All of which brings us back to the question of why we rely so heavily on China in the first place. America’s economy is heavily dependent upon energy and telecommunications, but does that require Chinese manufacturing? Clearly not.

Chad Lewis of Sacramento got into a good bedrock seam on Monday and was pulling out small chunks of bedrock with embedded gold from he lower pit. Mark Dayton of El Dorado was about ten yards away on the same line, but his spot had some visible quartz mixed in.

Most of the commercial mineral deposits are on the south and southwest part of the range between Minersville and Milford, though small amounts of gold and silver have also been found in iron-rich outcrops in the basalt to the south of Milford.