Issue link: http://resourceworld.uberflip.com/i/581931
24 www.resourceworld.com o c t o b e r / n o v e m b e r 2 0 1 5 i n s i g h t s & i n v e s t m e n t s B a r r y M u i r e ver wonder how the NFL's San Francisco 49ers got their name? In 1848 gold nuggets were discovered in the Sacramento Valley. By 1849 the popula- tion of the California territory grew to over 100,000 from less than a 1,000 in the previ- ous year. Prospective miners who caught wind of the discovery flooded the area arriv- ing from Oregon, Mexico, Chile, Peru and even China in pursuit of wealth of which they could only dream. These would-be gold miners were known as '49ers and the California gold rush was on, creating mining towns that sprung up throughout the region over- night. Complete with saloons and brothels, gambling and lawlessness. San Francisco with its new bustling economy became the center of this new frontier. By 1850 much of the surface gold in California had been found. Near the peak in 1853, hydraulic mining replaced the pick and shovel bringing enormous profits but, as the population of California blossomed to 380,000 by the end of the decade, the California gold rush had sunk like a west coast sunset. However, the fever remained high as prospectors and miners looked for new frontiers of potential riches. North they went, and in 1858, miners found them- selves on the sandbars of the Fraser River in the colony of British Columbia. As they worked the sandbars further into the interior river systems of BC, several creeks proved to be extremely rich, lead- ing to the Cariboo Gold Rush of 1862. Once again several towns sprang up seemingly overnight. Most notably, Barkerville, named after William Billy Barker, whose discovery spearheaded a 20-year, multi-billion dol- lar industrial revolution that helped build the province. Today, the extraordinary restored town of Barkerville stands as a tes- tament to BC's golden beginnings. Declared a National Historic Site of Canada in 1924 and a Provincial Heritage Property in 1958, Barkerville is now the largest living-history museum in western North America. A century after the great Cariboo Gold Rush slowed, BC prospector Clifford E. Gunn was out panning in the heart of eureka reSourceS – an unDervalueD SleePer The 49ers touch down in the Cariboo Michael Sweatman, President and CEO, and Kristian Whitehead, PGeo, VP Exploration, examine an outcrop at the Frasergold property. Photo courtesy Eureka Resources Inc.