A taste of gold fever

Russ Tait, 72, of Columbia, Calif., doesn’t let his bone cancer get in the way of panning for gold in Eagle Creek during a recent outing with the Delta Gold Diggers. “I guess you call it gold fever,” he says. “You get out there, and there’s times where you get tired and you don’t want to quit.”

David Villa sets up equipment to pan for gold in Eagle Creek, near Columbia, Calif., during a recent outing with a prospecting group called the Delta Gold Diggers.

Gold nuggets sparkle in a pan amidst black sand. The nuggets were found in Bull Creek near Coulterville, Calif.

Gold hunter Robert Guardiola pours into a pan gravel deposits that he collected from under a waterfall on his claim near Moccasin, Calif.

Robert Guardiola pans for gold after collecting gravel deposits from under a waterfall on his claim near Moccasin, Calif.

Robert Guardiola uses a magnifying glass to search for gold in his pan after collecting gravel deposits on his claim near Moccasin, Calif. “Everything begins and ends with a pan,” he says.

Tom Mutschelknaus drops deposits into his sluice while searching for gold on the South Fork of the Stanislaus River. At 63, he is living his “dream come true,” caretaking 160 acres in Italian Bar, Calif., a place owned by a national prospecting group called the Lost Dutchman Mining Assn.

Tom Mutschelknaus pans for gold using a sluice box on the South Fork of the Stanislaus River in Italian Bar, Calif. “As long as I’m not sure what’s in the bucket,” he says, “I have hope.”

Rob Goreham of Columbia, Calif., buys and sells gold from locals. He warns, though: It’s a mistake to put all your faith in gold.

Rob Goreham of 49er Mining Supplies in Columbia, Calif., is always in the market to buy gold. His purchases are made from prospectors who scour the nearby hills: plumbers, roofers, bank managers and others.