Gold briefly hit $1000 for the first time in history today. (current gold price) Selling cause a brief dip below that mark but I’d fully expect it to vault permanently over $1000 per troy oz within a few days. If you look at the one year trend (one year trend), it shows this will be the case. It will be a long time before we see gold below $1000 per Toz.

Now, even though when you account for inflation $1000 doesn’t quite match the mark of the price gold in 1980, it’s still a big landmark, if only in peoples minds. The price of gold made Drudge Report’s top headline today. In case you didn’t know it, that’s big business! It alerts the unaware to the situation at hand. It moves the news world, spawns more articles regarding not only the price of gold but side issues like environmental impact of gold mining as well as the expansion of mining claims closing in on the outskirts of cities. A recent article in the Los Angeles Times covered just that issue (see here). It talks about Riverside, San Bernardino, Phoenix, Mesa and Las Vegas directly. Prepare for impact.

This wave of news will cause more awareness and thus more opposition and More Mining Claims. Research is of extreme importance to the modern nugget hunter. As gold rises, more and more people will seek gold nuggets. Idiots who don’t know where to or not to drive, landing on cantankerous claim owners spots, feeling they have the right, claiming your spot, over claiming your spot and possible gun pulling. Maybe not at $1000 per oz just yet but it’s not going to stop here. I’m not trying to be a defeatist or negative, just bearing in mind some of the possible realities. We all want to stay safe. The desert is dangerous enough without adding the idiot bent on gold factor. As Jim P. has said, gold fever can be a blessing or a curse. For me and perhaps you it’s a blessing. For others…. We’ll see.

Some really positive factors come out of all this as well. For those who have a lot of gold or are set with claims and good at finding it, have all the equipment, etc. this can only mean better profits from the hobby. A small gold nugget pays for my gas tank a lot faster these days than it did when gold was at $300 a troy ounce, even with the rising price of fuel and crude oil. Best strategy is to keep at it, keep researching, keep finding gold and move forward with a new game plan or new rules in mind. I hope we can all continue to enjoy ourselves. Be careful out there and good luck figuring out the best times to hold or sell.

Now, how many explanation points will I require when it hits $3000?