There's still gold in them thar hills. As the price of the precious metal climbs to record highs, prospectors are buying up claims in the Mojave Desert to seek their fortune. But it's the real estate agents who have the sure bet.
It's a brisk day in Johannesburg, a tiny mining town tucked among the Rand Mountains in the Mojave Desert. The landscape is vast and rugged, a mish-mash of rock, dirt and creosote bushes, swaths of gray and brown under a deep blue sky. The terrain appears completely untouched by man, but a closer look reveals dozens of cavities pocked across the rolling hills. They look like monster snake holes.
In its 19th century heyday, Randsburg boasted a population of 3,500 with churches, saloons, hotels and a thousand-seat opera house. Today, a sign leading into the community describes it as a 'living ghost town.' A cluster of Old West-style wooden buildings line the quiet promenade, and a handful of shacks and ranches dot the surrounding hills. It is dead still on a Tuesday in November. The 2020 census lists a population of 45, with an average age of 73.
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