Massive East German Gold and Copper Discovery a Game Changer for German Industry

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Following the discovery of a rich gold seam in Germany's Lausitz region, the mayor of Spremberg said that the discovery was the economic miracle that eastern Germany needed. With unemployment rates of up to 20% in Lausitz, the prospect of jobs and prosperity appears to be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

The KSL mining company (Spremberg), a subsidiary of Minera (Washington D.C.), struck the gold seam at a depth of nearly 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) underground after two years of drilling. The mining company drilling in the region near the Polish and Czech borders also struck copper-bearing rock, which has an estimated 2.7 million tons of copper, and significant deposits of silver and platinum. KSL said that zinc and lead deposits also were available for mining.

Initial estimates of the gold deposit put its value at a minimum of $9 billion, with an estimated resource yielding 15 tons of gold. These estimates are probably conservative, according to KSL.

According to eastern German mining estimates, the Spremberg-Graustein-Schleife copper deposit extends to a depth of 800 to 1,300 meters, over an area of 45 square kilometers. The ore averages 2.5 meters in thickness, but ranges up to 8 meters in places.

Modern deep-mining technology and the price of gold make the project a profitable proposition. This would not have been the case in times past, a company spokesman said. Seismological testing is being conducted over the whole mining area, prior to the major phase of drilling the first mine shafts. It could take up to seven years before the first gold is produced.

German media reports and reactions from the industry envisage 50 years of mining development in the area and see the mining products freeing Germany of its dependency on China and other countries for the imports of key raw materials to feed its heavy and technological industries. There is also a sense of urgency expressed for the speedy implementation of the project while market conditions are right.

Reports say that 800 miners already have signed on for jobs and that the figure could soon double. Contractors and suppliers also are needed for the project.

KSL has agreed that a significant part of profits from the mining project will be shared with the region, which has been struggling economically.

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