Many Russian residents with an adventurous nature, having watched enough on TV of prospectors searching for gold in the USA and Australia, are inspired by the idea of ​​becoming prospectors. It is doable, although difficult.

If previously in Russia there was a ban on gold mining by private individuals, then starting in 2017 it was lifted, and private owners 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 precious metals in Russia is regulated by Law No. 2395-1 “On Subsoil” and Law No. 41-FZ “On precious metals And precious stones"1998.

According to the amendments to the law, individuals must be registered as individual entrepreneurs. They are entitled to a license to develop small vacant plots of 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, washing trays. The use of heavy equipment - bulldozers, drilling machines is not allowed.

Private owners are allowed to mine gold only in areas where there is no industrial gold mining, and the amount of precious metal mined on the site should not exceed ten kilograms.

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

Illegal gold mining

Until now, almost 10% of gold production in Russia comes from 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 may 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 illegal trafficking in precious metals, their transportation, purchase or sale 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 of 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 size of gold mining is mining from 1,500,000 rubles. In other cases, you can get off with a fine or probation.

Criminal liability will also arise if a miner inadvertently or deliberately invades someone else’s land, that is, encroaches on the property of another miner or company.

Goes the official route

Information about vacant plots can be found in the branches of the Rosnedra agency - this is a federal agency that maintains cadastral records and issues licenses for the extraction of minerals, including precious stones and gold. The agency's branches are located in almost all regional centers of Russia. After reviewing the proposed sites, 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 owners. The answer, in theory, should come within 30 days.

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

However, there is a way to become a miner without obtaining a license: to do this you need to enter into 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 an enterprise or where there is not enough gold for the industrial mining method, but there is still a lot for private owner

As far as one can judge from the remarks of the miners themselves on the Internet, the majority of private traders are dissatisfied with the new law - many hoped that the “free supply” of gold by miners to state buyers would be allowed, that is, the method by which gold miners pay taxes upon the fact of extracting 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 “half a heifer and a ruble are transported.” Secondly, in addition to income tax, you will have to pay mineral extraction tax. Thirdly, you will have to worry about prospecting for gold in your chosen area - it may not be there, and you will be burned out.

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. You will find mosquitoes, midges, ticks, animals, cold nights, spending the night in a scarf, meetings with unpleasant people, disagreements with locals, possibly snowfalls and a very short season, because in the north summer lasts only three months: it begins in June and ends In the end of August.

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

Once again, officials in the eastern regions of Russia proposed allowing free development of gold by private individuals. In January of this year, scientists from Krasnoyarsk, officials of the Magadan region and the Civic Chamber of the Trans-Baikal Territory made another proposal to the Russian government. Despite the fact that back in February 2016, the Russian Ministry of Nature developed a corresponding bill considering certain aspects of private gold mining, a decision on it has not yet been made. “Free bringing” remains prohibited for now.

Improved economic performance and additional jobs

Supporters of the project consider the creation of additional jobs to be the main argument in defense of the law on free gold mining. This is especially true for remote regions where gold was and remains the only source of income for the family.

Attempts by the Russian Ministry of Nature 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 mining alluvial gold individual entrepreneurs has for the Magadan region, first of all, social significance associated with the creation of new jobs without additional investments, which will reduce social tension in the region and make our territory attractive for an influx of population.”

The authorities of the Republic of Sakha share a similar point of view. According to the statements of the deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the region, Viktor Fedorov, allowing free gold mining means allowing citizens of the Russian Federation, residents of Yakutia and other regions, to exercise their constitutional right to work, and to legalize the 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 for 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 an influx of labor to the mining regions. From all regions of Russia, people flock to Yakutia and the Magadan region for the mines. In addition, he clarified: “But we need to think through all the nuances in detail: accepting the gold, how and where people will hand over what they have mined, and ensuring the safety of the 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 mining of precious metals by private miners will make it possible to bring out of the shadows a significant share of modern illegal business in this domain. Specialists of the Public Chamber of the Trans-Baikal Territory also believe that by prohibiting private mining gold, the government contributes to the establishment of criminal power and the growth of corruption. And, on the contrary, allowing free artisanal mining 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: “Every coin has two sides. It would seem that allowing the population to mine gold on their own is an excellent initiative that will give people the opportunity to earn money and feed their families, and will 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 prepared for the amount of work that will be associated with free labor, which will inevitably lead to a lot of problems.”

