Gold mine worth £9 billion discovered in Germany

A massive seam of pure gold worth at least nine billion pounds has been discovered in one of the poorest regions of eastern Germany.

The precious metal was found nearly 4,000ft down in Lausitz region where one-in-five are jobless.

Eight hundred miners have already been called to sign on for jobs and there are estimates that double that number could soon be on the payroll, the Daily Mail reports.

The KSL mining company also struck the intended copper-bearing rock laden with an estimated 2.7 million tons, as well as lesser deposits of silver and platinum.

KSL has agreed to share a large part of profits from the mining venture with the impoverished region.

The gold seam was hit almost two years after drilling began, the paper said.

Klaus-Peter Schulze, mayor of the town of Spremberg near to the drilling area, said that the region has over 11 per cent joblessness, therefore the latest discovery is 'fantastic news'.

"We need miners, contractors, suppliers. This is the economic miracle that East Germany needed," the paper quoted Schulze, as saying.