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 and placer gold production 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.

An increase in reserves growth requires a significant increase in prospecting and exploration work. But despite the presence of a number of promising objects, due to a lack of funds from subsoil users, work is carried out in an insufficient volume, and in some cases it is mothballed.

In particular, the resumption of production work at the Barun-Kholbinskoye field and the start of them at the Zun-Ospinskoye field is currently in question. Exploration work continues at the Vodorazdelnoye and Zegengolskoye fields. There are prepared reserves in these fields, but in quantities insufficient for the construction of enterprises. At the same time, expenses for geological exploration in 2008 for ore gold amounted to 1,479 million rubles, including 184 million rubles from the federal budget. The increase in reserves amounted to 18 tons. In 2009, the volume of prospecting and exploration work for ore gold is likely to be significantly reduced, which will not allow for the reproduction of the raw material base. For example, even the largest gold mining enterprise in the Republic, JSC Buryatzoloto, plans to sharply reduce prospecting work in 2009.

Placer gold

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

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.

Small placers require the same package of documents and scope of approvals as 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.

The situation in alluvial gold mining was aggravated by the crisis of 2008-2009, when the conditions for obtaining bank loans and increasing rates also made it unprofitable to extract gold from relatively large alluvial deposits with explored and approved reserves of more than 300 - 500 kg. In general, there is a general downward trend in mining volumes in all gold alluvial areas (GRA). The annual decrease in total alluvial gold production averages 440 kg (15 – 36%). The only exception to this is the new Eravninsky ZRR, which in 2008 provided production of 25% of the total volume of placer gold.

Among the problems hindering the development of gold mining, the following should be highlighted:

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).

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.

6. Administrative and bureaucratic factor.

A particularly negative role in reducing the business activity of subsoil users is played by the consumer attitude towards them of representatives of various administrative, regulatory and approval bodies. Often the latter consider gold miners as a source of additional income.

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. If the State Duma passes the law, it will be easy for any of us to start the life of a free prospector and go for the bird of luck to the Vitim, Tsipikan and other gold-bearing rivers of Buryatia. For more than 200 years of Russian gold mining history, “black” prospecting is not a new profession. News of taiga riches attracted tens of thousands of fortune hunters. IN

different times

In Buryatia, the history of “black mining” goes back to 1844, when in the territory of the present Bauntovsky district, 7 spools of 9 shares were mined at the Mariinsky and Innokentyevsky mines, that is, 30 grams 216 milligrams of yellow metal. In literally 10-15 years, as Vladimir Kozulin, a well-known local historian of the Bauntovsky district, says, all the rivers, springs and valleys of Vitim, Vitimkan, Chyna, Tsipa, Tsipikan were excavated by gold miners. So it began Golden fever in the Barguzin taiga, as Baunt was called until 1925. A major gold miner in the Barguzin taiga, Yakov Frizer, in his book “Gold Mining in the Barguzin District and Its Needs,” published in Moscow in 1901, writes:

At the Solovyovsky mines, due to the rich gold content, work became more active. The days of widespread mining revelry have returned. The workers went out to work, which lasted only a few hours, in smart boots, flannel blouses and beaver hats, with watches in their pockets and rings in their hands. Some appeared in fox beshmets and silk sashes, bought at an expensive price from the shoulders of the manager himself...

Here, a gold miner wrote about those who sometimes worked as hired workers in the mines for meager pay. But there were free searchers and gold miners in the taiga, working alone or in small close-knit teams. They relied on their own strength, skill and, of course, luck. More than one hundred and fifty years have passed since then, but even now there are many such people. According to the Union of Gold Miners of the Russian Federation, in the main gold-bearing regions of the country - Chukotka, Yakutia, Krasnoyarsk and Transbaikal Territories, Magadan, Amur and Irkutsk regions, and the Republic of Buryatia, a total of more than 12 thousand people are engaged in mining.