Among other disadvantages of private mining practice, Roman Shcherbakov sees significant damage to the environment and nature. He explains: “Large cooperatives are responsible to the environment and after production they carry out reclamation, which is much easier to monitor than to monitor where and how hundreds of private owners work.”

Shcherbakov sees an equally significant problem that free gold mining will lead to is the increase in banditry and the number of thefts: “Gold found in artels is under guard, the risk of its theft is low. Of course, something leaks out, but the bulk officially goes through the bank. Can we achieve this with freedom? Hardly. Gold will go to the side, to the black markets, primarily to China. "Resellers will appear - crime, which will be difficult to fight, including due to the lack of strength among law enforcement agencies."

The possibility of official employment of gold miners and their honesty in paying taxes also raises certain concerns. According to representatives of the Union of Prospectors of Russia, which previously opposed the transfer of mining permission to private individuals, the creation of a large number of individual organizations could cause a certain “cooling of the industry.”

The Ministry of Natural Resources of the Magadan Region notes: “The extraction of alluvial gold by individual entrepreneurs raises a number of questions among representatives of Rosprirodnadzor regarding control over geological study, 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 work safety problems associated with the relaxation of legislation regarding alluvial gold mining. However, they are confident that such risks are minimized, since “in accordance with the terms of use of the subsoil, enshrined in the license, before the start of mining work, a technical project for the development of the deposit must be drawn up, including chapters on protection environment and safe mining operations...”

The history of free mining in our country

Private gold mining was allowed in our country until 1954. After this time, the conversation about free mining was first raised by the government of the Magadan region in the 90s of the 20th century. But unsuccessfully! At the moment, the State Duma is still considering the law of September 2010, which could significantly change the situation in the mining of precious metals.

The press service of the governor of the Magadan region reported in October 2015 that the State Duma would once again consider the law “On Subsoil” with the necessary amendments, including on the free flow of gold. According to these changes, Kolyma was supposed to become the first test region in this direction. The press service also reported that the government plans to give individuals into development of areas that were abandoned by large enterprises 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 Russian Federation suggested new law, who proposed allowing private owners to mine alluvial gold. According to this bill, individuals can independently participate in the development of gold placers in areas included in the state balance sheet, the reserves of which do not exceed 10 kg. To carry out work, individual entrepreneurs are required to obtain an appropriate license.

This law also implies that private owners receive 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 use of machinery and equipment, with the exception of hand tools. In this case, the creation and approval of any technical documentation is not required. According to the bill, the Government of the Russian Federation will determine a list of regions where the go-ahead will be given for free birth.

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

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Prospector's Tool

Over the period of its existence, humanity has mined 130 thousand tons of gold: 40% of the volume obtained comes from jewelry, 30% is stored in government gold reserves and 10% is used in industry.

1. Washing river sand with a jet of water.
2. Extraction of rock in mines.

Even the ancient Greeks washed gold-bearing sand on sheep skins. The high density of the nugget causes it to settle on the grate, while lighter materials are washed out of it. Along with gold, other heavy minerals (concentrate) also settle on the grate.

Manual washing is difficult and unproductive. It is used in underdeveloped countries, where it is used by prospectors in small placers to mine gold, diamonds, and other expensive metals.

The technology does not require the construction of chemical plants, the purchase of large volumes of reagents, and in the case of metal extraction from river rock, it does not require a crushing stage.

Partial washing is used in deposits, where after crushing the rock is washed with a stream of water on a grate. Large nuggets and inclusions of gold in large fractions are washed away by hydraulic force, therefore big stones examined manually. Washing should not be used in deposits of dispersed gold (with a fraction of less than 1 mm) or in places where gold is not separated from the rock after crushing.

