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Tuesday, 29th January 2008 (4273 views)

All-time high prices for gold amid an economic slump in Alaska is sparking a gold rush among citizens, it has emerged.

People are trekking to the edge of the continent in search of gold after the price of the metal has reached an all-time high of $900 (£453) an ounce, reports the Associated Press.

Gold prospecting clubs are becoming more popular with people with participants brandishing pans, dredges, metal detectors and other small-scale mining equipment on trips, the article noted.

"That $900 is really getting to people. I saw more people walking out with more metal detectors and sluice boxes than I can remember in a long time," Ken Rucker, general manager for the Gold Prospectors Association of America, told the news provider.

Long-time prospectors are reported to be doubtful on the chances of making a living from gold found through small-scale mining because of its unpredictability, but gold prospector Mike Telgenhoff added: " We do real good in the wintertime because the creek's so low."

Around 90 per cent of the world's gold has been produced since the US gold rush in 1848, according to the World Gold Council website.

 

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