​The richest mineral resource base of Russia is concentrated in the Republic of Buryatia. More than 700 deposits are concentrated on the territory of the republic. The subsoil contains 95.9% of our country's balance reserves of thallium, 92.8% of jade, 48.8% of zinc, 35% of cadmium, 32.3% of molybdenum, 24.4% of lead, 20.4% of tungsten, 16.3 pyrite sulfur, 16.3% fluorite, 13% apatite, 11.3% beryllium, 8% silver, 6.5% uranium. Employee Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences Evgeniy Kislov spoke about mining in the region, about the problems of the industrial sector, as well as his proposals for getting out of the current situation.

In 2015, 6,447 kilograms of gold were mined in Buryatia; in 2016, this figure was 5,890 kilograms. At the end of 2017, almost 5,678 kilograms of gold were mined in your region. What are the reasons for the decline in production?

There are several reasons for the decline. The main share of gold production comes from the Buryatzoloto company (part of Nordgold) at the Irokindinsky mine in the Muisky district and the Zun-Kholbinsky mine in the Okinsky district. The reasons for the decline are the unpreparedness of inventories. The most accessible reserves with the highest contents have already been depleted. And the involvement of poor, hard-to-reach ores in the exploitation increases the cost. In Buryatia, hopes were pinned on other primary deposits, but only Kedrovskoye in the Muisky district (the Zapadnaya Prospecting Artel) is being mined with real results. The rest are mothballed, not put into operation or produce an insignificant amount of metal. As for alluvial deposits, they are largely depleted. Unexplored, poor and hard-to-reach placers are not involved in exploitation.

- Can we expect an increase in the production of ore gold in the coming years?

Can. "Buryatzoloto" conducts exploration of rich deposits of existing mines and explores the adjacent territory. AS "Zapadnaya" is consistently increasing production. Certain hopes are associated with the arrival of JSC Druza in Buryatia, which intends to invest in the primary deposits of the Okinsky region.

In 2017, the volume of production from placers amounted to 2,068 kilograms of gold. Are there prospects for the development of placer gold mining in the republic? Does the resource base allow increasing production volumes?

There are not enough supplies. Rich and accessible placers have been mined. In recent years, new gold alluvial areas have appeared, for example, Eravninsky. In addition, in the last three years, dozens of licenses for geological exploration have been issued by application. Including prospecting, evaluation and exploration of placer gold. In some areas, reserves have already been protected and mining licenses have been issued. As a result, gold production should increase. The adoption of a law on free-flowing will contribute to the growth of indicators, as well as simplification of the procedure for issuing licenses for small and unattractive placers, but this depends on the federal center.

- According toMinistry of Natural Resourcesrepublics, the undistributed fund has four deposits in the territoryOkinskydistrict -Barun‐​ Kholbinskoe, Watershed, Dynamite andTainskoe with total reserves of gold category A + B + C1 - 6,021 kilograms and category C2 - 5,369 kilograms. Their development would contribute to the growth of gold mining. What are the reasons for low activity subsoil usersin terms of ore gold auctions?

For indigenous gold, these are not such large reserves. At the same time, in Buryatia there were examples of unconfirmed reserves, which brought large losses to subsoil users, and Khuzhir Enterprise was forced to mothball the Konevinskoye field. In addition, the development of primary deposits requires large investments with a slow payback. The deposits located in the Okinsky district are poorly provided with infrastructure; the local population and authorities do not see the benefits of mining activities, and are trying to prevent its development by declaring a territory of traditional natural resource use.

Part of the territory of Buryatia is located in a nature conservation zone. Thus, the MVS corporation was forced to surrender its license for Kholodninskoe deposit because she was unable to develop it. Are there many similar sites in the region? Are there ways to solve the problem?

