Once again, officials in the eastern regions of Russia proposed to allow the free development of gold by private individuals. In January of this year, scientists from Krasnoyarsk, officials of the Magadan region and the Public Chamber of the Trans-Baikal Territory made another proposal to the government of the Russian Federation. Despite the fact that back in February 2016, the Russian Ministry of Nature developed a relevant bill considering certain aspects of gold mining by private traders, a decision on it has not yet been made. "Free delivery" is still banned.

Improved economic performance and additional jobs

Supporters of the project consider the creation of additional jobs as the main argument in defense of the law on free mining of gold. This is especially true for remote regions, in which gold has been and remains the only source of income in the family.

Attempts by the Ministry of Nature of Russia to amend the law on gold mining have not stopped since the 90s of the last century. As one of the ministry officials comments: “Permitting alluvial gold mining to individual entrepreneurs is of social importance for the Magadan Region, first of all, associated with the creation of new jobs without additional investment, which will reduce social tension in the region, make our territory attractive for the influx of people.”

A similar point of view is shared by the authorities of the Republic of Sakha. According to Viktor Fedorov, deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the region, allowing free gold mining means allowing citizens of the Russian Federation, residents of Yakutia and other regions, to exercise their constitutional right to work, to legalize a huge shadow business in this area. As he said: "As soon as the bill is submitted to our Legislative Assembly, we will definitely support it, because it will only have a positive effect on Yakutia."

According to Alexander Kugaevsky, Director of the Financial and Economic Institute of the North-Eastern Federal University, free gold mining will certainly lead to the development of industrial tourism and the influx of labor to the mining regions. From all regions of Russia, people reach out to Yakutia and the Magadan region for the mines. In addition, he clarified: “But we need to think through all the nuances in detail: the acceptance of gold, how and where people will hand over the mined, to ensure the safety of miners.”

At one time, in February 2016, scientists from Krasnoyarsk also supported the law on free mining. The bright minds of Russia believe that the revival of the extraction of precious metals by the efforts of private miners will bring a significant share of the modern illegal business in this area out of the shadows. Specialists of the Public Chamber of the Trans-Baikal Territory also believe that by banning private gold mining, the government contributes to the formation of criminal power and the growth of corruption. And, on the contrary, the permission of free prospecting will create new jobs, promote self-employment, and attract qualified personnel to the regions.

Another opinion: crime and environmental damage

One of the ardent opponents of the legalization of alluvial gold mining in the Russian Federation by individuals is Roman Shcherbakov, a mining engineer and deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Trans-Baikal Territory: “Any medal has two sides. It would seem that allowing the population to mine gold on their own is a great initiative that will give people the opportunity to earn and feed their families, and stop the outflow of the population. But, on the other hand, you need to understand that law enforcement and supervisory authorities, as well as municipal authorities in the regions, are often not ready for the amount of work that will be associated with free-bringing, which will inevitably lead to a lot of problems.”

Among other shortcomings of the private practice of prospecting, Roman Shcherbakov also sees significant damage to the environment and nature. He explains: “Large artels are responsible to the environment and after mining they carry out reclamation, which is much easier to track than to track where and how hundreds of private traders work.”

Shcherbakov sees an increase in banditry and the number of thefts as an equally significant problem that free gold mining will lead to: “On artels, the gold found is under protection, the risk of its theft is small. Of course, something leaks to the side, but the bulk officially passes through the bank. Can we achieve this with free delivery? Hardly. Gold will go aside, to the black markets, primarily to China. Dealers will appear - a crime that will be difficult to fight, including due to a lack of forces among law enforcement agencies.

Certain concerns are also raised by the possibility of official employment of gold miners, their honesty in the area of ​​paying taxes. According to representatives of the Union of Miners of Russia, which previously opposed the transfer of mining permits to private individuals, the creation of a large number of sole organizations can cause a certain “cooling down of the industry”.

