As gold prices have soared from $350 to $1,300 an ounce over the last five years, the diggers have come to the Central Chinese borderlands of Henan, Shaanxi and Shanxi provinces in hopes of striking it rich.

Zhang Quanyou, 48, works overtime near the city of Yuncheng in Shanxi Province. He hasn't been home for four years.

What they find instead near the Henan city of Lingbao, Yuncheng county of Shanxi Province, and Tongguan and Luonan counties of Shaanxi Province is a hard job down a deep mine working for a pit owner who collects 50 percent commission from their labors.

Every day, the miners' sparkling rocks are removed to the bottom of mountains and treated until the sepa-rated gold powder can be weighed by an electronic scale.

Working a 12-hour shift every two days, a miner typically earns about 100 yuan ($15). Zhang Quanyou (right) always volunteers for overtime as he must support two children studying at university.

"I haven't gone home for four years and I miss my family very much," he says.