Golden Forest
Złoty Las (Golden Forest) is a part of the upland adjacent to the Kaczawa Valley in the northern part of the Kaczawskie Foothills, situated between Krzeniów and Jerzmanice-Zdrój. It is known for the presence of river sediments containing gold in secondary deposits. The “gold-bearing” area on the right side of the Kaczawa Valley is approximately 1.5 km long and covers an area of about 70 hectares. It is located at an elevation ranging from 15 to 45 meters above the modern bottom of the valley. A smaller area of gold-bearing sands and gravels is located on the left side of the valley floor. The entire area is also known as Zakonny Las, a name that refers to the ownership of this area by the Franciscan monastery in Złotoryja.
The presence of gold is associated with the gravel deposits of high-level river accumulation of the Kaczawa River from a period preceding the advance of the Scandinavian ice sheet. Since glacial deposits did not contain gold, it was necessary to remove the overburden to access the richer sediment. The mining operations were carried out through open-pit mining or by utilizing shallow shafts and adits. The remains of these activities have significantly transformed the terrain and left numerous anthropogenic features hidden in the forest: depressions and irregularities from surface workings and collapsed shafts, as well as ruts and gullies that were once used for transporting the excavated material. The exploitation of gold-bearing gravel began in the Middle Ages, and the last attempt was made in the 1920s when the St. Jadwiga Adit was excavated on the left bank of the Kaczawa River.
Description: Piotr Migoń