The washed gold-bearing rock is subjected to sizing (separation of gold from the concentrate).

The washing method becomes advantageous if the metal content in the rock is 0.1 g/1 m³ or higher.

Already at the end of the 19th century, 90% of gold was mined by extraction from gold-bearing ores. The river deposits were almost exhausted and were not suitable for industrial metal mining, although large nuggets are still found. Ore gold is extracted from deep layers of the earth's crust, subjected to mechanical and chemical processing.

Black miners at work

The reduction in the cost of obtaining gold was facilitated by technologies for the enrichment of gold-bearing rocks and the transition from closed mining at great depths to open deposits.

The profitability of ore recycling has been increased and metal losses during production have been reduced.

Refractory ores, slags, and surface layers of rocks are used, the metal content of which is no more than 1.0-0.3 g/1 m³. Production has resumed in previously closed mines.

Technologies for processing gold ores differ depending on the type of rock, fraction, volume of gold in the ore, and the presence of inclusions that complicate the production of high-purity metal.

After obtaining a rock containing gold, the metal is separated from the concentrate.

Non-industrial gold extraction methods

1. Mercury amalgamation. Sand amalgamation is used in cases where the gold fraction does not exceed 1 mm. A simple technology for separating gold from rock is to dissolve the metal in mercury, forming an amalgam. After its dissolution, the amalgam is separated from the rock and filtered through a fine-mesh cloth. In the resulting solution, gold makes up about 40% of the total volume. The remaining mercury is evaporated.
2. Cyanidation. The method includes leaching, concentration and a purification step. Gold is leached as a result of the interaction of cyanide with oxygen, the concentrate is removed using activated carbon, filtration and calcination. Cyanidation purifies gold to a higher degree than amalgamation. The disadvantage is that cyanide vapor is especially dangerous.
3. Chlorination. Hydrochloric acid and chlorine dissolve the gold, then the solids are filtered off, the gold powder is deposited on the filter and compressed into an ingot.

An ancient distillation vessel

In material obtained by amalgamation, the mercury concentration is rarely less than 5%. Chlorination allows metal to be purified up to 99%. Hydrochloric acid is highly toxic and requires safety precautions when handling.

Gold mining in Russia by prospectors

In Russia, it is prohibited for private individuals to mine gold. Gold mining is permitted to enterprises that have the appropriate permit at industrial sites.

Illegal mining of metals and precious stones entails criminal liability.

Carrying out illegal gold mining activities falls under Art. 191 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Illegal trafficking in metals, natural precious stones or pearls”, the sanction of which provides for restriction of freedom for up to 3 years. The extraction of precious metal by a group of persons was recognized as an aggravating circumstance, the punishment for which includes a fine of 1 to 3 million rubles or imprisonment for up to 7 years.

Experience of non-commercial gold mining in other countries

In our country, the practice of the USA and Canada, where the historical places of the “gold rush” described by Jack London, are protected by the state and equipped for visiting by tourists, would be appropriate. In addition, Russia is rich in surface (placer) deposits.

Mine in Congo

The report by University of British Columbia professor Marcello Veiga provides statistics on the use of explored deposits. According to it, gold is mined from one of 5,000 deposits. The remaining volume, which is not used by large companies, could be given to miners. The report says that improving the connection between companies and small cooperatives will significantly increase the volume of metal mined.

This approach is especially relevant for Russia, where the location of depressed areas often borders on small gold-bearing placers.

Nowadays, miners are subjected to dangerous work, dying under rubble, without reporting the place of work to the Ministry of Emergency Situations. Artisanal gold mining is extremely labor-intensive and low-productivity, so a small number of private gold miners is unlikely to have an impact on the sector. The use of cheap tools, knocked together in a few hours from random boards, reduces productivity and eliminates compliance with safety regulations.

The result of the strict ban on non-industrial mining is that every year from 15 to 20 tons of gold are illegally mined in the country, that is, 10% of the total volume. In total, there are 400 enterprises operating in Russian gold mining.

