The Secret Gold Mine 3 Miles From Glamis Sand Dunes

Three and a half miles from the Glamis Sand Dunes, a gold mine has quietly run day and night since 1986. More than a million people a year drive right past it. The Mesquite Mine has produced more than five million ounces of gold. At today's price, that's over $20 billion mined over its life, and about a quarter of all the gold California produced during the Gold Rush years. In this video, we ride out past the dunes and up Highway 78 to find out: ⛏️ How gold formed here 32 million years ago, then disappeared under the desert 🏜️ Why California's first gold was mined here around 1780, about 70 years before Sutter's Mill 👻 What happened to Tumco, the boomtown that went bust 🧪 How you mine gold too small to see 📉 The year the mine shut down, and the price that brought it back ⏳ How much time it has left, and whether California would allow the next one Ever ridden Glamis? Did you know it was there? Tell us in the comments. SOURCES Bureau of Land Management, Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area U.S. Geological Survey, Mineral Resources Data System and Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 California Division of Mines and Geology, Bulletin 193: Gold Districts of California Equinox Gold, Mesquite Mine operating data and filings California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Order R7-2025-0005 California Department of Fish and Wildlife / CEQA filings U.S. Department of State, Glamis Gold v. United States (NAFTA award, 2009) California Employment Development Department The gold value is based on the spot price at the time of production and changes daily. Substrata Geography: what's underneath changes everything. #Glamis #GoldMine #California