Fuego - began to distrust the eccentric adventurer and sent a patrol to put an end to Popper’s regime. The severe climate aided Popper who outwitted the Chileans.

From there on Popper’s adventures are brought to us through the stories of the newspaper of the time known as El Diario. Other important sources are his lectures, drawings and maps, old photographs, including several gold objects left as a legacy to his friends and acquaintances.

On his return to Buenos Aires in 1886, he organizes the firm Popper & Co. in order to perform mining works in Santa Cruz, proving Popper had not given up his early hopes of finding gold. Later, he gathered the necessary human and material resources to organize a scientific expedition to Tierra del Fuego. Also, he lectures for the first time at the Argentine Geographical Institute and then joins the "Logia Docente", the most prestigious and distinguished intellectual circle in Argentine society at the time.

Wanting to return to the south to continue his exploration campaign, he needed to mobilize the adequate funds for the undertaking of such enterprise. Popper also needed suitable men and material for the rigors of the operation he had in mind. Apparently, he succeeded in fulfilling his needs in terms of the preparations he had in mind for the trip. However, just as in his first expedition he also suffered the loss of his supplies due to another shipwreck.

But he would not be deterred. Despite the harsh weather conditions and hostile environment Popper still manages to begin his mining operations at El Paramo (the most important mine in Tierra del Fuego).

El Paramo was a city truly organized at his own discretion: he had his own police force run by his brother Maximo, he passed his own laws, minted his own currency, enforced strict labor laws. He also had a railway system and a washery method which later would be patented in Buenos Aires. All this was only the foundation for a more ambitious project which he would never accomplish: Atlanta, a city on the west coast of Tierra del Fuego.

At the age of 36, Julius Popper’s lifeless body was found in his apartment located at 373 Tucuman street in Buenos Aires, on June 6th, 1893. Many rumors were spread about his untimely death: suicide, murder at the hands of the gold mafia, a political power conspiracy envious of his many projects…

The mystery of his destiny is found in his own writings: "...Just as the mythical Jupiter, the king of metals emerged on the sands of Tierra del Fuego, in the midst of a thunderous and horrifying sound… Matchless gold needs the roaring fury of the elements, and the unleashed storms to make its shining entrance into the scene… a spark of gold found in the surface of the land stirs the spirit of the mob more than thousands of fertile acres or bounteous jungles..."