"Golden Initiative"

According to the chairman of the People's Khural Committee on Economic Policy of the Republic of Belarus, Anatoly Kushnarev, the law on “free income” is being discussed in the State Duma, perhaps it will be adopted this year. However, until the law is adopted in its final reading, even the smallest handful of precious grains found by the police in a person’s pocket threatens to result in a sentence of two to seven years. This is what Article 191 of the Criminal Code says.

WITH new strength The issue of legalizing the free supply of gold was raised at the inter-parliamentary association “Parliamentary Association of North-West Russia” and the Parliamentary Association “Far East and Transbaikalia” recently held in Blagoveshchensk. Buryatia was represented at this forum by deputies Tsydenzhap Batuev and Anatoly Kushnarev.

Another interesting proposal is to issue permission for gold mining for the population according to a simplified system on dumps, where dredging has already taken place, but there is still precious metal left, - said Anatoly Kushnarev.

"Pros and cons"

The general director of the “Zapadnaya” Mining Artel from the Muisky district, Valery Nazarov, expressed the position of the republic’s prospectors.

The position of the majority of mining enterprises towards the adoption of this law is extremely negative. All positive expected aspects will be offset, first of all, by an increase, I am sure that this will be the case, thefts from operating mining enterprises. We are lobbying against this law and, I think, will not be adopted. I’m not saying that only our organization is against it, this is also the majority of gold mining enterprises represented by the chairman of the Union of Prospectors and the chairman of the Union of Gold Miners of Russia Sergei Kashub,” said Valery Nazarov.

Supporters of the legalization of free income do not expect a large economic effect or a significant increase in gold mining due to this law. But recognition of free income is important in socially, say supporters of the bill. By the way, Chairman of the Magadan Regional Duma Sergei Abramov spoke about this at the interparliamentary association in Blagoveshchensk. He spoke about the experience of the pilot region. According to him, the “free supply” did not lead to an increase in gold production, but significantly reduced social tension.

A difficult issue for the region is the permission of free food. Modern Russian legislation does not provide for the use of non-industrial placers, said the head of the Bauntovsky Evenki district Nikolai Kovalev. - To obtain permission to mine gold, it is necessary to conduct exploration, calculate and approve reserves. In non-industrial placers there are no reserves (by definition), and there are no approved reserves - there is no permission to mine. It is necessary to amend the legislation so that licenses can be issued for the extraction of gold from non-industrial placers.

The northerners raised this issue in March during the visit of the acting governor. head of Alexey Tsydenov in the Bauntovsky district. Not long ago, the Bauntovsky district made proposals to the agenda of the congress of deputies of all levels, which will be held in Ulan-Ude in October. Chairman of the Council of Deputies Alexander Ochirov proposed re-entering the federal level with a law “on the free supply” of gold.

Prospector means to try

In his memoirs, a pensioner, former site manager of the Iskra mining artel in the Bauntovsky district, V.I. Krasnoyarov writes: “After all, it was like it used to be, before 1954, I took a gram and passed it. They received the money right away, and no one asked where they got it. After the war, front-line soldiers themselves organized metal mining and conducted exploration. After all, I had to feed my family. And schoolchildren also worked on gold all summer. From the age of 15, he panned gold with his father, 15 km from the Borovsky site. They used butara, a passageway, to thaw the sands in winter, they carried firewood on horses, and sawed it by hand. The prospectors of former times know how it was. It was a difficult time, but no one complained about any crisis because everyone was busy with business. Why not remember this experience now, while there are still old miners who remember how to do it? After all, this method of extraction also has its own characteristics and specifics. They could teach young people in special courses. The area has always relied on mining. But after working with the equipment, there remains rock in each side for manual extraction. The free supply is beneficial to everyone, and, first of all, to the region. These include contributions to the budget and new jobs.”

