Although the gold mine on Van Cung mountain has been licensed for exploitation by enterprises, every day, a special task force led by the police of Luc Ngan district, Bac Giang still climbs mountains and forests to guard it. This has lasted for more than a decade, with no end date in sight.
On the first day of the new year 2025, PV followed the team guarding the original gold mine on Van Cung mountain, led by Senior Lieutenant Mac Dinh Quyen, an officer of the Security Team of Luc Ngan District Police.
The road up the mountain is just a trail with high mountains on one side and deep abysses and jagged rocks on the other.
Senior Lieutenant Vi Van Trang, Deputy Chief of Phong Minh Commune Police, a member of the guard team, shared: For a long time, the Van Cung mountain area has been famous for having a gold mine with reserves of tons. Many times, people rumored that if you dig into the ground there, you will find gold.
The gold mine guard camp was set up by authorities right on the top of Van Cung mountain.
"In previous years, many people went to the stream to pick up gold, built houses, and bought cars thanks to gold. Therefore, hundreds of people flocked to Van Cung mountain to look for gold, especially in 2010 - 2012, many groups of "gold thieves" set up camps on the mountain top, disrupting security and order. Therefore, Luc Ngan district decided to establish a working group to set up a post on Van Cung mountain," said Mr. Trang.
In addition to protecting resources and maintaining security and order, the checkpoint team also propagates and disseminates mineral laws to organizations, households and individuals and promptly prevents and handles illegal mineral exploitation activities.
After more than 3 hours, we arrived at the temporary working group camp on the top of the mountain. After only a few minutes of rest, the working group hurriedly set off to inspect the gold mine. It was full of caves left by "gold thieves" from previous years.
According to statistics, although it has been destroyed many times, there are still hundreds of caves on the top of Van Cung mountain, ranging from 4-5m to hundreds of meters deep. Many caves are even too deep, located on the back of the mountain, the terrain is so difficult that the authorities have not been able to measure the entire length.
Along with that are the remaining tools of the "gold thieves" such as the base of the shack, water pipes, electric wires for drilling, blasting... All are counted and recorded by the working group, ensuring that no new mining sites arise.
On the inspection route, the working group members shared many stories during their stay at the top of Van Cung mountain.
"Everyone said we were lucky, eating and sleeping on piles of gold every day. However, we didn't see any luck, only hardship and difficulty," said Senior Lieutenant Quyen.
According to him, because the terrain is high and rugged, and there are no roads, traveling is very difficult.
The weather on the mountain top is divided into two distinct seasons. In the rainy season, it is more convenient to get water for daily use, but it is almost impossible to move because the road is slippery. In the dry season, there is less rain, so it is easier to move, but it is difficult to get water for daily use.
Along with that, there is a big temperature difference, when the day can be warm and sunny but at night there is thick frost. Moreover, because it is a temporary shelter, built right on the top of the mountain, far from residential areas, so to save costs, the working group only uses the generator to serve during meals.
Mr. Ly Van Quy, an officer of the Phong Minh Commune Forest Protection Station, under the Cam Son Protective Forest Management Board, said: The station only has me and the station chief, so we often have to take turns participating in the working group to protect the gold mine. Many times when the weather is bad, we have to stay on the mountain for a whole month, even when there is a strong storm like Typhoon Yagi.
"After Typhoon Yagi in September, heavy rains occurred in the area for many days, completely cutting off the only road leading up the mountain. At the same time, communication was also lost, completely isolating us from the outside world. After 7 days, the authorities and relatives had to walk up the mountain to find us," said Mr. Quy.
It is known that on August 1, 2022, the People's Committee of Bac Giang province granted a mineral exploitation license to A Cuong Mineral Group Joint Stock Company (A Cuong Company) to exploit primary gold ore in Phong Minh and Sa Ly communes, Luc Ngan district by underground mining method using industrial explosives with a total area of 44.47 hectares.
Exploitable reserves include: Main mineral (gold) is 178.24 kg and accompanying mineral (silver) is 643.46 kg; exploitation capacity is 7,000 tons of gold ore/year (converted to 15 kg of 99.99% gold/year and accompanying silver metal mineral is 38.67 kg/year or equivalent to 3,000 m3 of gold ore/year).
Gold mining caves abandoned by gold thieves on top of Van Cung.
After that, the People's Committee of Bac Ninh province also issued a decision on the regulation of the mineral ratio of gold in the total volume of raw minerals containing many minerals and useful minerals to calculate the environmental protection fee for this gold mine reaching from 17 - 28.9%; the silver ratio in the total volume of raw minerals reaching from 71 - 82.9%.
Speaking to Giao Thong Newspaper, Mr. Mai Van Hoang, a gold mine security guard of A Cuong Company, said: "I received the task of coming here to coordinate with the working group of Luc Ngan district to guard this gold mine from the end of 2023.
I have received many delegations of officials who came to inspect, but the exploitation activities have not been carried out, causing many difficulties for the business. Even my salary is owed by the company, only supporting me with food money to survive every day."
According to the leader of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Bac Giang province, although it has been licensed to exploit minerals and has been regulated the conversion rate of each type of raw mineral, because the related procedures have not been completed, up to now, the Van Cung gold mine has not had any activities.
Leaders of Phong Minh Commune People's Committee and Luc Ngan District Police also affirmed that from 2023 to now, there has been no more illegal gold mining at Van Cung mountain.
However, because this area is far from the commune center and borders Lang Son province, the terrain is difficult, so there is still a risk of recurrence.
Therefore, until it can be handed over to the mining enterprise, the local government and functional forces will continue to stick around to protect the original gold mine on Van Cung mountain.
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/canh-mo-vang-tren-nui-van-cung-192250120153719066.htm
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