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<\/a>Gold mining has a long tradition in the Czech Republic. There are several historically famous mining districts like J\u00edlov\u00e9, Mokrsko, Ka\u0161persk\u00e9 Hory and Zlat\u00e9 Hory. Unfortunately, all have been shut down during or shortly after the communist era. Currently exploration is proceeding at Zlat\u00e9 Hory, however, the local socio-political situation does not favor any reopening of old mines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The J\u00edlov\u00e9 gold-bearing district was one of the most important areas of historical gold mining in Bohemia. The tradition of panning dates back to the period of Celtic settlement. In the 13th and 14th centuries, when gold was obtained mainly by deep mining with a total production of approximately 10 tons of gold, the J\u00edlov\u00e9 district was probably the most profitable gold-bearing district in the Kingdom of Bohemia. Unfortunately, the mines with all documentation have been burnt during the husite wars in the 15th<\/sup> century. The profit from reopening in the 16th<\/sup> to 19th<\/sup> century and in the years 1938 \u2013 1968 was not even close to that of the medieval times. Finally, the geological studies from the 1960s concluded that the mining would no longer be profitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fame of the J\u00edlov\u00e9 district may have been based on the fact that gold was often found here in the form of coarse-grained aggregates and irregular sheets weighing up to several kilograms. The gold is present in quartz and quartz-carbonate veins, often accompanied by sulfides (pyrite, arsenopyrite, etc.), tellurium and bismuth minerals, scheelite, etc. Gold-bearing deposits usually have simple mineral composition, however, 51 minerals have been described from the J\u00edlov\u00e9 district – many of them are rare, often detectable only during microscopic research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After several hours under ground, Vladim\u00edr wanted to provide us with some hands-on experience. \u201cThe country rock is very hard here, therefore, dynamite was used for digging the stoles. Here is a trigger that they used: you just need to spin the arm several times and push this button when it starts to blink,\u201d he passes a small box to my friend. After my friend pushed the button, a staggering bang froze us. \u201cI told you everything was functional here,\u201d claimed Vladim\u00edr calmly. \u201cThis way, please. Before the smoke and dust reaches us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" V\u00e1clav Santol\u00edk \u201cEverything is functional here,\u201d says Vladim\u00edr Pravda showing us his \u201coffice\u201d 300 meters below ground, where we got by a minecart. He is a member of a group of enthusiasts that bought the dilapidated J\u00edlov\u00e9 mines a few years ago. With his coworkers, he spends weekends on restoring \u2026 Continue reading <\/a>