An Antarctic Volcano Is Spraying More Than $10,000 Worth of Gold into the Sky Every Day

Antarctica’s Mount Erebus, the world’s southernmost active volcano, has been in continuous eruption for over 50 years. And in its cloud of smoke is microscopic gold, estimated to be carrying 80 grams per day. At today’s spot price for a troy ounce of gold, that is over $10,000 a day.

But there is just one issue. You can’t get it.

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Antarctica is home to at least 138 volcanoes, but Erebus stands apart. One of only a handful of volcanoes on Earth with a persistent lava lake, it also has an unusual magma composition rich in minerals such as nepheline and leucite instead of the quartz more commonly found in volcanic systems.

Erebus’s activity is characterized by its “strombolian eruptions,” which are moderate bursts of explosive activity. Large bubbles of volcanic gas rise through the lake and burst at the surface, sometimes throwing partly molten rocks over 300 feet (100 meters) into the air. Although these explosions are small by volcanic standards, they present a real danger to anyone working near the crater rim.

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Among the gases erupting from Mount Erebus are trace metals, including microscopic particles of gold. In a 1991 study, researchers found tiny particles of elemental gold in the plume near the crater. Gold was also found in shallow surface deposits and in Antarctic air samples collected as far as 1,000 kilometres away. The observed particles were generally only about 20 to 60 micrometres across, or just about the width of the average human hair.

Scientists believe the gold is dissolved in hot volcanic gases, then transported as a gold-chloride compound. As the gases leave the magma and cool, the metal condenses into solid particles or attaches itself to other aerosols. Erebus is especially rich in chlorine-bearing particles, which may help carry metals through its unique magmatic system.

If the estimate of 80 grams per day is accurate, Erebus would release roughly 29 kilograms (64 pounds) of gold each year, worth around $4 million at current prices. Unfortunately for would-be prospectors, the particles are dispersed through enormous volumes of air, snow, volcanic ash, and other aerosols. “Recovering them would require complex processing,” ZME Science wrote in its article.

Not only would it be too hard to capture the gold flecks, it is also illegal. Article 7 of the Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty prohibits activities relating to Antarctic mineral resources, except for scientific research.

While the fact that Erebus erupts gold is a neat detail, its other features are way more interesting for scientists.  “As one of the few volcanoes with an active and accessible lava lake, Erebus offers direct observations of magma dynamics, including convection and gas emissions,” ZME Science writes. “These observations can help scientists to understand the behavior of magma under the Earth’s surface, particularly in terms of how gases escape from magma and how this influences volcanic eruptions.”

So while the 12,448-foot (3,794-meter) Mount Erebus may seem like an incredible way to strike gold, its treasure remains out of reach. Instead, the volcano offers scientists a rare window into how our planet works. There’s something poetic, though, about Antarctica glittering ever so slightly with microscopic gold particles carried on the winds from one of Earth’s most remote volcanoes.