If we are talking about specially protected natural areas, the situation here is the same as throughout Russia. On the territory of the republic there are: Barguzinsky, Baikalsky, Dzherginsky nature reserves, Transbaikalsky and Tunkinsky national parks, Frolikhinsky, Altacheysky and Kabansky federal reserves, a network of regional and local protected areas. But several environmental protection zones have been created around Baikal with a set of prohibitions on economic activity: a World Natural Heritage site, the central ecological zone of the Baikal Natural Territory (CEZ BNT), a water protection zone, a fish protection zone. Moreover, each territory has its own scheme of prohibitions and they contradict each other. The Kholodninskoye field suffered due to the CEZ BPT, determined after the license was issued.

That is, the state first issued a license for money with a number of conditions and obligations, and then prohibited people from working and fulfilling them. In fact, the development of the deposit is unlikely to cause damage to Baikal - the license agreement stipulated underground mining of ore and its processing outside the BPT. But at present there is an outpouring of water from two exploration adits into the Kholodnaya River - no reclamation has been carried out.

Anna Morozova

Many people sometimes wonder where they can find gold. Over the past few years, Russia has been ranked 5th in the world in terms of gold production. For many Russians today, the search for gold is becoming a matter of life and a good source of income. Finding a nugget of gold is great happiness for a passionate gold digger.

History of gold mining in Russia

The history of mining this mineral in Russia goes back several centuries. Russia has been in search of gold nuggets since 1719, when Peter the Great issued a decree to begin gold mining. Back in the 18th century, residents of our country wondered how to find gold.

The precious metal was first discovered at the beginning of the 18th century in Eastern Transbaikalia. The next place where the search for gold nuggets was crowned with success was Altai. But in these places the metal was obtained not from gold deposits, but from deposits of silver-lead ores. It was possible to find indigenous gold only many years later in the Urals. This happened in the area of ​​modern Yekaterinburg. In May 1745, an ordinary peasant Erofei Sidorovich found gold and decided to build himself a house. He showed his friend the gold he had found. A friend worked as a silversmith. He realized that the gold nugget was real. Experts arrived at the site of the find and continued the search with tools. But, unfortunately, they were unable to find anything then. Only later for a long time Searches continued at this location. Gold miners decided to dig a mine, and then the search was crowned with success. A gold mine was opened on this territory, which received the name “Primary”.

“Gold Rush” in Russia and America

In the 20s of the 19th century, when people realized that finding this fossil was a very real task, a real Golden fever. Mamin-Sibiryak described it very well in his novel “Gold”. Since the middle of the 19th century, experts found the answer to the question of where to look for gold, and intensive mining of the mineral began in many regions of our country: in Altai, in the Nerchinsky district, in the Belgorod region, in the area of ​​​​many rivers of Siberia: the Yenisei, Kolyma, Lena, Amur and many others.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the number of gold deposits in Russia totaled 5,800. About 75% of all deposits today are located in Siberia and the Far East of the country. The largest volumes are mined in the Krasnoyarsk, Khabarovsk Territories, Irkutsk, Amur, Sverdlovsk, Magadan regions, the Republic of Sakha and Buryatia, as well as in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.

At the end of the 19th century, the gold rush swept across America. In 1896, the New World was shocked by the news that a large deposit had been discovered in the Klondike region. The whole country has come to where the gold is. From there, in less than 100 years, 390 tons of precious metal were exported, the value of which is approximately 4.4 billion US dollars. Then news of places rich in this valuable mineral overtook America at a moment of deepest crisis. The country was then experiencing a huge number of bankruptcies because the economy suffered from stock market surges. Thousands of people have traveled to Alaska in search of gold nuggets. As a result, the gold rush had a good impact on the development of the economy of Western Canada, Alaska, and the northwestern part of the United States.

