American Notes San Francisco

Windswept and foggy, Ocean Beach on San Francisco's Pacific side is frequented mainly by surfers and dog walkers -- and now a prospector. Engineer John O'Grady, 71, believes this desolate spot may be one of the most valuable mineral sites on the West Coast. O'Grady thinks that the sand on Ocean Beach contains tons of titanium, a lightweight metal that the U.S. uses in plane fuselages and the Soviet Union has put into submarine hulls. Ocean Beach's titanium could help supply U.S. defense needs into the next century, says O'Grady -- and, at $40 or more a ton, could be a bonanza for his Torrance, Calif., mineral company. But he can't get at the stuff.

After 20 months of testing, O'Grady learned last month that his prospecting permit was insufficient. To exploit the beach, he needs permission from several agencies, including the National Park Service, which controls the beach as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. They are unlikely to allow O'Grady to mine a national park.