Mining is the key to Russia's well-being

Despite the fact that Russia is fabulously rich in minerals, a century ago they knew little about them. The country's interior was practically not studied, and the necessary raw materials were imported from abroad. Coal was brought from England, phosphorus fertilizers were delivered from Morocco , and potash salts were bought in Germany.

Beginning in the 1930s, large-scale geological exploration of deposits and the extraction of minerals in large volumes began in the Soviet Union. At the end of its existence, the USSR was the world leader in the identified reserves of mineral resources and their diversity.

Situation today

Most of the natural wealth of the Soviet Union was inherited by Russia, and at present it is the most prosperous mineral country in the world. Experts estimate the explored natural resources on its territory in 27 trillion dollars.

Throughout the 20 th century, and most of all in the second half, in Russia the extraction of minerals steadily increased. For example, from 1960 to 1990, oil was produced more by 4.3 times, and natural gas - by 26.7 times. At the same time, the extraction of iron ore increased almost 2.7 times and coal - 1.3 times. At the end of the last century, when the country experienced a decline and the volume of production declined, Russia still occupied the leading positions in the world for the extraction of gas, coal, oil, and iron ore.

To date, Russia is considered the world's most important mining power. Mining, despite many difficulties, remained a fairly prosperous industry.

The main problem affecting the development of the extractive industry is the weak transport infrastructure and the lack of modern technologies for processing fossil raw materials, which leads to the predominance of raw materials in exports.

Uneven distribution of natural resources

Deposits of mineral resources throughout Russia are extremely unevenly distributed. The largest number of them is in Siberia, which is rightly called the country's storeroom. This is where the main mining of mineral resources is concentrated.

Almost a third of all mineral wealth of the country is located in Western Siberia, another quarter - in the East. From 8 to 12% of their reserves are in the Volga, Urals, Northern and Far Eastern economic regions. The rest of Russia's regions are not rich in mineral resources .

Who is allowed to extract minerals?

In order to comply with national interests, the extraction of minerals in Russia is carried out within the framework of the current legislation and with observance of all its requirements concerning the use of the mineral resources of the country. Granting the right to use mineral resources is issued by a special permit.

According to the federal law, a license to extract minerals can be issued only to fields that have passed state expertise. It gives the right to search and implement development of deposits, other specified types of work. Licenses are issued by the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use.