At the end of July 2017 the federal law“On Precious Metals and Precious Stones” has undergone changes, according to which gold mining activities can be carried out not only by government organizations, but also by private individuals. There are a number of conditions limiting such activities. First of all, you should take care of obtaining a mining license. Where to go and how to fill out the documents correctly?

Which organization should I contact to obtain documents?

Gold mining is based on the procedure for extracting precious rocks from the bowels of the earth, which belong to the state, therefore, to obtain a mining permit, it is advisable to contact Rosnedra. This Federal body has a representative office in each region, therefore, a trip to the capital to obtain a permit document does not seem advisable. In some cases (for example, when the right to develop a deposit of special status is issued), the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources is involved in the process.

This government agency conducts auctions and competitions. The largest deposit gold today is Sukhoi Log, the right to gold mining here will cost tens of billions of rubles.

Cases that do not require a license

In a number of situations, it is not necessary to obtain a license and go through a lengthy procedure of competitions and auctions. These include:

• An entrepreneur acquires an enterprise with all permits and, if necessary, extends the permit.
• An entrepreneur leases a mine or deposit from an organization that has the right to gold mining.

In the first case, when renewing a license, state inspectors re-evaluate the geological information at the field. In the second case, the work is carried out on the basis of the lessor's documents.

How to obtain a license based on a competition/auction

The procedure for obtaining a gold mining permit can be divided into 5 stages:

1. Independent search and selection of a deposit on the state website "Rosnedra" based on an auction or competitive list.
2. Filling out an application for participation in an ongoing competition/auction.
3. Collection and provision of the required package of documents to the party organizing the competition/auction.
4. Winning a competition/auction.
5. Obtaining the relevant papers.

Permits for enterprises and organizations are issued for different terms, which depend on the type of activity performed. In the case of precious metals mining, permission will be given for 20 years. In the case of combining gold mining with geological exploration, the license right is granted for 25 years. At the same time, the license right for geological exploration will have to be renewed every 5 years.

Individuals receive permission to mine gold for only 5 years. Private owners are limited in their choice of sites, and deposits containing gold reserves of industrial volumes are prohibited for them. In this regard, they most often develop residual dumps after the work of large organizations or not very promising places.

There is one more restriction for free miners: they do not have the right to use a bulldozer at the mine, and they can only extract raw materials with hand tools. Any license comes into force on the day of its registration with a government agency.

Where can you mine precious rocks?

When extracting precious metals, private individuals cannot use mining and geological exploration equipment, resort to blasting, or develop and maintain quarries. For this category, there are also prohibitions regarding mining sites. Where can free miners mine gold raw materials?

• In the Magadan region.
• In a placer site where the supply of expensive metal does not exceed 10 kg.
• On a plot of no more than 0.15 square meters. km.
• At a depth of at least 5 m.

How much will the license cost?

Obtaining a legal document will cost a considerable amount. Thus, a number of legal organizations draw up papers for 100,000 - 200,000 rubles. The customer can only pay and wait. If you register the right yourself, you only need to pay a state fee in the amount of 7,500 rubles. Extension of the right costs 10 times less - 750 rubles.

In the case when a free gold miner intends to carry out work on ore reserves, he will have to spend 15,000,000 - 20,000,000 dollars. The final amount is determined after the auction/competition.

Individual gold mining is booming

Why do private gold miners continue to work despite numerous bans? Firstly, some deposits are completely unsuitable for industrial processing, since relief, economic and geographical conditions make them unprofitable.

The cost of the work performed exceeds the cost of the production obtained. Secondly, there are many mines with a small concentration of valuable raw materials. Thirdly, gold laundering by individual entrepreneurs also has advantages: the low professional level of workers, the use of inexpensive tools. These points greatly simplify the gold mining process.

The new law in favor of private individuals was adopted on the basis of a number of advantages in favor of the state:

• An additional 300 kg of precious metal is expected to be received annually into the budget;
• In the province, gold mining supports small and medium-sized businesses;
• Additional jobs appear;
• The number of residents in sparsely populated regions is growing.

