After the famous Yellow Aster Gold Mine was discovered up the road in 1895, many other smaller but rich lode mines were also located, including the Consolidated Gold Mine. It was a hard-rock mine, and its gold ore had to be blasted out for processing. In the Rand Mining District, however, many areas yielded placer gold, which could be extracted more easily with dry-washers because it had already eroded naturally out of the mountains and hills. During World War II, many gold mines in California were shut down, and after the war many never reopened.