More than 80% of the gold in the Mother Lode is still in the ground.

In 1854 the largest gold nugget ever found was in California at Carson Hill above the Stanislaus River. It weighed 195 pounds and was valued at $43,534 in the currency of the day.

In the flood of 1862 all traces of Sutter's Mill were obliterated . Not until another flood in 1924 exposed its undeveloped foundations was it "discovered." The mill was re-created using old photographs and Marshall's own drawings.

In 1869 the name "Mother Lode" was coined and referred to only five counties: Mariposa, Tuolumne, Calaveras, Amador and El Dorado. Actually more gold was later found in Placer, Nevada, Sierra and Plumas counties.

Top 12 gold producing counties
in California.

Each listed produced more than
$100,000,000 in gold from 1848-1965.

Nevada Amador Tuolumne Butte Calaveras Sierra Yuba Sacramento Placer El Dorado Plumas Siskiyou

$440,000,000 $200,000,000 $190,000,000 $150,000,000 $150,000,000 $150,000,000 $145,000,000 $135,000,000 $120,000,000 $110,000,000 $105,000,000 $100,000,000

Source: The California Division of Mines and Geology.

Recreational gold panning can be exciting as well as laborious. Needing only a gold pan, shovel and a whole lot of patience, it is an activity that can be enjoyed by all ages.

More than 80% of the gold in the Mother Lode is still yet to be found, this makes gold panning even more enticing! Gold is found in areas where lode deposits and erosion have occurred. The best places to look for nuggets are streams, rivers, ravines, lake areas and dry ravines. If you are over- taken with Gold Fever you will be happy to know Gold Country has many waterways with numerous places for recreational gold panning.

The American River, Bear River, Yuba River, Deer Creek, Wolf Creek, Bridgeport, Colfax, Foresthill, Oxbow Reservoir, Yankee Jim's, on the Foresthill Divide, Washington (20 miles NE of Nevda City), Golden Quartz Picnic Area and Kelecher Picnic Area, just to name quite a few popular sites for prospecting. Some locations are private claims, mines or restricted use areas: please read signs carefully.

Darken the pan by placing it over a burner or in a campfire. This will make the flakes of gold more noticible.

• Look for gravel bars in the middle of
• rivers or streams
• Look for gravel bars around heavy
• water runoff
• On the downstream side of large boulders
• or tree roots in streams
• In cracks above the water-line, along the
• edge of the stream
• In streaks of gravel that settle above
• streambeds and follow the
• bottom of stream channels

Hold the pan level with both hands and rotate the pan with swirling motions. As you rotate the pan the heavier gold loosens from the sand, gravel and settles to the bottom. Tilt the pan downward to let the dirty water, sand and gravel wash over the edge of the pan.

Continue to raise and lower the lip of the pan so the water will flow over it and remove more of the lighter material.

Continue this process until nothing but gold and heavier minerals are left in the pan Carefully inspect the black sand for nuggets or tiny specks of gold or other precious minerals.