Mining devices

To start mining, you need to purchase some equipment:

1. Metal detector. Today it is not difficult to buy a metal detector. They are sold in every city, and they can also be ordered in the online store. Metal detectors vary in characteristics. They have different operating purity, detection depth, device power supply, discrimination quality, i.e. ability to distinguish between metals.
2. Tester. This is a device that determines the content of precious metal in an alloy within 5 seconds.
3. Gold sample. These devices run on electricity. They have tentacles with high sensitivity. With their help, you can search for metal at the bottom of the river and in other hard-to-reach places. If we find nests of gold, the light on the device will signal this. When we search with a sampler, the process becomes many times faster and better quality.
4. Trays. Devices for filtering water in streams in order to determine the presence of gold in it.

Gold mining technologies

There are three main methods for searching for gold:

1. Extraction using dredge. This is a gold mining machine designed to flush water from a river. It is based on the principle of a tray, but there are a lot of trays on it. However, the dredge has a deplorable effect on the environment, destroying rivers.
2. Mining by gravity differentiation. The technology consists of grinding rock containing metal. After grinding, the entire mass is placed in a special centrifuge, in which the metal is separated from the rest of the mass.
3. Metal detector. On average, it is believed that there is only 5 kg of pure gold per ton of land. Thus, gold mining is a rather unprofitable undertaking. However, there are deposits in which the gold content is much higher. You can find such deposits using a metal detector.

Mining with a metal detector

If previously minerals were mined without a metal detector, then in 1996 special devices appeared in Russia, with which it became much easier to go in search of gold nuggets. Like many years ago, people who are looking for gold are concerned about the question of where to look for gold. Many people go in search of gold nuggets every year. If the trip for gold is successful, you can significantly increase your fortune. Today, the cost of one gram of 375 sample is 980 rubles, 500 sample is 1280 rubles, and 583/585 is 1850 rubles. As you can see, gold mining is a very profitable activity. Where is the maximum gold?

The best place to mine gold

Many people ask, is there gold in the mountains? The answer is clear - yes, there is. Mountain streams are a very fishy place for gold miners. Neither the sea, nor the swamp, nor the rivers provide so many opportunities for gold miners. Mining for gold in streams is a very good solution. Metal gets into them from mountain slopes. Lighter and lighter rocks are carried away by water, and gold, due to its gravity, accumulates and forms gold-bearing placers. In Russia, a record amount of gold is found in mountain streams. In search of gold nuggets, gold miners turn to rafts—bedrock that lies beneath the pebbles of a stream. Gold is deposited there. The raft, located under the pebbles of the stream, stores the largest gold nuggets. Above the raft, of course, there is also gold, but in much smaller quantities. The higher the distance from the raft, the less likely it is to find gold.

When searching for gold with a metal detector, the difficulty arises that sometimes it is located so deep that it is not possible to get it with a metal detector. Therefore, you need to choose places where the raft is as close to the surface as possible. Often such places are found in the form of rocks. For example, there are many of these in Buryatia. The surface of the rocks was once the bottom of a stream, but after that the stream created a deeper channel. By the way, it will also be useful to examine the area of ​​rocks above the water at a height of up to 15-20 m. Gold deposits in rock cracks can be easily identified with a metal detector. If there are no obvious rocks, it is recommended to explore the entire stream in the hope of success. By the way, there are criteria by which it is possible to determine the probability of finding gold in a stream. A specific sign of the presence of gold in the stream is a large number of pebbles and quartz boulders. Gold is often found in quartz veins.

There is another technique for determining whether gold can be found in a stream - panning. This is an old way of searching for gold. Panning should be done approximately 500 m above the mouth. Washing is carried out with a special tray. If during washing there is at least one piece of gold in the tray, then there is a high probability of finding gold in this place. But the tray is not a 100% diagnostic method, since large pieces of gold do not fall into it, but only small grains. To search in streams, you need to use more sensitive metal detectors, such as EurekaGold, SD2200, GP3000.

Is there gold in the ground?

