Gold mining in Russia: features, history and interesting facts

Gold mining in Russia is an important industry, which has not been given proper attention for a long time. The mines that developed in the tsarist times were destroyed in the course of the revolution and the Civil War. The Soviet period also did not bring the flowering of the industry. Perhaps, new economic conditions will be able to streamline the production system.

Legend of the find

The history of gold mining in Russia, according to the official version, began in the 18th century. It is believed that the start was a small pebble, which found a schismatic in the area of the current Yekaterinburg. For some reason, he reported on the discovery to the administration of the Ekaterinburg plant. His search, he continued and found a lot of such stones. Later on, the gold mine "Primary" was founded on the site of the finds.

The fact that gold mining in Russia can become a large-scale industry, is mentioned since the fifth century. This was told by many historians who visited the areas of the Urals mountain system and observed a large number of jewelry and household items made of precious metal from indigenous peoples.

The basis of the state-scale industry was laid by Peter the Great in 1719. At the beginning of the 19th century, Russia became a leader in the development and extraction of gold. After the S. Yu. Witte reform and the introduction of the "gold standard", gold coins were minted in Russia, and the mines became available for development by foreign companies and private traders.

After the revolution

After the revolution of 1917, gold mining in Russia for many years was neglected. The state for a long time did not pay any attention to the industry, staking not on the development of known deposits and exploration of new ones, but on the expropriation of gold and its products from the population. The Committee on precious metals was established in 1918, but it was not immediately possible to establish order and take the minefields into account.

The main gold mining sites in Russia were in the Urals, in Siberia, where the new power did not reach right away. Worked mines and mines went on to "white", then to "red." Opponents destroyed equipment, poured mines and dispersed artel workers. During the Civil War, the industry was virtually destroyed. Even in the First World War, gold mining in Russia declined. For example, in 1918 the country received only about 30 tons of metal, and in 1913 the quantity reached almost 64 tons per year. In the years to come, output has been steadily declining. In 1920, 2.8 tons were mined, and in 1921 it was possible to get only 2.5 tons of precious metals from miners.

Fall of fishing indicators

In the period from 1918 to 1922 in the gold mines the Soviet government received about 15 tons of gold, during the same period, the population seized 15.7 tons of gold and products. According to unofficial data, the amount of "voluntarily given" was much higher, according to specialists' calculations through the Baltic countries, during the same period, about 500 tons of metal were exported. In 1921, the state pursues a monetary reform, relying on the formula of the "gold standard", i.e. The money should again be provided with a gold reserve.

By 1922 it became clear that all known deposits were already depleted, the data of many geological surveys were lost, and new expeditions were not carried out. The statement of the fact took place in 1924. In the light of the implementation of steps to restore state control of production, Glavzoloto was endowed with exclusive powers, capabilities, credit facilities. In 1925, a plan was prepared, the main emphasis in mining was made on the encouragement of working artels, the priority development of state organizations in front of private ones was determined.

The pre-war period

In 1927 Glavzoloto was reorganized into Soyuzzoloto, organizational arrangements were made to create a geological exploration and training service for new personnel. The first measure to stimulate production was the development of a system for financing and encouraging private industry and small gold mining enterprises. In 1923 gold mining was started in the Aldan basin (Yakutia). They say that gold could be collected by hand. The main gold mining in the region was carried out by the Aldanzoloto Trust.

In two years (1927-1928), the extraction of precious metal increased by 61%. In 1929, more than 25 tons of pure gold was mined in the country, most of them were from state organizations. The next significant increase in the volume of gold produced occurred in 1936 and 1937 and amounted to 130 tons, Russia took the second place in gold mining in the world ranking.

By the beginning of the war, the fishery supplied the state treasury with about 174 tons of precious metal per year. Most of the reserves went to purchase equipment for industry, ensuring the industrialization and independence of the USSR.

Military period and postwar years

Gold mining in Russia has always been a sector with classified data. During the war years, the level of secrecy was raised, what were the indices of the industry in this period, in open sources is not reported. It is known that the level of gold sales exceeded the production rate. The state stimulated all the artels (primarily private ones). Workers were provided with food and bonuses. Regardless of the gravity of the situation, capital construction was conducted, production capacities were updated. For deliveries on lendlizu the Soviet Union paid about 1,5 thousand tons of gold.

In the post-war period, it was urgently needed to restore the economy, rebuild the cities and give the people the opportunity to settle down after a devastating tragedy. The history of gold mining in Russia of this period is colored with gloomy colors - the industry was placed under the supervision of "Glavspetsvetmetu", referring to the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In a short time, camps were organized, where prisoners served their sentence on gold mining. The system had about 30 ITLs specializing in the development of precious metal deposits. This step made gold mining a record high with minimal financial costs, everything was paid for by thousands of prisoners' lives. By 1950, the country produced 100 tons of metal. The gold reserve in 1953 was a record in the USSR and amounted to 2,049 tons. This indicator has not been exceeded so far.

