Gold History in Lapland

Gold

Gold is a precious metal which is bright with a yellow color, it is soft and dense and when it is pure is the most malleable and ductile of all metals. In nature, this precious metal is found in a pure form or as an alloy with either silver, copper, and, sometimes, platinum. When located in rivers, gold makes its way to bedrock and will enrich the soil and gravel adhering to river beds. Also, sometimes, gold can be recovered from the bedrock.

The chemical symbol is "Au" from the Latin word for gold "aurum". Gold is a good conductor of electricity and heat and it is used in in many areas like jewellery, gilding, dentistry and electronics.

Since the early times, gold has been mentioned in Etruscan, Minoan, Assyrian and Egyptian civilizations. It was found in alluvial sand and separeted by using a pan. It was the first metal which is known to have been used by man. Throughout the Times, gold built a part of the History of Humanity responsible for wars, for discoveries of new places to search gold and for development of settlements and comunities.

Gold History in Lapland

http://www.kultamuseo.fi/kultamatkat/pages/en/gold-maps.php?lang=FI

Ivalojoki River

 In Lapland, gold was found for the first time on the river Kemi in 1836, although the results were not satisfactory for further prospect.

Few years after, a new expedition, lead by Mr. J. C. Lihr, was send to the finnish shore of the river Teno (river on the border of Finland and Norway) to find gold. The discovery of gold was made in summer of 1868 in Nulkkamukka, a bend of the river Ivalojoki. This was the starting point for a new chapter of Lapland’s History.

The discovery of gold in Lapland brought many prospectors on summer of 1869, two of them, Jacob Ervast and Nils Lepistö, panned more than 2 kilos of gold in four weeks.

Due to the gold rush, many structures were created to support people who lived in gold-mining areas. One of the most famous examples in Ivalojoki River was Kultala area. In this place was built a main building called Kultalan Kruunun Stationi for government officials to control the gold fields and others infrastructures like log cabins, sauna and a saloon were created to accommodate about 600 prospectors. In 1882, Kultala had a different purpose. As 1882 was the international year of geophysics, Kultala served as base for the expedition of Finnish geophysicists with the purpose to do researches about aurora borealis on the top of Kehäpää hill. To help the research, Kultala and Kehäpää hill were connected by a telephone line, the first of its kind in Lapland.

Lemmenjoki River

After some failed attempts to find gold in Lemenjoki River, the year of 1945 was a lucky year for the Rantilla´s brothers Niilo, Uula and Veikko who found gold in Morgamoja, a tributary that flows into the river Lemmenjoki.  After their discovery, late 1950s and early 1960s were the years of most dynamic activity.

To keep the order in gold fields it was founded, in 18^th of September of 1949, by gold prospectors, an association (the Association of Gold Prospectors in Finnish Lapland)  to solve legal issues related to the staking of claims, goods transport in winter time and postal delivery in summer time. The association has its headquarters in Pellinen’s cabin in Morgamoja. This cabin was taken down in 1975 and a new one was built for hikers.

 

Tankavaara

A smith and joiner called Aleksanteri “Sauva-Aslak” Peltovuoma dreamt about an old man with white beard showing him the place where to find gold. After his dream, he sent his nephew to search for the place but the boy didn’t find it.   In this way, in summer of 1934, Aslak went himself to the place, Tankanvaara, and, to his surprise, he returned with a bag full of gold nuggets. This was the way as Aslak started his professional career as a smith and joiner and finished as a gold prospector.

Laanila

It was a famous place for finnish minnig companies, like for example Prospektor, Kerkelä, Lapin Kulta Oy and Ivalojoki Oy as well as some foreign companies. When the industrial mining ceased, the area swarmed with individual gold hunters. Nowadays, Laanila has hundreds of active claims.

Gold History of Lapland in our days

The History of Gold continues in our days through the  gold prospectors who still searching for this precious metal (some of them spend the summer time in their claims with their own families), through the friendly goldapanning championships; through the vestiges (like infrastructures, machines, pits, and others) left by the Time and through the International Gold Prospector Museum which preserves the rich History of Gold in Lapland.