Welcome William,
I'm not Kevin, but offer my opinion.

That all depends on your definition of profitable.

If you are expecting to find enough gold (assuming) to cover the cost of a claim, maintaining said claim, existing on a claim
Do the research, research, research, drill the claim, know whats there before putting down any monies.
In California, with all the regs and rules, if your on the legit side, in my opinion you wont be profitable, hope you prove me wrong.

Good luck out there,
Bill