NAs home to abundant gold deposits, published in DAWN dated September 17, 2001 Syed Shams ud Din Gold deposits are in abundance throughout the Northern Areas, a geological survey of the region revealed. The quality is deemed to be superior as compared to that found in other parts of the world. All that is needed is an innovative approach to derive maximum benefit, and adoption of consistent policies geared towards prudent exploitation of this precious metal to usher in a revolutionary transformation in economic terms. Gold washing has been rife throughout the Northern Areas from time immemorial, but the process that has been and still is in practice is primitive and quaint, and does not yield tangible results. Golg deposit samples extracted from different places in the Northern Areas were put on display at an impressive stall manned by officials of the Planning and Development (P&D) Department of the Northern Areas in Gilgit at the time of the Silk Route festival