One should not lose sight of the downside: corruption and banditry are increasing, since this industry creates the ground for committing crimes. Only the strictest government control and a clear legal framework can stop all violations of the law.

How is gold extracted from ore?

Non-industrial method of extracting precious metal from ore

The upper crust of the earth contains gold raw materials in small quantities, however, there are quite a lot of similar areas in our country. The industrial method of extracting rocks has been used since the end of the first half of the 18th century. Initially, exclusively manual work was used in the gold mines. River sand was collected into a tray, it was thoroughly shaken under the flow of water, as a result the sand was washed away, and grains of metal remained at the bottom.

Ten years ago, amalgamation was widely used, based on the properties of mercury to envelop gold. A small amount of mercury was poured into the barrel, and then gold-bearing rock was added and shaken. All the valuable gold particles stuck to the heavy metal, which was then heated to flake off the gold. The high toxicity of the substance used forced us to abandon this method.

Among the modern methods of obtaining raw materials, leaching with sodium cyanide should be mentioned. With this treatment, all particles turn into a water-soluble cyanide compound, and then, under the influence of reagents, the precious grains are separated.

Along with ore mining, there are other development methods:

• Recycling
• Placer processing.

Mining machines

Sometimes gold rock is mined using floating mining machines, which ensure complete mechanization of the process due to the dredging and processing equipment they have. These devices are called “Dredges”, they enrich minerals and remove waste rock.

What are these machines for? Raw materials are not always found on land. They develop flooded areas and extract valuable raw materials. They are used in alluvial, deluvial, coastal-sea, sedimentary, placer areas. They are not used in viscous clay.

Humanity has been mining valuable rocks since ancient times. Gold mining is an important basis for the financial structure of any country, as gold is a universal and stable currency. There are currently 16 registered companies specializing in this area in the Russian Federation. The largest among them is Polyus Gold. The main deposits of raw materials are concentrated in the Magadan, Amur and Irkutsk regions, Krasnoyarsk and Khabarovsk territories, and Chukotka.

Recent changes in legislation make it possible to obtain a license for metal mining not only for large organizations, but also for individuals. One of the main conditions for obtaining a permit is passing a competition/auction conducted by a government organization. Individual entrepreneurs are limited by a number of prohibitions when carrying out work.

In fact, they give any Russian citizen the opportunity to become a miner and buy and sell gold absolutely legally and profitably.

The tone was set by Natural Resources Minister Yuri Trutnev, who proposed lifting restrictions on gold mining for individuals. Today, only legal entities have the right to mine the despised metal, which is stipulated in the Law “On Precious Metals and Precious Stones.” It is clear that serious reserves of indigenous gold are beyond the reach of lone miners. But they will not lay claim to Sukhoi Log. According to Yuri Trutnev, “the sphere of activity of individuals in gold mining can include mountain dumps, industrial waste and other types of non-industrial mining.”

It is clear that they will not make a difference in gold production volumes. However, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources, this will help solve another important problem - the problem of employment of residents of remote regions of the Far East and Siberia.

However, we note that two thirds of the 600 gold mining organizations are small companies and cooperatives that produce no more than one hundred kilograms per year. So, if the people work hard, they may well make a worthy contribution to the country’s gold and foreign exchange reserves.

The proposal of the Minister of Natural Resources was actively supported by the Minister of Finance. At the same time, Alexey Kudrin drew attention to the problem of illicit trafficking in precious metals. There is an opinion that allowing individuals to mine gold entails a high risk of gold theft. Most of all, representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the FSB insist on this. According to the Minister of Finance, the owners, on the contrary, will strive to strengthen control over the deposits. True, in order to allow citizens to engage in mining, it is not enough to amend the law on precious metals. A number of organizational issues remain to be resolved. For example, open collection points for gold mined by individuals. And also decide whether to maintain a system for registering each transaction or not.

