According to Igmar Haga, European Director of mine owner Agnico Eagle, the price of gold has doubled in three years. Haga adds investors have purchased large quantities of the precious metal since last summer. The company believes the price of gold will remain high and could even increase.

The Kittilä Gold Mine currently produces four gold ingots a week, each with a value of around 600,000 euros.

Gold will be mined in Kittilä for about fifteen more years but a rich future could lie ahead as the company has so far only researched a small 850 hectare area.

Mining at Kittilä was considered as a profitable venture when operations started three years ago. Most of its gold goes nowadays to investors following a decline in the jewel business.

Finland is now the EU’s leading gold miner thanks to the Kittilä facility. However, in world stakes, its 0.2 percent contribution to overall gold mining remains small.

Kittilä currently employs over 200 miners, most of whom are from Finnish Lapland