Russia's gold resources
The Russian Federation ranks third after South Africa and the USA in terms of gold resources, and in spite of its economic problems, production in 1997 was 114 t, putting it in sixth place as a world producer. Recently, Moscow-based NBL Gold released data on the current state of the Russian gold-mining industry. By the beginning of 1998, the number of gold-producing enterprises had fallen to 378 from 550 in 1996, and the number could fall further in 1999. A production table lists the output by region and by the name of the enterprise, and gives figures for 1997 and the first nine months of 1998. Gold mining in Russia is seasonal, and 94% of activity is placer mining, although the resource base is smaller than for hard-rock deposits. Russian gold deposits tend to be low quality, with hard-rock ores averaging around 4 g/t. Eastern Siberia, Far East Russia and Northeast Russia have 65% of possible resources and probable reserves. In all three regions energy, infrastructure, transport and labour are in critical supply. At recent production levels, NBL estimates that Russia could sustain mining for another 50 years, and if the required investment in hard-rock gold mining is forthcoming, the sector could increase gold production by some 150 t/y.
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