Mining tourism

By the way, the main argument of opponents of free mining is: “The state will not be able to control the work of miners.” In their opinion, the legalization of free trade will not lead to any noticeable increase in gold production. On a national scale, this will amount to hundreds of kilograms, that is, a fraction of a percent. And today, without the adoption of a law, a large number of people engaged in gold mining primitive manually. And they are forced, willingly or unwillingly, to come into conflict with the law. Some of them fall under the control of criminal structures.

Most countries have long accepted “free supply” as a given and realized that there is no reason to ban mining. Ultimately, the precious metal will still end up in the state treasury. In the USA, Switzerland, Canada, and Australia, “gold or gold mining tourism” has even gained popularity. For a modest fee, the mines give you a prospecting tray and invite you to try your luck.

Help website
The draft law provides that mining will be allowed in depleted industrial sites, alluvial and small deposits with reserves of up to 10-15 kilograms of gold. precious metals to private individuals. At the moment, there are thousands of sites in Russia where gold reserves are less than 10 kg. They are of no interest for industrial mining, but private entrepreneurs could continue to wash the gold that remains after mining the placers. In order for individual entrepreneurs to be able to pan for gold, according to the authors of the bill, it is necessary to simplify the procedures for access to subsoil for Russian citizens, issue them simplified licenses for the use of sites 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.

10.01.09 12:24

Laboratory soil analysis discovered precious metal in the very center of the city

Soil samples taken from a pit on Borsoev Street, where the construction of the Buryat business center is underway, showed the presence of gold in sufficient quantities for its industrial mining. If such an amount of gold as in this sample is inherent in the entire land of Ulan-Ude, then 20 grams of gold are contained in every ton of the capital’s land.

Scientists in Buryatia do not exclude the possibility that there may be placer gold in the vicinity of Ulan-Ude. According to the testimony of geologists from the Buryat Geocentre, earlier, 40 years ago, during construction, all pits and ditches were documented by the Geological Administration to assess the barrenness and radiation safety. 20 years ago, an environmental-geochemical survey of Ulan-Ude was carried out for the presence of contaminants in the soil, and, among other things, secondary gold halos were identified. But no one was specifically looking for gold in Ulan-Ude.

We decided to look for gold on our own in the capital of Buryatia and took a soil sample at a construction site on Borsoev Street. The soil was sent to the state enterprise "Republican Analytical Center", a certified laboratory that conducts this kind of analysis. The results surprised not only us, but also the laboratory staff. The test showed the gold content in the sample to be 20 grams per ton. Of course, this does not mean that you should rush to mine gold in the city.

One sample is not enough for a serious conversation about the deposit. Hundreds, if not thousands, of such samples are needed. However, the fact that the first random handful of earth contained so much gold can speak volumes. However, the geologists with whom we discussed this issue put forward an interesting explanation for the presence of gold in the sample.

100 years ago, the first map of gold content in the vicinity of Verkhneudinsk was compiled. On it, many honeydews were “gilded”: they showed the gold content sufficient for industrial extraction. All plots were purchased from prospectors by merchants. However, initial attempts to deploy the Klondike near Verkhneudinsk were unsuccessful. It turned out that cunning prospectors, to be sure, “salted” honeydew with gold - they shot left and right at them with gold sand instead of shot, in order to be sure to sell their claims to merchants. Experts at the site washed up “pellets”, and this was enough for the deal to take place. Thus, prospectors made huge money from the increased price of land. The first attempts of merchants to “take gold to the mountain” shed light on the “pre-sale preparation” of sites by prospectors.

What used to be the outskirts of Verkhneudinsk is today the center of the city of Ulan-Ude. Is the gold "salting" of miners still making itself felt?

The story of gold shot and the “swindle” of merchants then became a household word, and all attempts to prospect and pan for gold in the vicinity of Verkhneudinsk for industrial mining were met with prejudice and were stopped. But if industrialists and merchants abandoned these attempts, rightly fearing for their authority in the local community, simply not wanting to look like “suckers,” then the loners, who didn’t care about secular rumors, had their reason. The city was founded as a fort at the intersection of trade routes. The location was chosen from good review and by the water. In the vicinity of the fort, and even on the trade routes, where there are a lot of dashing people, neither a single prospector nor an artel will ever pan for gold. Prospectors always moved away from the “lode”, where there was always a higher risk of being attacked, away from human eyes.

