Kalifornija: Zlatna groznica

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MORE INFO: The new gold rush has been a boon for companies like Keene Engineering, a maker of mining equipment which has seen there business double over the past year.

Jon Decker reports.

STORY:

Amid the backdrop of California's soaring unemployment and the collapse of its housing market, "gold fever" has taken hold of some newly-minted miners.

Among those "heading for the hills" is Kevin Brown, an out of work Hollywood studio lighting technician -who decided to sell off his belongings, buy a trailer and search for those elusive golden nuggets along the riverbanks of the San Gabriel Mountains, about 45 minutes east of Los Angeles.

SOUNDBITE: (English) KEVIN BROWN, OUT-OF-WORK HOLLYWOOD STUDIO LIGHTING TECHNICIAN, WHO HAS TURNED TO PROSPECTING, SAYING:

"There is just not a lot of work for us right now. So, I came up here to get away from the madness of the city. I lost my place in Venice, I was a renter. Instead of living down there as a homeless person or renting some room out of someone's house, It's a lot more free for me to come up here and do this and also get gold and make a little money."

The new gold rush has been a boon for companies like Keene Engineering, a maker of mining equipment which has seen their business double over the past year.

SOUNDBITE: (English) PATRICK KEENE ON THE SURGE IN INTEREST IN GOLD MINING, SAYING:

"Business has been strong as gold has got up to a 1,000.00 (USD) dollars an ounce. We're seeing people come out of the woodwork, new miners and prospectors wanting to go to the hills to find gold."

Whether or not they get lucky, the lure of gold gives some of these prospecters hope in their search of California gold.

Jon Decker, Reuters.