Gold for Finland, gold from Finland!

Gold for Finland, gold from Finland!

Success at the Olympic Games was important for Finland when it was still part of the Russian Empire. In 1912 Hannes Kolehmainen “ran Finland onto the map of the world” by winning three gold medals at the Stockholm Games. His victories gave a tremendous boost to Finnish national self-esteem and dreams of independence.

Stockholm 1912 was the last Olympic Games where gold medals were made of solid gold. Kolehmainen’s gold medal from 5000 metres is on display at TAHTO.

The Karelian Gold Line

Discovered in 1985, the Karelian gold line is a 40-kilometre long gold-containing zone in North Karelia, Finland’s easternmost province. Located in the zone is Pampalo, where Peter Sorjonen-Ward, researcher at Geological Survey of Finland, found a gold deposit in 1990. Endomines has been processing gold at Pampalo since 2011.

These days Olympic gold medals are actually made of gilded silver. In the 1980’s people who discovered gold in Finland were awarded a solid gold replica of the largest ever nugget found in the country. As no more of those were available when Sorjonen-Ward made his discovery in 1990, he received his prize in gilded silver – just like Olympic winners.   

Photo: TAHTO