In this Saturday, Jan. 30, 2010 photo, Ron Marshall sifts through a pan of gold at the headquarters for the Lake Havasu Gold Seekers in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Marshall is one of a dozen prospectors who originally joined looking to find gold in the desert and has stayed because he loves the hobby. (AP Photo/Today's News-Herald, Nathan Brutell)
LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. (AP) — Ron Marshall always has a gold glint in his eye.
For the past 10 years, Marshall and dozens of others have made camp about 8 miles south off Franconia Drive at the headquarters for the Lake Havasu Gold Seekers. Marshall said he, like many others in the desert, got gold fever several years ago in hopes of the “find of a lifetime.” While the gold nuggets have been few and far between, Marshall still spends four or five days a week in the desert because he can’t get enough.
“I exist in town. I live out here,” he said.
When Marshall first arrived at the Gold Seekers’ camp, he remembers seeing only six or eight trailers. Now there are dozens and the waiting list for a lot is approaching two years. Gold prospectors look at their hobby the same as those that take up golf. They keep coming back, not because of the many days of finding nothing, but because of that one moment that makes their entire year.
“Once gold fever has got you, it’s got you for life,” Marshall said.
Few that live on the site camp in tents. Most spend their nights in RVs or trailers complete with kitchens, bathrooms and satellite TV.
“We have almost everything here that we have in our home (in Havasu),” Joyce Allen said. “But it’s a simple life out here. It’s far more peaceful and simpler for us. Plus we’re also around other people who love doing this just as much as we do.”
Like any other good hobby, prospecting has its fair share of tools and equipment that require an investment and dedication. Prospectors throughout the West have used pans to sift through acres and acres of rocks but aside from an occasional storm, Mohave County does not receive enough rainfall for panning along fresh creeks to be an option. In arid spots, Marshall said a dry washer is a necessity. A dry washer sifts through and shakes rocks and sands until only the heaviest objects are left and a prospector will then pan through the heaviest materials to find the gold.
“This has been happening for years so someone has already found all of the big stuff,” Marshall said. “If you’re serious about doing this, that means you have to look through all the little stuff.”
The “little stuff” is often smaller than a grain of salt. Marshall said he may work five hours a day to find four or five specks (worth about $4). The Lake Havasu Gold Seekers own about 20 claims across more than 3,200 acres of desert.
“There’s an awful lot of haystack out there to find a needle,” he said. “So if you’ve got the time and the dedication and the patience, the gold is out there somewhere just waiting to be found.”
A recent rainstorm that dropped about two inches across the county has made dry washing nearly impossible, Marshall said. The storms also meant delaying a common dig that was set for this month.
“It’s far too wet out there to really find anything,” Marshall said. “We’ll have another dig in a month or so when it really dries up.”
In the event of rain, metal detectors are another necessity, longtime prospector Bob Garver said.
“When it rains, a lot of that old dirt we’ve looked at will move around and maybe move out of the way of the gold underneath,” he said. “But there’s a lot of desert to walk around in and there’s not a whole lot of gold in there anymore.”
Garver estimates he’s found about $8,000 worth of gold nuggets in the past six years.
“We’re not doing this to make a living because you really can’t do it,” he said. “We are out here because we have that itch and we all love to do it. You might get lucky and find something out here but I’ve known people that have been doing this for two years and still haven’t found anything.”
Marshall agreed.
“None of us thinks we’re going to get rich out here doing this,” he said. “But we can’t stay away because we love it, and we love the people who are just as crazy as we are.”
Information from: Today’s News-Herald, http://www.havasunews.com
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
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