The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Magadan Region notes: “The mining of alluvial gold by individual entrepreneurs raises a number of questions from representatives of Rosprirodnadzor regarding control over geological exploration, rational use and protection of subsoil. It is also necessary to resolve issues related to the safety and sale of alluvial gold mined by individual entrepreneurs.”

The Ministry is particularly concerned about possible environmental and safety issues associated with the easing of legislation regarding placer gold mining. Nevertheless, they are confident that such risks are minimized, since “in accordance with the conditions for the use of subsoil, enshrined in the license, before the start of mining operations, a technical project for the development of the deposit must be drawn up, including chapters on environmental protection and safe mining…”.

The history of free diligence in our country

Gold mining by private traders was allowed in our country until 1954. After this time, the conversation about free prospecting was first raised by the government of the Magadan region in the 90s of the XX century. But unsuccessfully! At the moment, the State Duma is still considering the law of September 2010, which can significantly change the situation in the extraction of precious metals.

The press service of the governor of the Magadan region in October 2015 reported that the State Duma would once again consider the law "On Subsoil" with the necessary amendments, including the free flow of gold. According to these changes, Kolyma was to become the first test region in this direction. The press service also reported that the government plans to give individuals for development areas that large enterprises have abandoned due to their unprofitability and insignificant gold reserves. The option of developing dumps previously processed by industrial enterprises should also be considered.

In February 2016, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation proposed a new law that proposed to allow the extraction of alluvial gold by private traders. According to this bill, individuals can independently participate in the development of gold placers in areas recorded by the state balance, the reserves of which do not exceed 10 kg. To carry out work, individual entrepreneurs are required to obtain an appropriate license.

Also, this law implies that private traders get the right to develop mines exclusively on their own. Development should be carried out at a depth of no more than 5 meters, without the involvement of machinery and equipment, with the exception of hand tools. At the same time, the creation and approval of any technical documentation is not required. According to the bill, the Government of the Russian Federation will determine the list of regions where the go-ahead for free bringing will be given.

Currently, this law is under consideration and approval by the Government of the Russian Federation, after which it will be sent to the State Duma. So for now, the question of whether Russia will resurrect free shipping as a once-thriving branch of its industry remains open.

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Amur region. Closed back in the mid-seventies mine. All tributaries have been washed over many times since the 19th century. Most of the landfills have been “pulled out to magma”. It would seem that here you can find?

... I start reconnaissance with brushes in the riverbed. Small signs are found everywhere. At one turn, I notice that the protruding rock during the work of the miners should have prevented the bulldozer from shoveling out all the sands. Having rolled out the "swamps", I wade to the rock. I rake the river bed with a scraper, I dismantle the flagstone of the brush and immediately visible gold! Practically in each depression there are one or two large pieces of gold. Some of them break and are carried away by the current. I had to break my head a lot before I managed to come up with a way to collect this small natural treasure without loss. From a microscopic area, I collected about a hundred grams.

Yakutia. Modern gold mining site. The artel is large, with powerful equipment. At some polygons, the raft is loose, composed of easily collapsible siltstones. They are removed by bulldozers to the entire depth of subsidence, reaching three to four meters! The polygons are planned as airfields. Here there is only a small chance to find flaws in gold on the sides of quarries. Another thing is areas with hard bedrock. On one of them, composed of massive sandstones, I was lucky. Having waited for its activation and completion of production, with the permission of the chief geologist, I carefully examine each depression and crack. The result does not disappoint. In a few hours of painstaking search with a metal detector, I managed to collect 50 grams. Having learned about my prey, a powerful CAT-10 was urgently sent to the landfill. An experienced bulldozer driver, remembering someone's mother, crawled around the training ground for several hours. Having broken the “loose”, tearing the caterpillars on the rock, he scraped together five hundred cubes of “crackers”. Washing gave the result - 50 grams - just like mine. The landfill was finally abandoned. In the future, this small area measuring 15 by 70 meters gave me a few hundred more grams. Why not "minieldorado"?

