Once again, and for the last time, a 99-year-old man has been given an extension to search for what he believes to be a treasure of 4,000 tons of gold buried by the Japanese under a mountain in south-central Binh Thuan Province in 1945. This time he is allowed to use explosives while excavating.

>> Old man’s hunt for ‘Japanese treasure’ extended, again>> New evidence of legendary treasure in Vietnam>> Authorities expand area for ‘$100 bln treasure’ hunt After giving him several extensions in the past 20 years, the provincial People’s Committee has issued a decision to give the old man, Tran Van Tiep of Ho Chi Minh City, one more extension to pursue his search for the ‘treasure.’ Unlike the previous extensions, each of which were valid for six months, this extension will last a year, from January 1 to December 31, 2014. The Committee stressed that this is the last extension and if Tiep continues to find nothing related to the treasure, he must immediate stop his search the day the extension expires. This time, Tiep is permitted to use 108 drills in his search of a 2,565 square meter area of the mountain. But notably, unlike before, the Committee will allow Tiep to also use explosives to break rocks while excavating. However, the explosives can only be used at a small scale and under close supervision of local military units, the authorities said.

This file photo shows a path that leads to the top of Tau Mountain. The path was built by Tran Van Tiep at his expense. (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

During the past 20 years, Tiep and his search team have made many excavations in the Tau Mountain area in Phuoc The commune, Tuy Phong District, but they have found no gold underground.  Tiep believes that at the end of World War II in 1945, after Japan surrendered to the Allies, Japanese general Yamashita ordered his soldiers to bury about 4,000 tons of gold and jewelry under the mountain. Tiep’s confidence in the existence of the treasure was strengthened in 1992 when he found an old Japanese sword and scabbard, a 10,000-yen coin, a broken metal hookah, and two metal Black Dragon insignias during an excavation on the east side of the mountain.

Tiep previously told the media that, “I have hunted for the treasure not for my own benefit… I have always considered the treasure a state asset. I have sought the treasure at my own expense and have not asked the government for a cent.”

The treasure may be valued at over US$100 billion, according to Tiep, who has paid the provincial authorities a deposit of VND500 million (US$24,000) to repair environmental damage.