Ep. 1 Jungle Gold Rush See The Richest Gold Vein in Asia. Gold, Diamond Mine Paracale, Philippines

Go Down The Rabbit Hole Gold Mine in Paracale, Philippines To See The Richest Gold Veins in Asia. These veins have legendary quartz ore with diamonds. They call it the "Snow Bear or Golden Icey". When the Spanish discovered the gold in Paracale, they decided to take over the whole Philippines because it was so rich. With gold in the rivers and on the beach, Paracale is like a tropical Nome, Alaska. Paracale is a town in Camarines Norte, a coastal province about 200 miles southeast of Manila. It is regarded as a small town sitting on a pot of gold with its 23 million metric tons of gold ore deposit that is considered as one of the richest in the country and in the world. The large deposits of gold ore can be found throughout the town’s riverbeds, flood plains, and even sink holes.

Mining activity in this town has been going on for 400 years. The name of the town its self was derived from “para” “cale” meaning canal digger. It started as early as 1626, the time when the Philippines was under Spain. It was run by the Spanish colonists then the Americans. After World War II, all the mining sites were shut down and few years later Filipino Mining Companies started to put up Large Scale Mining sites. But aside from the large scale mining sites small scale mining became prevalent, it constitute 80% of the mining activity. But in 2012 the Mines and Geosciences Bureau enforced a mining ban.

Despite the mining ban small scale mining activities continue. About 90% of the local residents’ livelihood is mining. Miners from other provinces also flock to the small scale mining sites to mine and earn some money. One hundred kilos of gold is being produced a week in Paracale which costs up to 200,000 million pesos, but only a quarter of this goes to local miners. They use old practice mining method with equipment limited to headlamps, picks, compressor and makeshift pulley made from wood and ropes. With this method mining is gambling and literally going down what could be grave. Yet they continue to engage in mining because of the constant surge in the price of gold and the easy way out of poverty. The true reality is the fishing here is good and fishermen make more than miners. But gold mining is about "Gold Fever" and the thrill of the chase is more addictive than money.

-Support the Channel by Subscribing (It's Free)    / @minesandmountains  

"Buy Wholesale Rough Gems" from mines around the world at http://www.MinesandMountains.com