Guarding the gold mine on Mount Van Cung

Although the gold mine on Van Cung mountain has been licensed for exploitation by a business, a special task force led by the Luc Ngan District Police, Bac Giang province, still crosses mountains and forests daily to guard it. This has been going on for more than a decade, with no end in sight.

One day in early 2025, a reporter followed the team guarding the original gold mine on Van Cung mountain, led by Lieutenant Mac Dinh Quyen, an officer of the Security Team of Luc Ngan District Police.

The path up the mountain is just a trail with a high mountain on one side and a deep ravine on the other, covered with jagged rocks.

Lieutenant Vi Van Trang, Deputy Head of Phong Minh Commune Police and a member of the guarding team, shared: "For a long time, the Van Cung mountain area has been famous as a region with primary gold deposits, with reserves of tons. At many times, people spread rumors that you could find gold just by digging into the ground."

Authorities have set up a guard camp for the gold mine right on the summit of Van Cung mountain.

"In previous years, many people found gold in the streams, building multi-story houses and buying cars thanks to it. As a result, hundreds of people flocked to Van Cung Mountain to search for gold, especially in the years 2010-2012. Many groups of 'gold thieves' set up camps on the mountaintop, disrupting security and order. Therefore, Luc Ngan district decided to establish a task force stationed on Van Cung Mountain," Trang recounted.

Besides protecting resources and maintaining security and order, the outpost team also disseminates laws on minerals to organizations, households, and individuals, and promptly prevents and handles illegal mining activities.

After more than three hours, we finally reached the temporary camp set up by the task force on the mountaintop. After only a few minutes of rest, the task force quickly set off to inspect the gold mine. Numerous cave entrances, left behind by illegal gold miners from previous years, were scattered everywhere.

According to statistics, despite being destroyed numerous times, hundreds of cave entrances remain on the summit of Van Cung Mountain, ranging in depth from 4-5 meters to hundreds of meters. In fact, many caves are so deep, located on the mountainside in rugged terrain, that authorities have yet to fully measure their length.

Along with that were the remaining tools of the illegal gold miners, such as the foundations of the shacks, water pipes, and electrical wires used for drilling and blasting… All of these were inventoried and recorded by the task force to ensure that no new mining sites would be established.

During the inspection, the task force members shared many stories about their time stationed at the summit of Mount Van Cung.

"Everyone says we're lucky, that we eat and sleep on piles of gold every day. However, we don't see any luck, only hardship and toil," Lieutenant Quyen recounted.

According to him, due to the mountainous and rugged terrain, and the lack of roads, travel is very difficult.

The weather on the mountaintop is divided into two distinct seasons. During the rainy season, obtaining water for daily use is easier, but travel is nearly impossible due to slippery roads. During the dry season, there is less rain, making travel easier, but supplying water for daily use becomes more difficult.

In addition, there were significant temperature fluctuations; sunny and warm during the day could be followed by thick frost at night. Furthermore, because it was a temporary shelter, erected right on the mountaintop, far from residential areas, to save costs, the team only used the generator for meals.

Mr. Ly Van Quy, an officer at 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 have to take turns participating in the task force protecting the gold mine. Many times, during bad weather, we have to stay on the mountain for a whole month, even during strong storms like Typhoon Yagi ."

"After Typhoon Yagi in September, heavy rains lasted for many days, completely cutting off the only road leading up the mountain. At the same time, communication was lost, leaving us completely isolated from the outside world. After 7 days, the authorities and relatives had to walk up the mountain to find us," Quy recounted.

It is known that on August 1, 2022, the People's Committee of Bac Giang province granted a mining license to Asia Cuong Mineral Group Joint Stock Company (Asia Cuong Company) to exploit primary gold ore in Phong Minh and Sa Ly communes, Luc Ngan district, using the underground mining method with industrial explosives, covering a total area of ​​44.47 hectares.

The exploitable reserves include: the main mineral (gold) at 178.24 kg and the accompanying mineral (silver) at 643.46 kg; the mining capacity is 7,000 tons of gold ore/year (equivalent to 15 kg of 99.99% gold/year and 38.67 kg of accompanying silver metal/year or equivalent to 3,000 m3 of gold ore/year).

The gold mining tunnels were abandoned by illegal gold miners on the summit of Van Cung mountain.

Subsequently, the People's Committee of Bac Giang province also issued a decision stipulating that the percentage of gold in the total volume of raw mineral resources containing many useful minerals and substances for calculating environmental protection fees for this gold mine should be between 17% and 28.9%; and the percentage of silver in the total volume of raw mineral resources should be between 71% and 82.9%.

Speaking to Giao Thong Newspaper, Mr. Mai Van Hoang, a security guard at the gold mine of A Cuong Company, said: "I was assigned to come here to coordinate with the task force of Luc Ngan district to guard this gold mine from the end of 2023."

I've received many inspection teams, but the mining operations haven't been carried out, causing the company a lot of difficulties. Even my salary is owed by the company; they can only provide me with enough money for food to keep me going every day."

According to the leaders of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Bac Giang province, although the Van Cung mountain gold mine has been licensed for mineral exploitation and has been prescribed the conversion ratio for each type of raw mineral, it has not yet commenced any operations due to incomplete related procedures.

Leaders of Phong Minh commune People's Committee and Luc Ngan district police also confirmed that since 2023, there has been no more illegal gold mining at Van Cung mountain.

However, due to its remote location from the commune center, its border with Lang Son province, and its rugged terrain, this area continues to pose many potential risks of recurrence.

Therefore, until the mine can be handed over to a mining company, the local authorities and law enforcement will continue to remain to protect the original gold mine on Van Cung mountain.

Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/canh-mo-vang-tren-nui-van-cung-192250120153719066.htm