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A team of treasure hunters is reportedly close to unearthing the "world's largest treasure hoard," which is believed to be valued at €15 billion, or more than $17 billion USD.
The "Temple Twelve" has been searching for the "Lemminkainen Hoard" in Finland since 1987, which includes around 50,000 gemstones, 1,000 artifacts and numerous 18-carat gold life-size statues, and the group is now reportedly "on the brink" of unearthing it, the Mirror reports.
The group -- which consists of members grom numerous countries including the U.S., Russia, Sweden, Australia, Norway, Germany and the Netherlands -- reportedly worked six-hour days all seven days per week searching for the expensive treasure, which includes rubies, sapphires, emeralds and diamonds.
Carl Borgen, 60, who is the world's leading authority on the treasure hunting group, chronicled their search in his book Temporarily Insane, writing, "I understand that significant progress at the temple has been made and that the crew are feeling especially excited about the months ahead. There is now talk in the camp of being on the brink of a major breakthrough, which in real terms could be the discovery of the world’s largest and most valuable treasure trove.
“So far, the Temple Twelve, as they have become known, have been able to remove several huge square granite rocks blocking the entrance to the cave, and have cleared the cave of hundreds of tonnes of smaller rocks and sediment.
“I spoke to them only last week and it is now their strong belief that, after more than 34 years of digging, they are now within metres of the temple entrance."
The treasure's existance was initially acknowledged in 1984, according to the Mirror.