The period of Khrushchev's rule was characterized by many surprises. For the world community, the main one was the active and weighty sale of gold in world markets. The West viewed large gold plots on the market as peaceful aggression of Russia. The bulk was spent on the purchase of food. The largest intervention of Russian gold occurred in 1963, when 800 tons of metal were spent on the purchase of grain.

Our days

During the reign of Leonid Brezhnev, gold mining in Russia was not going through the best period, the industry did not receive proper attention. A large amount of precious metal reserves was exported to foreign markets for the purchase of food, while the level of production invariably fell. In 1988, the approach to supplying the industry was revised, a reorganization occurred, and the level of production began to grow. In 1990, it reached a solid level of 300 tons.

The perestroika period was chaotic for the entire economy, including for the gold mining industry. Metal sales in foreign markets grew with a sharp drop in output. The most critical year was 1998, production was only 115 tons. With state intervention in the fishery, the situation began to level off, but a single system has not yet been developed. Gold is an important financial component of GDP, but there is as yet no single policy. At the beginning of the 21st century, there are almost 6,000 deposits in Russia.

The largest gold deposits in Russia

In the current world rating of gold reserves in the bowels, Russia occupies the fourth position. The largest gold mining sites in Russia are concentrated in Siberia and the Far East. Intensive development and extraction of precious metal are established in several goldfields, from which the gold reserve is replenished.

Areas where the mines are being developed:

• Khabarovsk region.
• Amur region.
• Magadan Region.
• Krasnoyarsk region.
• Saha Republic.
• Chukotka Autonomous District.
• Sverdlovsk Region.
• Buryatia and others.

A significant mass fraction of gold comes from large mines:

• Solovyevsky.
• Dambuki.
• Ksenievsky.
• Altai.
• Nevyanovsky.
• Gradsky.
• Conder.
• Udereysky.

Private gold mining in Russia

Gold mining in Russia by private individuals has been banned since 1954. Stalin's times were good for prospectors. By the decree of the government additional privileges and bonuses were introduced for them, the right to use the best gold-bearing areas was granted. To stimulate the work of distributing apartments, vouchers to holiday homes, etc. In the pre-war period, permission for goldfish could be obtained by any adult who did not have a criminal record.

The number of prospectors who worked alone or in private artels reached 120 thousand people. The extracted metal was accepted by numerous specialized points. The works of private traders opened and equipped many new mines, later they were transferred to the management of state structures. During the work of private enterprises (1932-1941), the amount of gold mined increased five-fold.

Russian gold

According to the world results of 2016, Russia ranks third in the production of gold from mineral raw materials and entered the second place in the total production of precious metals. According to S. Kashuba (chairman of the Union of Gold Miners of Russia), it was expected that the level of production in 2016 will be about 297 tons, in 2017, a slight increase in production is planned.

Successful projects in 2016 were the development of Pavlik in the Magadan region and Amethyst in Kamchatka. Accurate information on the results of 2016 has not yet been made public. What is the total investment in gold mining in Russia - is unknown.

According to official data, in 2015 gold production in Russia amounted to 294.3 tons of metal, which improved the performance of the previous period by 2%. In 2016, Dmitry Medvedev signed amendments to the law "On Subsoil", which allow individuals to engage in gold mining.

Amendments to the law: for and against

Since 2017 private gold mining in Russia is permitted. The law provides for the lease for five years of 15 hectares of territory, where, according to experts, contains up to 10 kilograms of gold. There are a number of limitations in the development:

• Gold can be obtained only by superficial means.
• You can not conduct blasting.
• The depth to which you can dig is 5 meters.

Polygon for the pilot launch of the project selected Magadan region, where they counted 200 sites ready for private development. In the government this step is viewed as a social project. The population of the northern regions is in distress. Most do not have the opportunity to find a decent job, and washing the gold for a long time was a traditional way of earning a livelihood. Illegal business is flourishing and now, after the adoption of the amendment, many will have the opportunity to work in the legal field, and the state will receive additional income.

There are fears that the rampant crime and theft will begin, which took place in the Magadan region in the 1990s, when a local law on private gold mining was passed. The adoption of the amendment was opposed by the FSB and the Ministry of Justice. Many people say that private practice will not solve the problem of unemployment. There are proposals to open several of hundreds of frozen deposits, which will make it possible to employ thousands of people and receive an influx of people into the Magadan region.