Gold miners are concerned with the question of whether gold can be found in the ground. Experts answer yes. Countless amounts of wealth are stored underground. What are the ways to extract gold from underground? First, you can search using a metal detector equipped with a special discriminator, a device that helps identify precious metals. But, in addition to the classic method, some people go in search of gold without professional equipment, relying on miraculous devices like vines. The vine is a kind of pendulum that supposedly changes the nature of its movement when approaching the treasured place with gold. But such extraction methods are far from scientific. Of course, it is better to go on a search armed with special tools and not rely on magic.

Date: 08/08/2015

State and prospects of gold mining in the Republic of Buryatia

A.A. Mironov

Gold mining in Buryatia has been going on since the second half of the 19th century. Until 1986, it was just over 1.5 tons per year, and was produced almost exclusively from placers. With the commissioning of the Kholbinsky mine and the organization of Buryatzoloto OJSC, the level of ore gold production began to increase by 150–600 kg annually. In 2000, the increase reached a maximum of 1000 kg. In the period from 2000 to 2008, the ratio of ore production and placer gold changed - from 61% and 39% to 80% and 20%, respectively. Currently, in Buryatia, most of the gold is mined from primary deposits (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. Dynamics of gold production in the Republic of Buryatia for 1986-2008.

The graph shows a systematic decline in alluvial gold mining over the past 7 years and stagnation in ore gold mining at 4.9 tons. This is due to a number of reasons, which will be discussed below.

Ore gold

15 gold ore deposits have been explored in the Republic. Most of them belong to the low-sulfide gold-quartz formation and are represented by the vein morphological type. Of particular note are the Zun-Kholbinskoye, Zun-Ospinskoye and Troitskoye deposits, where, in addition to veins, mineralized gold-bearing zones have been identified. The balance reserves of ore gold are about 180 tons. The Zun-Kholbinskoye, Irokindinskoye, Kedrovskoye and Pionerskoye deposits are currently being developed (Table 1).

Table 1. Dynamics of ore gold mining in Buryatia

The main mines of the Republic - Kholbinsky (Samartinsky) and Irokinda - operate relatively stably. However, compared to 2004, they have seen a decrease in volumes metal mining, which may manifest itself more clearly in the next 2-3 years. The reasons for this are a decrease in the average gold content in marketable ore and an increase in the cost of mined metal due to the complication of mining and technical mining conditions.

The Zun-Kholbinskoye deposit has been mined for 22 years. Only for the period from 2002 to 2008. the average gold content in marketable ore decreased from 10.2 to 8 g/t. At the moment, mining and exploration work is being carried out at deeper horizons of 1740-1490 m and 1440-1390 m, respectively. Due to changes in mining technical conditions and the introduction of a system for backfilling mine workings at the mine, there was an additional increase in the cost of gold.

At the Irokinda mine, from 2002 to 2008. There is also a decrease in the average gold content - from 11.4 to 7.9 g/t due to the development of relatively rich blocks of the deposit.

At the Kedrovskoye field, despite fluctuations in production volumes, the overall trend towards its increase continues.

This is primarily due to the optimization of mining technology and an increase in the average gold content from 8.6 g/t (according to exploration data) to 9.3 g/t (according to operation data). In 2009 it is planned to increase production to 550 kg.

At the Pionerskoye deposit, seasonal mining of gold-bearing eluvial-deluvial slope deposits and adit dumps was carried out on a small scale. The Nerundinskoye deposit is being prepared for the start of pilot production in 2010.

At the Konevinskoye field, exploration of its central part was carried out.

The development of placer deposits has been carried out in several areas in recent years. In six out of seven districts (Table 2), placer gold mining is systematically declining, especially sharply in the Zakamensky district (from 478 kg in 2004 to 5 kg in 2008). The production of placer gold in the Bauntovsky and North-Baikal regions has decreased by more than 3 times. The general decline in the volume of alluvial gold mining in the Republic somewhat slowed down the opening of the new Eravninsky gold alluvial district. Gold mining here began only in 2005, and already in 2008 it exceeded 300 kg.