Alexey Kudrin also spoke in favor of the privatization of gold processing (refining) enterprises. In his opinion, these enterprises today no longer need the care of the state. They work normally and are controlled, there are no violations on their part. Apparently, these enterprises will begin to be put up for auction in the near future.

It seems that the question of where to store money, other than bank deposits, will soon be resolved. The President believes that it is necessary to reduce the VAT rate on the purchase and sale of gold by individuals. So, it is assumed that the population should have an alternative to the dollar and euro by purchasing so-called gold bullion bars from authorized banks. In principle, citizens still have such an opportunity today. But, as they say, buying gold is not a problem, the problem begins later when the need arises to sell it and get money. So, with this operation, citizens are forced to pay an 18 percent tax. We are talking about value added tax.

It is clear that in this situation, gold bars were not particularly popular among Russians who wanted not only to save their hard-earned money, but also to make some profit from it. A reduction, or better yet a complete abolition of VAT for such transactions, could spur citizens’ interest in gold, which is sold both in bars and in coins of the Bank of Russia.

As for reducing the VAT rate for citizens when purchasing gold, there are no objections here, according to an informed official from the Ministry of Finance. Moreover, today the issue of reducing the VAT rate throughout the country is being considered. The proposal to simplify the tax regime for small enterprises in the gold mining industry can be considered controversial. Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin believes that all enterprises should have an equal taxation regime for profits. True, it is possible to introduce tax breaks, the Minister of Finance added. However, the decision to expand the number of preferential regimes is not such a simple task. As the Ministry of Finance explained to the RG correspondent, when providing similar concessions in other industries, they were faced with the fact that large enterprises immediately acquired a bunch of small ones in order to get into the small business column and thus receive preferential tax treatment.

Sergey Pravykh, director of a private jewelry factory:

I'm glad that the authorities have finally made up their minds. After all, I have been hearing talk about liberalizing the gold mining market for several years now. Today, some guy in Magadan with a “black cash” can directly buy gold from miners. And there are thousands of them around the country. Everyone mines several tens of grams of gold per day in the old-fashioned way. If you consider that a gram costs $15 on the London Stock Exchange, you can imagine what “gold and foreign exchange reserves” are in circulation on the “black market”. Of the 140 tons of gold that are mined annually, almost a third is stolen from the mines and sold to the same “black” buyers. The stolen metal is sent through illegal channels, including to Turkey and China for processing, in order to return back to Russia in the form of jewelry.

I think the situation will change now. The main thing is that the state clearly defines the procedure for licensing the extraction of gold by citizens, the possibility of selling gold sand either directly to factories, for processing, or to banks, or to jewelers. At the same time, obtaining licenses for gold mining should not be of a permissive nature, but of an application nature. And licenses should cost a penny, so that everyone who wants to can try their luck. This artisanal work is especially relevant today for residents of the Far East, the Urals, Magadan, and Yakutia - some will be able to earn their daily bread, and others will become fantastically rich. The most important thing is that the state will try to partially solve the problem of employment in remote regions.

Today in the country there are thousands of abandoned, but rich in gold, dumps, unprofitable deposits, where it is unprofitable to work in an industrial way, but for private owners - just right. " Golden fever"there is no threat to Russians, but the main thing is that foreigners do not fall under the distribution of licenses. And there is such a danger. As soon as gold mining for individuals is allowed in Russia, rest assured, Chinese, Mongolian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz citizens will be the first to run to take a turn at Russian mines and will find ways to develop them.

Precious metal went ahead

By the end of the year, gold should rise to $500 per ounce (31.1 grams). The last time such a price was recorded was in 1987. According to the forecasts of experts who took part in a Bloomberg survey, the main reason for its rise in price will be an increase in demand for the precious metal against the backdrop of a fall in major currencies.

16 out of 28 economists surveyed strongly recommended buying gold. Just last week it rose in price by $16.8 and reached $486.2 per ounce. Since the beginning of the year, its value has increased by 11 percent. Until this point, the main reason for price hikes was said to be a reduction in production volumes, as well as an increase in demand for Jewelry and increased concerns about a possible acceleration in inflation.