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, 2023, 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 the company'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, 2023.

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 20, 2023