And here is another place, also in Yakutia. The steeply dipping bed of a small stream, in some places narrowing to a meter. No technique will work here. The slopes are crumbling, waterfalls and huge blocks-suitcases of several tons do not allow traditional work. Spoon-type placer, very small in terms of modern industrial production. The stream is fed by precipitation and meltwater and dries up from time to time. It was worked out with hand tools by the prisoners of Dalstroy, as evidenced by the shells from the PPSh, crowbars sticking out of the permafrost and the remains of a stretcher. They say that here the convict had to hand over 50 grams per day for enhanced rations! Apparently, the place is not poor. I pass several times all the channel from top to bottom. There must be enriched places somewhere?! Here is a remarkable sharp turn in the channel. The flow of flood waters knocked out a whole cave in the rock. From her? on the takeaway - blocks larger than a meter. I loosen with a pole and bring down one of them. There are several good signs in the river box, stuffed into the crack and washed in the sample tray. A few days of hard work, and here is the reward - a hollow, just stuffed with gold!

Kolyma. Having settled down with difficulty as a geologist-tester, with the promise of the boss to allow me to walk around in a free search after the shift, I expected to receive a significant increase in addition to the basic salary. Twelve hours of hard work on the systematic testing of polygons to delineate the sands left almost no strength. But the diligent excitement and the polar night, when the sun is shining with might and main, did not allow to fall asleep. And so, after dinner, I ask the mountain foreman to throw me up to the thirtieth training ground. The old miner laughs: “What did you lose there? We scraped this landfill last season like a frying pan! Okay, let's see! The landfill was really torn out "on the conscience." The raft is composed of oxidized easily collapsible rusty siltstones. There is no trace of "grease" in the raft. Didn't they leave anything for me? I carefully go around the landfill in a circle, take a sample from the sides. In one place, some discrepancy catches the eye. Having cleaned the side and looking closely, I find traces of alluvium in the crack of the rocky side. Having delved into the wall for a meter, I notice that the riverman is not accidental here. A few days later, taking advantage of the opportunity, I asked a bulldozer driver passing by to “pick” my “digger” with a blade. Three minutes and the bulldozer drove off to the place of his work. After cleaning, I take a sample with a scraper. Something flashed in the tray. So it is, a nugget of two grams. My heart was beating fast! EAT! I turn around at the sound of a UAZ driving up. Damn it! "Sam" bestowed, brought it hard at such a moment! What to do, I show the washed sample. The chief's eyes widened. No heh… myself. Calls everyone on the radio. A crowd of specialists arrive at the place. The chief yells obscenities, someone makes excuses. Quietly standing aside, I understand that my place is “bye-bye”. And so it happened. For three days, bulldozers and an excavator opened the board. Under the landslide that collapsed in ancient times, the old river bed was opened. For thousands of years, a stream flowing from the opposite bank has turned a small section of the channel into a real "Eldorado". They took an additional fifteen kilograms from there. I thought the prize was in my pocket! But it was not there.

Having drawn conclusions about the degree of greed of the boss, I am looking for new places. I ask the locals where the "predators" hunted here, no one knows? They are silent, smiling slyly. Having traveled dozens of kilometers in a month, I decided to pick mushrooms. Having found several aspen mushrooms, I pay attention to the high terrace on the starboard side. I go up, pushing my way through thickets of dwarf birch, and find an exhausted landfill overgrown with larch trees 10 cm in diameter. Judging by the thickness of the trees, it was practiced 40-50 years ago, when there were no heavy bulldozers, and even to the water - oh, how far! Seems like this might be interesting. A day later I come with a metal detector. Clambered, it seemed, would be everything. The heat is at forty degrees, and I did not take water with me. It is necessary to dump, apparently empty. Sitting down to rest in the shade, I notice a few rusty cans of stew. Banks are old, from the seventies. Having carefully examined the neighboring bushes, I find the parking lot of the "predators". A mountain of cans testifies that they have been picking here for more than one year. Again, with a metal detector, I begin to carefully examine the surroundings. In one place, time-worn traces of "burrows". Is there really nothing here? A clear signal interrupted his thoughts and made his heart break into a gallop. Almost on the surface of a nugget of 20 grams! Further more. After two hours of cleaning from rubble, a depression clogged with a riverbed was exposed. Putting the device aside, I take it apart with a scraper and pick out small nuggets with my hands. Fatigue takes its toll and I, feeling a pleasant heaviness in my pocket, go to the base.