Most of the gold (281 kg) was extracted by AS Kurba LLC from the placer deposits of the stream. Stone.

Table 2. Distribution of gold mining volumes from alluvial deposits by region

The mineral resource base of the Republic of Buryatia is currently represented by 225 placer deposits, of which about 40 are being developed. Most enterprises (with the exception of four) mine less than 100 kg of gold per year (Table 3).

Table 3. Volume of alluvial gold production by the main enterprises of Buryatia Most of the placer deposits listed on the balance sheet have reserves of less than 200 kg. The interest of enterprises in such placers has decreased in recent years. The loss of interest of entrepreneurs in placers is due to the fact that under the existing legislation, involvement in the development of placers with reserves of less than 100-200 kg is not economically profitable. For small placers, the same package of documents and scope of approvals is required as for

large deposits

. In this regard, return on investment and profit are possible only after 3-5 years or more. Obviously, areas of business with a shorter payback period for investments are more preferable.

1. Low provision of gold mining enterprises with proven reserves. Most of the previously explored deposits (mainly during the Soviet period) have been developed. The least economically profitable deposits remain.

2. Termination of government work on the reproduction of SMEs. The abolition of deduction rates for VMSB in 2002 predetermined the cessation of prospecting and appraisal work. There is virtually no federal funding for such placer gold programs in Buryatia. In 2008, the volume of budget financing amounted to only 0.3 million rubles.

3. It is unprofitable for enterprises to invest in the search and exploration of placers. Obtaining a license is a complex and lengthy process; exploration requires significant expenses with ambiguous results. Under such conditions, only large operating enterprises can afford to carry out exploration work, most often in an insignificant amount (in 2008, about 51 million rubles were spent on geological exploration).

4. Difficulty in obtaining licenses for exploration and production of placer gold. Licenses can only be obtained through an auction.

In general, obtaining licenses is a very lengthy procedure.

5. A significant period (1.5 - 2 years) of processing permits from the moment of obtaining a license to gold mining (projects, approvals, timber allocations, etc.) and associated costs.

Mandatory state examination of all projects, regardless of the stages of work and sources of financing, “lightens” the pockets of subsoil users by 120-240 thousand rubles at once.

Based on the results of the enterprises’ work for the first half of 2009, we can assume: 1. An increase in production volume (compared to the 2008 level) from primary deposits by 260-300 kg (an increase of about 6%). This is primarily due to the implementation of a number of measures at the mines of Buryatzoloto OJSC and the improvement of the technological process at the Zapadnaya s/a LLC enterprise. Thus, at the Samarta mine, from mid-September, an additional fourth line will be launched for processing low-grade ores with a productivity of about 9 thousand tons of ore per month (up to 90 kg of gold). At the Irokinda mine, in the period May-October, due to the operation of the “summer” line for processing low-grade ores, it is planned to extract an additional 120-130 kg. 2. Increase in the volume of gold production from placers by 250 kg (up to 20%) including the enterprises of Sininda-1 LLC (by 25-50 kg, an increase of 10-20%), Kharasun LLC (by 30 kg, an increase up to 100%), Kurba LLC (30 kg, increase 10%). Taking into account the results of work in the first quarter of 2009, a decrease in production volume at the Zolotoy Vostok-Sibir LLC enterprise is likely in the amount of 100 kg (60% increase). At the same time, the general trend towards a decrease in the amount of metal mined from placers will most likely continue and will not exceed the level achieved in 2008 of 1219 kg. 3. The overall level of gold mining in the Republic of Buryatia in 2009, under the most favorable conditions, may increase by no more than 3%.

