The Telegraph is reporting today on the ‘New Gold Rush’:

With the discovery of gold there in 1848, the California Gold Rush brought 300,000 people into the state, transforming what was then a backwater into the embodiment of the American Dream.

Fewer in number, "new 49ers" may have swapped picks and covered wagons for suction dredges and mobile homes but many are just as confident they will strike it rich.

Sentiments seem to be mixed as to whether this is a good thing:

"Almost every day we have people stopping in looking for equipment and they have not a clue what they are buying. I just try to answer their questions. I don’t try to discourage them – it’s their lesson to be learned."

He added: "Some will get very lucky and even make a few thousand dollars a day, but not for long. But the majority will have trouble even earning enough to pay for fuel for their equipment."

…said the caretaker of the Scott River mining camp in the Klamath hills in north California. On the other hand, both the equipment and the gold price has improved. The success stories might be fewer, but they’re always better known, for example, two years ago "one of the Scott River prospectors found a crack in the river bedrock which yielded , more than 23 ounces, worth as much as $40,000 at today’s prices." Oops, they must have gotten their figures confused, that comes out at $1739/Toz ! We are not there yet people. Its actually $21,114 at todays price of $918.

Lets hope this guy is still pan-handling when that happens.