Three weeks of going to one place could not go unnoticed. In order to avoid trouble, he is forced to give up his gold plantation. The chief takes the geologist, and the three of us in his jeep drive up to the foot of the terrace…. A day later, Kamatsu swept clean all the young forest down and paved the way. Three weeks later, the device was already at the site and washing began. I managed to run there several more times with a metal detector and collect more than a dozen nuggets. The largest of them pulled 55 grams. The news that a 500-gram handsome man was found during the first shooting with the device made me only sigh heavily ...

Experienced miners can tell hundreds and hundreds of such stories. But there are fewer and fewer people who want to mine gold, and not at all because people do not need money. This is due to the fact that, according to our laws, the extraction of gold from non-industrial manifestations is not provided for and is considered a crime. It is also illegal to sell gold. If the police stop you, you will be in big trouble. Our people are mostly law-abiding and do not want to break the laws. Moreover, the police in our country are often angry and cruel.

It is possible to legally mine gold only under an agreement with an enterprise that has a license. But there are few gold mining enterprises and they are located far away, mostly in the Magadan region and Yakutia. To go to them, you need money and time, but it is not at all a fact that you will be hired. In order to work legally, I have to conclude contracts every year, and, without exaggeration, this is the most difficult thing in gold mining. Most directors do not want to let outsiders into their site, and they can be understood.

Of course, gold can be found closer. I know many good places where industrial gold mining has long been completed and there are no enterprises. But it will be illegal, since there is no one to conclude an agreement with, and working without an agreement, you become a criminal according to our laws. The territory of Russia is huge, gold mining enterprises, all together, have licenses for a very small share of it, probably 0.01%. The rest of the territory is inaccessible. Somehow this is wrong!

I read with envy how in other countries people take a tray or a metal detector and freely search for gold near the house or in any free area. For example, in Australia, a license for non-industrial mining is sold over the Internet to anyone. The cost of a license for 2 years is 1,000 rubles ($30). The license indicates the region of work (for example, the state of Victoria) and specifies restrictions: farmland, private property, land allotments of mining enterprises, as well as a list of equipment that can be used for gold mining (tray, mini-dredge with a nozzle up to 100 mm, etc.).

If we in Russia also provided for the simple sale of licenses for prospecting and non-industrial gold mining (as in Australia), then every Russian would have the opportunity to earn extra money in his spare time. Schoolchildren and students could earn extra money during the summer holidays, pensioners had an addition to their small pension due to gold mining. So it was before in Russia and in the USSR. A gold miner was considered to be one who, in his free time, worked as a gold miner.

As for the increase in crime due to the free mining of gold, they say, in my opinion, in vain. If people are given the opportunity to earn money, there will be fewer crimes.

Many Russians who have an adventurous temperament, having seen enough on TV how miners are looking for gold in the US and Australia, light up with the idea of ​​becoming miners. This is doable, although difficult.

If earlier in Russia there was a ban on gold mining by private individuals, then starting from 2017 it was lifted, and private traders were again allowed to search for the precious metal. This was done to support small businesses in remote areas - primarily in Chukotka, Yakutia, the Far East, the Krasnoyarsk Territory and the Altai Republic. The government expects that private traders will be able to additionally replenish the Russian treasury by 300 kilograms of gold per year.

Law is law

The extraction of the precious metal in Russia is regulated by Law No. 2395-1 "On Subsoil" and Law No. 41-FZ "On Precious Metals and Precious Stones" of 1998.