The situation in placer gold mining in Buryatia is similar to the situation in other regions of Russia. The need to simplify legislation has been discussed for a number of years. This is stated by the chairman of the Union of Prospectors of Russia, the chairman of the Union of Gold Miners, heads of regional administrations, specialists from enterprises and research institutes /1, 2, 3, 4, etc./. Without the Government of the Russian Federation understanding the essence of the problem and the urgent need for its speedy solution, alluvial gold mining in Buryatia will cease to exist in the coming years, as has already happened in the Zakamensky and Khorinsky regions of Buryatia. The closure of gold mining enterprises results in difficult social problems. For example, in the Zakamensky district, unemployed people found an opportunity to make a living by illegally mining wolframite in the abandoned mines of the Kholtoson mine. 7 people died in gas-filled mines.

Gold mining in Buryatia can be more efficient. For a Republic with a population of not much more than 1 million people, the existing six to seven tons of gold per year is a significant source of income.

There is a real possibility of increasing production volume to 10-12 tons. To achieve this, first of all, measures are needed to attract private investment in the search and exploration of gold deposits. In particular, it is necessary to speed up the procedures for obtaining licenses for prospecting, exploration and mining of placers, and reduce the time required for completing the documents necessary to start gold mining. All this should take months, not years. Then business will show interest in the industry, new deposits will be found, gold production and tax revenues to budgets will increase. The State Duma has received a draft law allowing individual entrepreneurs to mine placer gold in areas that do not have industrial significance. The corresponding bill has been submitted to the State Duma

Russian Federation September 20. In Buryatia, possible innovation is only welcomed According to the draft law, mining will be allowed at waste industrial sites, alluvial deposits and small deposits with reserves of up to 10-15 kilograms of gold.

precious metals

to private individuals.

As the developers of the bill, members of the Federation Council, point out, there are currently thousands of areas in Russia where gold reserves are less than ten kilograms. They are of no interest for industrial mining, but private entrepreneurs could continue to wash the gold that remains after mining the placers.

The development of such small objects is economically feasible only for individual entrepreneurs under the conditions of a simplified procedure for access to subsoil and preferential taxation, the document notes. According to the head of the subsoil use department for Buryatia, Georgy Yalovik, several regions have problems associated with the free flow of gold. These are the Magadan region, the republics of Buryatia, Sakha and Trans-Baikal Territory. This topic has been discussed for quite a long time, for more than a dozen years. For example, what seems unprofitable for large enterprises to carry out some kind of exploitation work on placer gold from technogenic deposits, then

in this case in terms of free income, this will be quite a big step,” Georgy Yalovik said in an interview with Baikal-Daily., according to him, will solve the problem of employment. If we take, for example, the north of the Bauntovsky district, then the bulk of the population there is engaged in the mining of alluvial gold deposits. Also, the adoption of this law, according to the developers, will increase revenues to the budget of the Russian Federation through taxes from miners, increase gold production and remove part of the precious metals market from criminal circulation. By the way, at the moment, illegal gold mining in the country is estimated at more than ten tons per year, which is about ten percent of the total production in the country.

This law is relevant for Buryatia, since there are enough such sites on the territory, said the head of the subsoil use department.

We, together with the government of the republic, have been trying to raise this problem for several years, because it is serious, current problem, - emphasized Georgy Yalovik. – And I think there will be enough individual entrepreneurs willing to do this.

In order for individual entrepreneurs to be able to pan for gold, according to the authors of the law, it is necessary to simplify the procedures for accessing subsoil resources for Russian citizens, issue them simplified licenses to use areas without a competition (auction), introduce a simplified taxation system for them, as well as a simplified procedure for accepting gold.

Now individual mining of gold, silver and non-ferrous metals, which existed in Tsarist Russia and even in the Soviet Union until 1954 inclusive, is prohibited in our country.

Let us remember that the bill is being especially zealously promoted by the leaders of gold-bearing regions. Governor of the Magadan Region Nikolai Dudov two years ago proposed legislatively allowing Russian citizens access to gold mining, highlighting individuals subsoil areas that are not of interest for industrial exploitation. In May 2010, at a meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev, he again proposed making appropriate changes to the legislation, and the president on May 13, 2010 instructed the Federation Council to “work through the issue.”

