Lampivaara Amethyst Mine — Attraction in Eastern Lapland

Did you know the colors in gemstones are actually caused by radiation? 🤔 Learned that today on my visit to the Pyhä-Luosto Amethyst Mine, one of the few gemstone mines in the world open to visitors year-round!

The drive from Sodankylä took just about 30 minutes, and from the parking lot it’s an easy 2.5 km walk through the forest (took me 30 mins, though the website says 45). The tour, led by Ville (available in both Finnish and English), was incredibly informative and fun. Digging for amethyst was harder than I expected, but very rewarding – with the guide’s help I found 5 to take home! The staff made sure everyone left with something, which was such a nice touch.

The mine sits on top of a fell, so the views are absolutely stunning. 😍 I also learned about their unique shareholder certificate, a lifetime pass that lets you come back anytime to dig, plus attend shareholder meetings and even a Christmas dinner. Imagine telling people you’re part-owner of a gem mine!

All in all, such a memorable and unique experience. Highly recommended if you’re...

Firstly, when getting there, type in the sat nav the cafe location. If you don't you'll get the main car park for the mine, which is a 2.5km walk away, through the woods and is mainly uphill. Great if you want the walk, if not get directions for the cafe as the car park is right behind it.. The tour starts up at the top of a hill with many steps..Great view, but many steps, and quite hairy if they're icey. The tour is 2 parts, one part where you're educated about the amethyst. The second part where you're actually digging for amethyst in the dirt yourself. Make sure you have the correct clothing to be able to do this. Adults cost €25 euros each. The cafe is basic but functional. There are toilets behind the cafe in a wooden shed, which are questionable and make the woods look like the better option.

To note, the drive took around 2 hours...

This is first class fraud, after some explanation about the stones you can start digging yourself on a 10m x 20m field that has been dig over by thousands of tourists before, also on the structure of the layer wen you dig deeper like 40cm you find out that there are bigger rocks without any soil inbetween them, so you most probably are searching in so called "tailings" from the mine itself. To compensate for not finding anything under the ground yourself staff shows you where to find them. Why did they tell you this..because they put the amethists there, small stones on the surface and near the entrance of the field. They throw some small stones for tourists to find..that is first class fraud..i...