Chasing Fortunes

Liu Honglong, who once mined gold in Xinjiang, Tibet, and Shaanxi, says that numerous fellow townsmen have made fortunes in this way. "It only takes three to five months to make ten million or even a hundred million yuan by investing several million in gold dust," he says.

According to Liu, the most successful example is a man named Liu Pingjian. With several billion yuan made from gold mining in the early years, companies at gold producing regions all over China, and a gold mine in Tibet which is producing 500 grams of gold every day, the former tractor driver is now the richest in the town.

"Most young men in Hunan choose to work as laborers in cities along the coast. But few in Liuduzhai do so, instead, they work for the gold traders." says Liu. Salaries vary from 1,200 yuan to 5,000 yuan according to different types of work-- above average in the industry.

Even government officials can't resist the lure of wealth, he says. To join the gold rush, some have asked for leave, others even quit their jobs outright. One example, according to Liu, is the now-deputy mayor of the town, who has invested several hundred thousand yuan in gold mining and made a profit of approximately five million yuan in the same year.

Unborn Costs

According to regulation, gold mining is only legal after permission of local land and resources watchdogs, registration in administrations for commerce and tax, and, most importantly, approval of environment conservation departments.

A source who works in Hunan's land and resources department and wishes to remain anonymous says that it's almost impossible to permit such gold mining according to these miners' mining skills and the extent of harm that they are doing to the environment and natural resources.

One miner, who wishes to remain anonymous, says that nearly all of these who are still doing the business gained government permission by false reporting and "sealing government officials' mouths with money". For example, one of his mines, which is located in a natural reserve in the northwest, had been shut down before but is operational again under the guise of being a reforestation project.