The law is relevant not only for Magadan, but also for the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Amur, Irkutsk, Chita regions, Buryatia, Tuva, Yakutia, Chukotka, reports the Unified Russian Portal. baikal-daily.ru/news/16/15175/

The Republic of Buryatia belongs to the areas of formation of a new SME with attractive geological and economic indicators and, along with the Irkutsk and Chita regions, belongs to the Baikal gold-bearing region.

The forecast resources of the Republic of Buryatia make up 3.92% of the total in Russia (13th place).

The main share of predicted resources is located in the North Baikal, Muya and East Sayan geological and economic regions.

The balance reserves of gold in Buryatia are accounted for at 304 deposits, including 282 placer deposits; 19 indigenous, 1 man-made and 2 complex.

The Republic of Buryatia in terms of balance reserves in primary and alluvial gold deposits (excluding complex deposits) ranks 14th in Russia (1.95%) among the constituent entities of the Federation. The basis of the mineral resource base of gold in Buryatia is the proven reserves of the East Sayan deposits (44%), the adjacent North Baikal, Mui and Ikat-Bagdarinsky geological and economic regions, which contain 43% of the balance reserves of the republic, in the Dzhidinsky and Kurba-Eravnsky districts accounts for 13%.

The balance reserves of gold in Buryatia contained in primary deposits amount to 53.7%. The average gold content in developed deposits is 16.2-21.7 g/t, in those being prepared for development - 7.3-21.6 g/t. The main share of balance reserves of ore gold is concentrated in such deposits as Zun-Kholbinskoye (Eastern Sayan) and Irokindinskoye (South Muysky Range).

About 30% of gold reserves are contained in complex polymetallic deposits, the development of which is not currently underway.

Placer gold reserves amount to 16.4%. The average gold content in sands ranges from 350-600 g/m 3 for shallow placers, to 3-6 g/m 3 for deep placers.

The distributed fund contains 100% of the reserves of ore gold and 70.5% of alluvial gold.

The undistributed fund contains the least attractive placer deposits for mining – small, remote, low metal content and buried placers. Currently, only one deep placer is being mined on the territory of the Republic of Buryatia. On a small scale, re-mining of technogenic placers and gale-ephel dumps is carried out on the territory of the republic.

Since 1993, the increase in placer gold reserves has ceased to replenish their redemption during mining.

Since 1986, the overall level of production in the republic grew steadily until 2002 (from 1612 to 8170 kg) and then began to decline, reaching 6145 kg in 2008 (this happened due to a decrease in alluvial gold production (since 2004 it has fallen by more than 2 times: from 2982 to 1172 kg). 2010 did not become a turning point (Fig. 1).

In the period 2000–2004, gold mining of placer gold more or less stabilized, reaching almost 3 tons. But since 2001, it has sharply declined.

It is not a big revelation that the mineral resource complex of Russia, including Buryatia, which was created before the early 90s and was highly resistant to survival, found itself in a critical condition under conditions of ill-conceived economic reform. Over the past fifteen years, the extraction of minerals, including gold, has not been compensated by an increase in reserves. Explored reserves have dropped sharply, and their quality has also deteriorated.

Since 2002, the existing mechanism for the reproduction of SMEs was abolished, federal tasks in the field of geology were transferred to budget financing, and the constituent entities of the Russian Federation were practically deprived of sources of investment in the study of subsoil.

Due to insufficient reproduction of the mineral resource base, the preparation of alluvial gold sites for licensing lags behind the level of demand.

There are several capable enterprises left on the territory of Buryatia that can carry out geological exploration work themselves and replenish SMEs (Sininda LLC, Kurba s/a LLC, Vitimgeoprom CJSC). In other cases, the quality of explored reserves is low, since small artels are not staffed with qualified personnel.

