For the first time, I’m participating in the Blogging from A to Z April Challenge! The concept is simple: Each day in April I’ll be blogging on a topic starting with the letter of the day, beginning with A and progressing to Z by the end of the month. Posts will be short and will relate to my chosen theme: my new coming of age story, Rightfully Ours, released April 1.
G is for Gold
While I tend to associate hunting for gold with the late 19th century American Northwest, the search for gold is still a thing, at least if shows such as Gold Rush are any indication. I haven’t seen the show, only a short trailer about the series, but it looks as if panning has gone high tech. In researching gold authentication for Rightfully Ours, I learned that ultrasounds are now used to detect whether a gold bar is fake or the real deal.
If you’re serious about your search, the US Geological Survey has a publication called Prospecting for Gold in the United States that you may find helpful. There are plenty of tips to help you out.
My search for gold never went beyond a few seconds’ excitement when I’d stumble across a gold-colored rock while hunting fossils on the slope behind our house. I wasn’t as lucky as my characters, Paul and Rachel, but then, their treasure wasn’t quite all it was cracked up to be either.
Have you ever searched for gold?
The search for gold has always appealed to me, not just for the potential value of the find but for the fun of the search. That’s part of why I love reading old Westerns! Those cowboys are always searching for something. But the search is just as much fun in a contemporary romance!
That is what it’s about, that excitement of discovery!
I live in Northern California, and the gold country is about two hours away. While we don’t have a lot of nuggets anymore, there is still placer flake to be found. I was up at the American River a few years ago when the temperature was way north of 100 degrees F., and I stood in the icy water to cool down. When I came out, there was placer flake all over my feet.
Thanks for sharing this interesting article.
Sharon E. Cathcart
Award-winning Author of Fiction Featuring Atypical Characters
#atozchallenge
I had to look that up! So, place flake is akin to gold dust, I guess. How neat!
I have long been interested in gold mining, but from a more cultural standpoint (even my dissertation was on the role religion played in the mining community). But I have only done enough “panning” to know how it is done. Sadly, mining does tear up the countryside, especially modern mining where they move tons of dirt to get a speck of gold.
Yeah, I had no idea until I spent a couple minutes looking up modern gold mining. A lot more invasive than I realized.
Just learned from you that ultrasounds are now used to detect whether a gold bar is fake or the real deal. Quite informative read! Thanks for sharing!!
My G is Ghost near my gate : LINK
Who would’ve thought, right? I thought of ultrasounds only in terms of medical uses.
When I was a girl in No. Cal., we took field trips to the old “forty-niner” mining country up near Sacramento. They had mock panning things up there, that was fun.
These days, if I was to search for gold, I’d head to the nearest jewelry store. I’m not very adventurous anymore, lol. 🙂
Vanessa @Vanessence
My “theme” – A Thirty-Word Story, revealing one word of the story each day of the challenge.
#AtoZChallenge The Letter G
The jewelry store is definitely a less time-consuming search!
I can see the appeal and I do respect those pioneers who went and created communities around gold mines. But I think I look at it from a rather romanticised point of view because I never wanted to look up the facts 🙂
Yep, it’s pretty easy to romanticize so much of the the 19th century and pioneers.