For the past 168 years, since the great California Gold Rush men have prospected for gold. The rush started when a man working in a sawmill along a river spotted a small nugget. For about 20 years placer mining was the major source. Eventually prospectors traced the gold to the original source, gold rich quartz veins, stock-works and shear zones. This started another gold rush that is still going on, especially in Nevada and Arizona. Most of these gold-seekers did not strike