Throughout the ages, when man finds a source of gold there is often a rush to exploit it. People hear about others good fortune and wish to have this for themselves, as well as their family. Many countries all over the world have had gold rushes, and many of these have been well documented.
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- Australia
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- North America
- South America
The discovery of gold will bring a broad cross section of people, all looking to find their fortune by mining this precious metal.
Boom and Bust
With all of the different gold rushes all over the world, you also find that a lot of towns grew up around the areas where they discover the gold. Where ever gold is prevalent, you find that other industries spring up other than mining. These industries always cater to the miners and their needs, and often can be just as successful as the miners that strike gold. When the gold has dried up, you also find that these towns become less prosperous, and sometimes these towns become abandoned as people move away in search of pastures new. There are still many abandoned mining towns around the world that have been empty for quite some time. In some parts these have been exploited and turned into tourist attractions, giving visitors an insight into the life of a miner. There are still towns and cities around today that grew up because of the gold rush, but are still successful despite the gold drying up, such as Sacramento in California, USA.
Modern Day Prospecting
The process of finding gold in this modern age is a lot more scientific that the ones used by the old prospectors of the 1800’s. Today they utilise satellites and ground penetrating radar to find the most likely places that you might find gold. The techniques used to extract the gold have also changed somewhat, although the principles may be the same. One thing that has stayed the same is that people still follow to work and live where you find gold. Anywhere a successful mine is located, you will still find a host of different industries that set up around the mine, providing the miners with everything that they need. With techniques in locating gold having improved somewhat, there are a lot less abandoned gold mining towns!