According to the amendments to the law, individuals must be registered as individual entrepreneurs. They are eligible for a license to develop small vacant lots up to 150,000 square meters for a period of five years. There are a number of restrictions: they do not have the right to hire other people, they do not have the right to use heavy equipment on the site, gold mining must be carried out manually - metal detectors, hand dredges, pans. The use of heavy equipment - bulldozers, drilling machines is not allowed.

Gold mining by private traders is allowed only where there is no industrial gold mining, and the amount of precious metal mined on the site should not exceed ten kilograms.

Prospectors do not have the right to go deeper into the ground than five meters. Thus, ore gold almost completely remains out of sight of private traders - they can only mine native gold or mine gold sand by washing.

Illegal prospecting

Until now, almost 10% of gold production in Russia falls on the "black" sector, and there is a risk of meeting "black" miners in the taiga. This type of activity is prohibited, but in remote parts of the country it can be overlooked, and this should be remembered. In some places, there are entire illegal settlements of "black" gold miners.

Their actions fall under Article No. 191 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to which the illegal circulation of precious metals, their transportation, buying or selling on a large scale is punishable by forced labor or imprisonment for up to five years with a fine of up to 500,000 rubles or withholding wages for three years. If the crime is committed by a group of persons, then the term increases to seven years, and the fine - up to 1,000,000 rubles. A particularly large amount of gold mining is mining from 1,500,000 rubles. In other cases, you can get off with a fine or a suspended sentence.

Criminal liability will also appear in the event that a miner inadvertently or deliberately invades someone else's site, that is, encroaches on the property of another miner or company.

Goes official way

Information about free plots can be found in the offices of the Rosnedra agency, a federal agency that maintains cadastral records and issues licenses for the extraction of minerals, including precious stones and gold. Agency offices are located in almost all regional centers of Russia. After reviewing the proposed plots, you need to choose the one that seems most promising to you, pay a state fee of 7,500 rubles and submit an application. There are no auctions or competitions for private traders. The answer, in theory, should come within 30 days.

Of course, there may be some pitfalls here. Beginners are unlikely to be allowed to work in good areas. There are firms that provide services for obtaining a license, their services are estimated at 100,000–200,000 rubles, which indicates that their services are used, otherwise such firms simply would not exist.

However, there is a way to become a prospector without obtaining a license: to do this, you need to conclude an agreement with a gold mining company and, for example, get from them, for a certain percentage, the opportunity to work on the dumps of the enterprise or where gold is not enough for an industrial mining method, but still a lot for a private trader.

However, here, most likely, there are difficulties: most likely, such mining goes to affiliated persons, for example, former employees of the enterprise or former partners, and it is difficult for a newcomer to get there.

As far as can be judged from the replicas of the miners themselves on the Internet, the majority of private traders are dissatisfied with the new law - many hoped that the “free delivery” of gold by miners to state buyers would be allowed, that is, the method by which gold miners pay taxes already upon mining the precious metal.

If you managed to get a license, it's too early to rejoice - firstly, most of the sites are really in remote places, where "a heifer and a ruble are transported." Secondly, in addition to income tax, you will have to pay a mineral extraction tax. Thirdly, you yourself will have to worry about gold exploration in the chosen area - it may not be there, and you will be in a burnout.

Well, then you should remember that you yourself will have to worry about your own safety, protect yourself from bears, and the mined gold from people. Mosquitoes, midges, ticks, animals, night colds, spending the night in a headscarf, meeting unpleasant people, quarrels with locals, possibly snowfalls and a very short season are waiting for you, because in the north summer lasts only three months: it starts in June and ends at the end of August.

But if the difficulties only fuel the desire to get rich, and you are healthy, enthusiastic and, most importantly, you know geology well, you can try.

