I was reading a book recently about the Gold and Silver Rush in the Western US during the mid to late 1800’s. Apparently by the early 1900’s most of the precious metal had been pulled out of the ground. I also know there are still a few active gold mines in California (I’ve been in one), but they don’t seem to find anywhere near the quantities of gold or silver that were discovered 150 years ago.
It got me thinking… how do they know there aren’t huge veins of gold or silver still left to be discovered in the hills somewhere? They can’t have checked everywhere. Can learned geologists determine with absolute certainty that there are no more Mother Lodes hidden in the West? And what about deposits underwater?
Could there still be veins of gold left undiscovered or is the West “tapped out”?
I live in one of those California Gold Rush towns. I don’t know about another “Mother Load” hidden around these parts, but the gold is hardly tapped out. Teichert Aggregates primary business is processing and selling gravel dredged up from around the nearby American River. I’m told by a geologist friend that they also pull out enough gold annually to cover their capital costs, and that any gravel they sell is pure profit.
I realize that companies still find low grade ore deposits and given enough time, energy and effort you can mine enough precious metal to cover your costs… and maybe even produce a profit, but that’s not the same as hitting the mother lode.
It’s hard to believe that the gold miners of the previous centuries were efficient enough to take something like 98% of the easily available gold in a state as large as California, but perhaps that’s really the case.
I was hoping someone could say that they have somehow surveyed the entire State of California and determined that there isn’t any large deposits left to plunder. I just haven’t heard anyone say that yet…
Low hanging fruit is picked first. There is still gold but not in big enough concentrations in places that are easily minable for low tech mining method to be cost effective. There certainly may be gold “in the hills somewhere” and we can determine if it’s there but there are a few roadblocks. Knowing the geology of a region is a start and that is followed by test such as core sampling which doesn’t come cheaply.
So the general consensus is that there is apparently no mother lode waiting for someone like me to trip over. There is some gold out there, but unless you are in the sand or avel business, or have a ton of money to invest searching, it’s probably not worth going after. I can only assume from this that the early miners did a pretty good job finding all the low hanging fruit around.
On a slight highjack, did the Native Americans know there was gold in the foothills, rivers and streams before the settlers did?
I also know there are still a few active gold mines in California (I’ve been in one), but they don’t seem to find anywhere near the quantities of gold or silver that were discovered 150 years ago.
