In search of treasure, and the meaning of life, with Shane Klesh

When Shane Klesh moved to Colorado from Pennsylvania in 2016, the avid metal detectorist was surprised to see gold panning equipment at a store he stopped in.

“I didn’t even think that was really still a thing. I thought it was kind of old-timey,” Klesh said.

However, the possibility of a new form of treasure hunting was intriguing. Back in Pennsylvania, he had found several old silver coins and a gold ring in the state known for its Civil War artifacts — which had gotten him hooked on the hobby.

“So I grabbed a gold pan and tried it and filmed it and continued doing so ever since,” he said.

Fast forward seven years and Klesh has now amassed nearly 50 million views on his YouTube page, racking up hundreds of thousands of subscribers on the platform and has sold 10,000 orders of his “paydirt” — a neatly branded package of mixed minerals designed for enthusiasts to pan through for gold for themselves. Klesh’s former hobby has now blossomed into a full-fledged profession.

“I thought it was so interesting the gold panning here in Colorado, I wanted to film it and show my friends and family back in Pennsylvania what it was all about… People just started following it and subscribing and I was like, ‘Holy cow this is insane everybody actually likes this',” Klesh said.

“I had multiple jobs back in Pennsylvania, working night shifts in a factory, usually 12-to-16 hour shifts six days a week. I never thought in one million years I’d be doing this as a job,” Klesh said.

From his YouTube revenue and online product sales, Klesh has been able to purchase a home in metro Denver and the treasure he finds, “is just icing on the cake,” he said. Many times, particularly in the panning areas closer to Denver which were heavily dredged in the gold rush, Klesh doesn’t find significant amounts of gold.

“There are a lot of micro miners like myself who just go out and explore around and don’t care if they get gold or not. Then you have other guys, larger gold miners, where it’s all about the gold,” Klesh said. For his YouTube videos, Klesh has even scuba dove in shipwrecks and found larger amounts of gold in more untouched Alaskan and Australian deposits. He is also working on a video series finding treasure in all 50 states.

“I don’t find a lot of gold, that’s really not the point, it’s just getting out in nature and enjoying the day… I would compare it to fishermen almost... Getting paid for it definitely helps as well.”