The territory of the Russian Federation boasts huge deposits of gold. The history of precious metal mining goes back 200 years. Most of the "gold sources" have long been processed by legal entities. Nevertheless, small or unknown locations are still not assigned to anyone. In geology, there is a term "manifestation of gold", which means an insignificant or chaotic arrangement of gold. Despite the small size, the profit received from mining can be very good, since the ratio of metal to soil and slag is different everywhere.

Gold mining in Russia

According to the constitution of the Russian Federation, all the wealth provided by nature belongs to people. But the number of these people is strictly limited. Large enterprises and corporations are mining gold on a huge scale, leaving no chance for new companies to enter the market. In order for a novice businessman to enter the business, he needs to provide a license, without which the extraction and sale of metal will fall under Article 191 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Changes in laws. Gold mining for individual entrepreneurs and individuals

From the moment when the legislative framework was amended, private individuals were allowed to mine gold, only in those regions where there is no industrial mining. We are also talking about the extraction of valuable minerals, diamonds, and other treasures. The Law on Precious Metals and Minerals does not provide for the right of such mining to private individuals who have the status of an individual entrepreneur without registering a legal entity, but only to enterprises.

Gold mining by private traders can be carried out in volumes that are not comparable to industrial ones. In other words, an IP can mine host rocks, dumps, waste from mining corporations, substandard ore, decommissioned reserves, deposits of ores and golden sands of loose or primary type.

Federal law relating to precious metals and stones should regulate unrecorded and tax-free gold mining. However, the willers, which are private traders, can hardly compete with large firms. Individual entrepreneurs can work in areas where large-scale mining has already been established or the fact of the presence of gold is in doubt.

Gold mining by individual entrepreneurs in registered areas, on the other hand, makes sense. The amount of metal in them is relatively small. To use industrial facilities for the extraction of 10 grams of ore, at least, is not profitable. But individuals should have quick access to subsoil, benefits and discounts when calculating taxes and fees.

Metal mining is different from product manufacturing or marketing. Even if all conditions are met, there may simply be no metal in the ground. On this side, mining is a very risky business.

Why was mining allowed to private traders?

In the Magadan region, one of the richest in gold resources, there are many abandoned or exhausted sources. If private traders are allowed to mine in these areas, the problems with the creation of new jobs in the region can be solved.

According to statistics from the administration of the Magadan region, approximately 1,500 citizens are employed in the gold mining industry and have ever had such experience. Gold deposits are approximately 900 kg. For large companies, such "extraction" is not very profitable - in rich regions, such a catch can be obtained in a month.

How to get a gold mining license

The license for gold mining in the Russian Federation was issued only to legal entities. Individuals were forbidden to withdraw metal from the bowels. This provision is regulated by Article 191 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. For gold mining, registration of an LLC or OJSC was required.

This was the case until 2016. At the initiative of Dmitry Medvedev, amendments were made to the legislative framework, according to which private individuals can also obtain a license.

Since the soil from which metals are extracted belongs to the state, the issuance of permits is included in the list of duties of the state agency RosNedra.

It has branches and divisions, such as CenterSibNedra, BuryatZoloto. In some cases, the Ministry of Nature of the Russian Federation is involved in the process of issuing a license. It is responsible for auctions for the rights to develop especially large deposits. Thus, in 2016, the Ministry of Natural Resources decided the fate of Sukhoi Log (one of the largest gold sources in Russia). When buying an enterprise for the extraction of gold or precious sands, you can not get a license, but re-register the old one in your name.

A license for individuals is issued only for those places where less than 10 kilograms of gold raw materials are contained.

Features of a license for private owners

If only gold mining is planned, then the license term will be no more than 20 years.

If, in addition to mining, geological research and soil analysis take place, the period may be 25 years. It is easy to calculate that a license for exploration of a geological type without the possibility of gold mining is issued for 5 years. All of the above applies to legal entities. For individuals, the license term is 5 years, and they are also subject to restrictions on the choice of a site for production. It is also prohibited to use powerful equipment (bulldozers, drilling machines). The motivation for this restriction remains a mystery, because the more gold privateers mine, according to the license, the greater the tax fee will be paid. For individuals, this is a good income, while for industry leaders it is a “small fish”.

