Lapland gold rush

The Lapland gold rush, also known as the Ivalo Gold Rush, was a gold rush that occurred in Lapland, Grand Duchy of Finland, during the 1870s. The Lapland gold rush started in the valley of the Ivalojoki river in 1870 and lasted for a few years. Although the scale of the Lapland gold rush is not comparable to the major 19th century gold rushes, the Lapland gold rush has great local significance in Lapland and across Finland.

The first references of gold in the Finnish Lapland date back to the early 16th century, when gold was discovered from Utsjoki, but its presence not widely known until the 19th century. In the 1860s, Norwegian geologist Tellef Dahll was conducting a geological survey in Finnmark county, located in the extreme northeastern part of Norway, when he discovered gold in the Tana river. Dahll found that the most promising sites were on the Finnish side of the river and contacted the authorities in Helsinki. In 1868, the Finnish Mining Board sent an expedition to Lapland in search of gold. Finland, which at the time was an autonomous part of Russia, was suffering from a major famine, and the Finnish local government hoped that the gold would benefit the country's deprived economy.

The expedition was led by the engineer Conrad Lihr, who later became the head of the Mint of Finland. After several months, Lihr and the expedition finally discovered gold in September 1868 from the Ivalo River in the municipality of Inari. The discovery was seen as so prosperous that the government decided to pass a new law regarding future gold mining in Lapland, which was approved by Alexander II in April 1870. The new law repealed the former act which had given the Emperor the privilege of all noble metals. Gold prospecting in Lapland was now free for every "decent" man of the Grand Duchy of Finland and the Russian Empire, excluding the Jews.

...
Wikipedia