Even this summer, some thousands of people are heading to Finland in Lapland, forced by gold fever, hoping to be full. Anyone can go and try their luck, says gold historian Seppo Partanen, to net magazine Studio55.
Anyone can join the Lapland Gold washers Association, and by using the ten-euro membership fee, the eight mines of the association can be found in Inari's Saariselkä, Laanila, and Ivalojoki waters.
There is no doubt about of everyman's right because gold can be dug, banged and tricked in licensed gold purging areas. Testing can be done without leaving traces of nature, but in nature conservation areas, any kind of digging or collecting stones is forbidden, Partanen instructs. If gold purging enthusiastically and skillfully learns, you can acquire your own digging area, which is behind a complicated licensing process.
In Finland only in Lapland, there is regular gold purging. Partanen says that gold mines are found even elsewhere in the country, but despite trying to flush gold from their nearby streams, it is not profitable. The gold seekers head therefor north to Ivalo, Saariselkä, Tankavaara and the unspoiled valleys behind the remote Lemmenjoki. Hardly reachable river is the real gold oasis in this country.
- In Finland, gold is found to be about 20 to 30 pounds per year and 90 per cent from Lemmenjoki, Partanen says. 90 percent of the findings end up in the pocket of professional or active enthusiasts who also use, for example, excavators.
However, the luck can kick even a beginner. Partanen remembers that first-time people also found rare weights above 20 grams. He keeps track of the number of jumping bunnies that can be found in about 3-10 years. The largest hippo is a staggering 393 grams bullet that was discovered in Luttojo.
- In any case, something to find, inhale, small jewels. However, there is a need for luck and professionalism to find bigger nuggets.
Sometimes the happiness has to wait for years. Partanen has witnessed what kind of joy the long-awaited grandfather will bring to his find, and how discoveries create hope for hundreds of others.
Lapland is a unique place in the world
The Gold Fever hit Partanen himself in the 1960s when he became acquainted with old goldsmiths and was fond of their lifestyle. The consequences were fatal: as part of his career as a journalist and publisher, Partanen has published and written numerous books about Lapland gold and is also an honorary member of the Finnish Gymnastics Association.
- I am about rare gold digger, that I am not so much interested in digging the way of life itself. I have found big nuggets, namely, memorable people, Partanen says with a laugh.
According to Partanen, Lapland of Finland is a unique place in the whole world: the flourishing culture of goldsmiths in Lapland has already changed in history elsewhere.
But right now: can the gold mine prosper?
- The truth is, that more is getting poorer than getting rich. But the chance is there, and a few tens of enriched people are known, Partanen tells.
Many enthusiasts are highly trained and are worthy of the other field. Partanen points out that life-racing enthusiast's life is more in the way than in economic terms.
- The value of Lapland's gold is in the additional folders that it brings to the local. Many houses in the Inari region, for example, have been built with gold, he sums up.
Source: Studio55
