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Panning for Gold Makes a Comeback

Desperate times call for desperate measures and with more and more people finding themselves out of work, panning for gold is now once again in fashion. USA Today reports:

Gold, which is selling for more than $900 an ounce, has been found all over California, from near the Oregon border to the Mother Lode near Yosemite to the deserts of Arizona and Mexico. Seasonal rains and snowmelt erode minerals, including gold, at higher altitudes and wash them down streams and rivers.

At the Angeles National Forest, about an hour outside of Los Angeles, folks have been panning for gold in larger numbers. California now has 24,583 active gold-mining claims (cost to file a claim: $170) And it's not just old retired people who also skulk around the beaches with metal detectors. No, young and old are hiking up forest trails and sifting through dirt along the rivers.

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