The cost of a license for individuals

The price of a gold mining license depends on the method of obtaining it. There are a number of companies that provide document processing services for only 100-200 thousand rubles.

Only material resources are required from the client, all other concerns are decided by the company providing services. If gold is mined from ore, $15-20 million will be required. Against the background of such a contribution, 100 thousand rubles does not seem like such a big sum. Such a high entry threshold allows mining only for those who clearly see the goal and go to it, weeding out scammers and one-day firms.

How to save?

If you apply for a license yourself, providing all the documents, running through the authorities, the cost will be 7,500 rubles. Re-registration will cost 750 rubles. It should be understood that in this case the terms will be much higher, since there is no well-established algorithm and the shortest path to obtaining documentation has not been worked out (as with professional agencies).

Major gold mines and deposits in Russia

Fields under development

Unlike those described above, such sites are located mainly in depressions and occur in Cretaceous and Jurassic sedimentary massifs, sandstones, conglomerates, and mudstones. These veins are located in powerful cracks and fault zones and represent chalcedonic quartz with kaolin and carbonate inclusions. Less often, such places are found in granite.

Low-temperature veins usually do not form alluvial gold deposits, so identifying industrial landfills involves certain difficulties, especially since the veins themselves are hidden under heavy loose soil formations.

Gold in such regions is finely dispersed, of low purity, green or bluish in color and almost imperceptible to human vision.

Stockwork deposits

When the aurum is associated with quartz or sulphides dispersed in fissures in the form of a series of thin veins or in the form of fine inclusions in the rock, such places are called stockwork. They can contain both high and low temperature minerals. Stockwork deposits are usually large, measured in kilometers. It is also profitable to process such areas, since open mining can be organized.

History of gold mining in Russia

Gold mining in the Russian Federation for private individuals was banned in 1954. During Stalin's time, working in this area was a little easier. The state provided additional payments for gold seekers, the right to develop the richest gold mines was given. To intensify labor, housing, vouchers to sanatoriums and resorts, etc. were issued.

Before the Great Patriotic War, every adult citizen without a criminal record could be engaged in gold mining. About 120 thousand gold diggers were employees of non-state enterprises.

Government revenue before and after the amendment

Large companies mined enough gold to cover the needs of the state, and even export part of it abroad. However, small deposits still made up a significant part, but their location was irrational for the organization of large enterprises in each individual area.

After the adoption of the law, a new type of gold mining appeared - “mobile”. Private organizations act faster, are able to travel long distances, act locally, because they do not use bulky equipment and are not tied to one point. State income for 2 years, after the adoption of the law, has grown by about 21%, which is a lot for such a short period.

World gold mining and the role of Russia in it

In 2009, Russia ranked 4th in the world, its share was only 7.2% of the total amount of gold mined in the world. At the moment, Russia is in second place, with an indicator of 11.4% and a volume of 402 tons of gold per year.

The amount of gold as a political tool

The value of money is provided by the gold reserve, being its equivalent and a convenient tool for barter and trade relations. The crisis of 2007 showed how much the position of the country, whose currency is the most popular in the world, can change. However, the price of gold did not fall at all, but rather rose slightly. If you look at the chart on a 100-year scale, you can see that the price of gold fluctuated sometimes, but in general, the upward trend is positive.

Prospects for the extraction of precious metals

As mentioned above, gold is the backbone of today's economy. Every year it is appreciated more and more. The jewelry industry is one of the most profitable business areas today, and the products and products they provide are a status and expensive gift. This has been the case from time immemorial, and even in the age of industrial states and high information technologies, the tradition has retained its relevance. And now, with the passage of amendments to the law, everyone can try themselves as a gold digger at an amateur level, or pave the way to the top of the most expensive industry in the world.