Molten gold signals revival in California's Mother Lode

In this photo taken Thursday, Dec. 13, 2012, miners leave the String Bean Alley Decline, one of the gold mining tunnels operated by the Sutter Gold Mining Co. near Sutter Creek, Calif. The company, which has begun mining near the historic Comet and Lincoln mines, announced Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, that it poured its first gold as it prepared to begin the first large scale Sierra Nevada underground gold mining in a half century. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)