangers, and no government presence beyond plaques. But I did see around a dozen miners working in and around the river. There is gold in these hills and they are determined to get to it. But it is not clear what that will cost.
Their article is as follows -
If you travel 40 minutes east of Los Angeles, above a canyon town and up a winding mountain road, on a river that leads to nowhere, you can go back in time to the 1849 Gold Rush.
Beyond the sage and yucca lining the San Gabriel River, there are men in waders and cut-off shorts. Bent over, with beards long and caps low, they are searching for gold. Some squint into 14-inch pans. Others swing pick axes until they strike bedrock. They heave shovels of dirt into sluice boxes, then use the river's current to sift silt from stone.
"We're prospectors," one old-timer mutters.
Some proudly flaunt their discoveries. Others are secretive, and for good reason. What they are doing is against the law.
Laws like the General Mining Act of 1872 are clear that removing minerals from this river is illegal. Dredging, a practice similar to taking a vacuum cleaner to the earth, is banned. It is loud and expensive, and requires heavy machinery.
The Bureau of Land Management does list a few locations in Northern California where "casual panning" is allowed. But using tools is a no-no, and the San Gabriel River, in the eponymous range outside L.A., is not on the approved list.
In May 2016, I spent two days in these mountains. I saw no rangers, and no government presence beyond plaques. But I did see around a dozen miners working in and around the river. There is gold in these hills and they are determined to get to it. But it is not clear what that will cost.
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