Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders of Franklin Gold and
Precious Metals Fund

In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements
of Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund (the "Fund") as of and for
the year ended July 31, 2018, in accordance with the standards of the
Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB"),
we considered the Fund's internal control over financial reporting,
including controls over safeguarding securities, as a basis for
designing our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our
opinion on the financial statements and to comply with the
requirements of Form N-CEN, but not for the purpose of expressing
an opinion on the effectiveness of the Fund's internal control over
financial reporting.  Accordingly, we do not express an opinion on
the effectiveness of the Fund's internal control over
financial reporting.

The management of the Fund is responsible for establishing and
maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting.
In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by
management are required to assess the expected benefits and related
costs of controls.  A company's internal control over financial
reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance
regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation
of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles.  A company's internal
control over financial reporting includes those policies and
procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in
reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions
and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide
reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary
to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and
expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with
authorizations of management and directors of the company; and
(3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely
detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of a
company's assets that could have a material effect on
the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial
reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections
of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to
the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in
conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or
procedures may deteriorate.

A deficiency in internal control over financial reporting exists
when the design or operation of a control does not allow management
or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned
functions, to prevent or detect misstatements on a timely basis.
A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of
deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such
that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement
of thecompany's annual or interim financial statements will not be
prevented or detected on a timely basis.

Our consideration of the Fund's internal control over financial
reporting was for the limited purpose described in the first
paragraph and would not necessarily disclose all deficiencies in
internal control over financial reporting that might be material
weaknesses under standards established by the PCAOB.  However, we
noted no deficiencies in the Fund's internal control over financial
reporting and its operation, including controls over safeguarding
securities, that we consider to be a material weakness as defined
above as of July 31, 2018.

This report is intended solely for the information and use of the
Board of Trustees of Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund and the
Securities and Exchange Commission and is not intended to be and
should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties.



/s/PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
San Francisco, California
September 18, 2018