Albert Fausel spent decades traveling the rivers of Placerville searching for gold, but this year, work became light after heavy rains.
“There are a lot of new places to find gold this year,” Fausel said while wearing a diving suit and snorkel kneeling underwater in a creek in Placerville, California late last month.
Less than 10 minutes later, the man emerged, carrying evidence to support his statement. In the middle of the sandy soil mixture poured into the plastic tray, shiny golden particles sparkled under the harsh midday sunlight.
“Mother Nature did something amazing,” he said.
Albert Fausel holds a piece of gold found in a creek in Placerville on April 28. Photo: AFP
The search for gold near the shore only yielded a small amount, Fausel predicted that the area in the middle of the river would probably “find bigger, heavier, bigger pieces”. He collected the gold with a pump-like tool, before adjusting his breathing tube and disappearing under the water.
California just experienced an unusual winter with record rainfall. A series of atmospheric river weather phenomena (high-altitude bands of moisture) poured into the western United States, drenching land that had been dry for many years due to consistently below-average rainfall.
In North Carolina, those downpours reminded people of the Gold Rush that transformed the region in the 19th century, when thousands of gold miners came to El Dorado.
“Now, we’re talking about flood gold,” said Barron Brandon, a geologist and foreman of the Cosumnes River Ranch.
Heavy rains create strong currents that wash the river banks, loosening the mud and gold, which then carries them downstream for lucky prospectors to discover.
“Gold is right here,” said Brandon, who usually enjoys gold mining in the summer.
A gold store in Placerville on April 28. Photo: AFP
Placerville is about 70 km from Sacramento, the capital of California. It depends heavily on tourism, with a historical gold rush as its theme. The El Dorado Expressway runs through the city passing shops with names like Antique Gold Jewelry, Gold Gallery, and Gold Insurance Solutions.
In a toy store, plastic helmets and small gold pans take up half the display space. The hotel on the main street retains its Gold Rush style, with 19th-century interiors and period photographs.
Fausel’s store sells a variety of gold mining tools such as troughs and metal detectors, as well as souvenir gold beads. He is not worried about the wave of outsiders coming here during the new gold rush.
“Come to California. Give yourself a chance to find gold,” he urged. “Anyone can come. But remember to follow the rules.”
Mark Dayton, a local treasure hunter with millions of fans on YouTube, said many of his followers had heard about gold appearing after the floods and were on their way.
“There are a lot of movies about treasure hunting like Indiana Jones or Pirates of the Caribbean, all of which attract interest,” he said.
Albert Fausel shows off gold he found on the Cosumnes River on the outskirts of Placerville on April 28. Photo: AFP
One of Placerville’s main attractions is the Gold Bug Mine Park, which attracts many schools to visit. “Children are always interested in gold. California was built on piles of gold,” said Pat Layne, an 80-year-old volunteer tour guide.
“What we’re trying to expose our kids to is real history, not Hollywood’s version of the Gold Rush,” he said.
Standing next to a river branch adjacent to the now-defunct mine, Layne said there used to be “hundreds of gold miners in this creek, right where we are standing, hard at work panning for gold.”
“There used to be a lot of gold here that Mother Nature brought to the creeks over millions of years,” he said.
Heavy rains this past winter have repeated those conditions, at a faster rate. “Every time the water moves, the gold also moves,” he said.
