MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) — The gravels of the Rogue River held back for decades by the Savage Rapids Dam are drawing recreational gold miners.
Among them is Tony Marchisella of Grants Pass, who told the Mail Tribune he first got the bug 20 years ago panning for gold on a river in Georgia. He and his friends and family now use suction dredges worth $10,000 to go through the gravel.
The dam was removed last year, but much of the gravel held back for nearly a century remains.
Mining is prohibited on many sections of the Rogue, but the area around the old dam is private property, owned by Grants Pass Irrigation District. Allen Dole of the district says they are letting the miners go ahead for now.
