California's gold rush may have loomed larger in history than North Carolina's, but our state's beat it by a good half century. In 1799 a 12-year-old boy found a 17-pound nugget in a creek on the family farm in Cabarrus County and eager prospectors flocked to North Carolina from all over the world.
Once the lowest hanging fruit was picked and it began costing more to get at what was left than it could be sold for on the open market, they packed up their bags and left. The industry and its rich NC history has since been all but forgotten--until now.
With current gold prices close to $2,000 per ounce, a new generation of miners backed by the deep pockets of venture capitalists and stockholders have returned with a renewed interest.
Business Journal Contributing Writer and Director of the Journalism Program at Wake Forest University Justin Catanoso spoke with WFDD’s David Ford.
