Gold has long been viewed as the ultimate safe haven. Unlike fiat currency, it can’t be printed in unlimited quantities by ...

Now don’t go all weak at the knees and soft in the head when you read this: Gold! In the Mojave Desert! It’s a gold rushlet so far: lots of wishful thinking that half-forgotten old mines still have ...

This article adheres to strict editorial standards. Some or all links may be monetized. It’s been more than 170 years since California’s Gold Rush — but locals are once again finding gold dust, flakes ...

COLOMA, CA ‒ Ankle-deep in a stream, James W. Marshall bent over and grabbed a shiny object that caught his eye. He placed it on a rock and began striking it with another. The shiny material pounded ...

On the morning of Jan. 24, 1848, James Marshall made a discovery that would forever change the trajectory of California. In a creek near the town of Coloma, a remote community wedged in the foothills ...

It’s a brisk day in Johannesburg, a tiny mining town tucked among the Rand Mountains in the Mojave Desert. The landscape is vast and rugged, a mishmash of rock, dirt and creosote bushes, swaths of ...

Contrary to what most people assume, the gold rush didn’t end in the 1800s. Across the U.S., people still pull real gold from rivers, streams, and old mining sites simply with a shovel and a gold pan.

San Diego became known for its beaches, research labs, and urban growth, the mountains to the east briefly thrived with the promise of gold.