The Kondyor Massif is located in the remote Khabarovsk region of Russia, 600km southwest of the Sea of Okhotsk and 570km southeast of Yakutsk. This geological structure has a diameter of 8km, a height of 600m, nearly 7 times larger than a meteor crater in Arizona, USA.

The Kondyor Massif in a NASA satellite image. (Photo: Siberian Times).

Seen from above, Kondyor Massif looks like an ancient volcano or a vestige caused by a meteorite impact. However, experts say the cause of the special shape of the massif is molten magma from volcanic rock that crystallized below the ground more than a billion years ago, forming a perfect circle.

Massifs undergo long-term ground erosion. Harder than the surrounding soil, the Kondyor Massif is the top surface edge of a column of rock that slowly deepens into the Earth’s crust and remnants of a partially eroded dome. A stream flows from the center of the massif, replenished with water from the melted snow at the rim. Many smaller streams radiate from the rim, supplying water to the Kondyor River on the north face.

These springs contain deposits of platinum in the form of crystals, beads, and ingots, along with gold and many other precious minerals. Some crystals are very sharp while many others have rounded edges. In particular, Kondyor Massif is home to many extremely rare and best quality gold-plated platinum crystals in the world. The amount of platinum mined here annually is up to 4 tons. Therefore, Kondyor Massif is also known as “treasure mountain”.

Accordingly, small streams radiating from the rim contain platinum deposits in the form of crystals, ingots and grains along with many other precious metals such as gold and precious stones. They are considered the “best ever found” in the world.In particular, this treasure mountain also contains a special mineral that only this place has, called Konderite – a mixture of copper, platinum, rhodium, lead and sulfur.

According to Siberiantimes, plutonium mining in the Kondyor Massif began in 1984. Platinum crystals from this massif also first appeared at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, USA in 1993. Normally, about 4 tons of platinum are mined here each year.