Lapland gold rush

[2] 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.

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 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 prospectors traveled hundreds of kilometers by ski, foot, or boat to the gold prospecting area, which was born to the confluence of Ivalo and its tributary Sotajoki.

[3] To regulate the rush, the government established a headquarters for the authorities and service point for the prospectors, called the "Kultala Crown Station."

[4] The Ivalo River area was almost abandoned in the early 1880s, and the few prospectors that were left moved to Sotajoki and to the Laanila village, located 10 kilometers east.

The discovery attracted several Finnish prospectors, as well as some foreigners like the Swedish mining company Boliden AB and the German architect Werner Thiede from Hamburg.

[1] The Lapland gold rushes have inspired several artists such as the novelist Arvo Ruonaniemi and the naivistic painter Andreas Alariesto.