At 3,794 meters high, Mount Erebus is about the same size as Austria's highest peak, the Großglockner. The stratovolcano on Ross Island in Antarctica is not only the largest, but also the southernmost active volcano in the world.
In the 1990s, US geologists discovered that in addition to gases and water vapor, the volcano also emitted tiny gold particles. The total 80 grams of gold emitted per day is worth around 5,730 euros (6,120 US dollars). However, the particles are too small and too widely dispersed to be collected in profitable quantities, as The New Scientist reported in 1991. The volcano, named after the Greek god of darkness, hurls a small fortune into the air every day. The particles up to 60 micrometers in diameter were even found in the surrounding snow and ice, as the magazine New Scientist wrote...