Throughout history, gold has always been a precious metal that everyone desires to possess. As the saying goes, “In prosperous times, people store antiques; in troubled times, they buy gold.” Gold has a high value for storage, unlike currency, which can lose its value during economic crises.
Today, due to excessive mining, the world’s gold reserves are diminishing. As a result, gold has become increasingly expensive.
There exists a gold mine in the world where gold is abundant all around, yet no one is mining it.
The Lonely Giant Gold Mine at the Edge of the Earth
The gold mine referred to here is the Kupol Gold Mine, located in the remote northeastern region of Russia. This area has some of the harshest climatic conditions in the world, with very low average temperatures.
The Kupol Gold Mine was discovered around the 1940s, buried deep within the ice. It is home to a colossal gold reserve of up to 4,500 tons. Thus, it is not an exaggeration to say that one could easily gather a significant amount of gold with just a shovel.
The Kupol Gold Mine was discovered around the 1940s, buried deep within the ice.
Why Does the Kupol Gold Mine Remain Untapped Despite Its Vast Reserves?
The Kupol Gold Mine has large reserves of gold, but its location within the Arctic Circle means that the weather here is extremely harsh, with the area covered in snow and ice year-round, resulting in few miners willing to work there.
While temperatures can rise significantly during the day, they can plummet to -50 degrees Celsius at night, leading to heat shock and increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, which poses a severe danger to health.
Additionally, the terrain is incredibly complex, limiting movement, and the surrounding area is barren, making it difficult to stay, thus complicating any human activities. Consequently, the gold mine has been isolated for many years.
The Kupol Gold Mine is one of the most challenging gold mines to exploit globally.
The Kupol Gold Mine is one of the hardest gold mines to exploit in the world. Very few are willing to take the risk to come here in hopes of changing their lives.
However, despite the harsh conditions, in 1990, the Russian government planned to exploit this gold mine and invested heavily in modern mining equipment. They faced difficulties as no one wanted to work there, even with high wages.
The harsh natural conditions create significant barriers for people attempting to access this massive gold mine. Thus, for thousands of years, few have dared to come here for mining.
Human Footprints Have Emerged
Today, with the rapid advancement of modern technology, humans have finally managed to bring the most advanced machinery to start mining at the Kupol Gold Mine.
However, due to its remote location, more than 200 kilometers away from the nearest city, there are only two ways to reach the gold mine: by plane or via a temporary road that is 200 miles long (which is only accessible from November to April when the weather is milder).
Currently, the Kupol mine has about 1,200 miners working.
The Kupol mine currently employs about 1,200 miners. They typically spend around 2 months at the site, working continuously for 12 hours in extremely harsh conditions.
Many workers have been unable to withstand the climate and have given up mining. Therefore, the Kinross Gold Corporation – the entity licensed to mine – has invested in constructing warm houses and providing facilities to support the dedicated workers.