Despite the fairly high cost of a gram of gold, its mining has ceased in the Zakamensky and Dzhidinsky regions, although there are prospects there. The predicted resources according to Ignatovich are 14.6 tons, including cat. R 1 – 1.2 t; R 2 – 2.3 t and R 3 11.1 t.

The reserves of the distributed fund are located mainly in 4 gold alluvial areas out of 9 (Fig. 2):

The decline in gold production leads to a deterioration in the social situation of the population and an outflow of labor associated with gold mining. The decrease in gold mining, in addition to the above reasons, is mainly due to:

– with the absence of centralized investment loans;

– with a high level of taxation;

– the dependence of many enterprises, especially in the Bauntovsky district, on the Bank, which is the holder of a controlling stake.

All of the above does not allow mining enterprises to achieve the necessary profitability to ensure normal reproduction of products, so currently many enterprises are on the verge of ceasing production activities due to financial bankruptcy, which will inevitably lead to a landslide decline in gold production in the republic. In placer gold mining, it has been going on for 3 years.

The following are the ways to increase gold production:

– changing tax policy and creating legal conditions for preferential taxation to attract investors and entrepreneurs to the gold mining industry;

– in increasing labor productivity;

– replacing outdated washing and finishing equipment with more modern ones, which will increase metal production by 200 - 260 kg (20%) per year due to additional extraction of fine gold. One of real ways increasing the production of placer gold is also improving the technology for processing gold-bearing sands using highly efficient modern washing and finishing equipment (PGB-1000, “Romashka”, MOD-2, MOD-0.2, concentration tables, various separators, etc.). The use of such equipment will increase gold production by 10-20% compared to traditional technologies;

– in changing the policy of enterprise management from financiers to professional geologists;

– replacing auctions for small deposits (up to 100 kg) with competitions. From the analysis of data on the territorial balance of reserves, it follows that some subsoil users, having received a significant number of licenses for alluvial gold objects, do not show sufficient activity in their development. At the sites declared in the “Explored” column, reserves of ten-year-old approval have been listed for years; at many sites “Developed” and “Prepared for development”, according to the annual TBZ accounting, zero production is listed. It is difficult to explain this by waiting for a rise in gold prices, since gold prices are currently higher than ever, and “waiting” will most likely lead to their decline. Then both marginally active and even part of the active reserves quickly transform into inactive ones;

– in supporting small enterprises during production in fields with residual reserves and reduced quality.

– in providing assistance in revaluing residual inventories, since enterprises themselves usually do not have qualified specialists.

– in the true picture of the objects under licensing where mining operations were carried out.

To increase the efficiency of geological exploration for placer gold, it is necessary to take, first of all, organizational measures to strengthen the geological and technical services of enterprises performing geological exploration, increasing the technical equipment of the work, as well as strict control by the Department over the direction and methodology of work, the quality of work and documentation.

At present, mining from deep placers has almost completely ceased, although they are all licensed (slow work is being carried out in some places).

In conclusion, we can name several gold alluvial areas where it is possible to obtain an increase in alluvial gold reserves: the Severobaikalsky region (valleys of the Sininda, Namama, Ukolkit, Turlikon, Amnunda rivers), forecast resources of the Olokit and Bol rivers. Chuya is estimated at 24.5 tons (Pozdnyakova, 2008); Muisky district (the rivers Yanguda, Kelyana, Sunuekit, the predicted resources of which are estimated at 21 tons); Bauntovsky district (basins of the Verkh Tsipa, Amalat, Kydzhimit rivers); Eravninsky district. In the East Sayan Reserve, it is recommended to carry out a small amount of prospecting (drilling) work at the Samartinskaya Reserve with the aim of possibly identifying deep buried gold placers and transferring the predicted resources of category P 3 (9.2 tons) to industrial categories.

As can be seen from all of the above, the situation in the gold mining industry is difficult, but not hopeless.