That is, no one has ever really looked for gold in the territory of the capital of Buryatia and in its environs. This tradition continued during Soviet times. Perhaps we should break it now?

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The deposits are located in Okinsky, Bauntovsky, Muysky, Severobaikalsky, Eravninsky and Zakamensky districts. Gold reserves amount to 100.7 tons, the forecast resources of ore gold are estimated at 1311 tons. 56% of gold is found in primary deposits.

Zun-Kholbinskoye field (Okinsky district). It has been developed since 1987. Mineralization is represented by vein-like bodies and mineralized zones, traced to a depth of 1000 m. The ores are gold-quartz-sulfide, the average gold content is 12.5 r/t, there are few harmful impurities. The ores are easily processed using the gravity-flotation scheme. The Barun-Kholbinskoye and Zun-Ospinskoye fields are located nearby. Konevinskoye and Zegen-Golskoye are being prepared for operation.

Irokindinskoye deposit (Muysky district), easily enriched low-sulfide ores. The distribution of gold in quartz veins is extremely uneven. The Kedrovskoye field is located 18 km away.

Placer gold reserves amount to 18%. Most of the deposits are located in Bauntovsky, less in Muisky, Zakamensky, Severobaikalsky, Eravninsky, Khorinsky, Pribaikalsky, Dzhidinsky and Okinsky districts. The largest placer deposits are: Nerunda (Left Mama basin), Vitimkon, Tsipikan, Bolshoi Kavyktykon (Tsipican basin), Vershina Chyny, Myrgen-Sheno.

Production has begun at the Nerundinskoye field in the Severobaikalsky region.

Troitskoye field (Bauntovsky district). Prepared for use. Low sulfide gold-quartz-carbonate ores. Gold is large, up to 6.5 mm.

Silver

In Buryatia, silver is an associated component of 16 deposits: 12 gold deposits and 4 complex polymetallic deposits. 97% of silver reserves are concentrated in currently undeveloped polymetallic deposits. In gold mines it is extracted as a by-product.

Platinum group metals

The most promising is the Yoko-Dovyrensky massif in the Severobaikalsky region, which combines sulfide platinum-metal-copper-nickel ores in the base part (platinum up to 0.52 g/t; palladium up to 3.68 g/t; ruthenium up to 0.34 g/t; rhodium up to 0.48 g/t) with low-sulfide platinum-metal mineralization in the middle part (platinum up to 4.1 r/t, palladium up to 7.8 g/t).

In the Muisky region, in individual placers (Adyan Kelyansky and Adyan Paramsky), osmium and iridium minerals accounted for up to 10% of the volume of recovered gold. Natural alloys of osmium and iridium are observed during the mining of gold placers in the Zakamensky region.

In the Eastern Sayan Mountains, in chromites of the Ospinsky type of rebasite massif, increased contents were noted: platinum - up to 1.24 g/t, palladium - up to 0.89 r/t, osmium - up to 1.18 g/t, iridium - up to 0.34 g /t and ruthenium - up to 0.73 g/t.

Non-ferrous metals

Lead and zinc

Large complex pyrite-polymetallic deposits with high quality ores are Kholodninskoye and Ozernoye, as well as medium-sized ones - Nazarovskoye gold-zinc and Dovatkinskoye lead-zinc deposits. The first three are being prepared for operation.

The Kholodninskoye deposit (Severobaikalsky district) is the largest lead-zinc deposit in Russia (11.2% of lead reserves, 34.1% of zinc reserves). It is represented by three large, closely spaced, steeply dipping ore deposits. In pyrite-polymetallic ores, the average content of lead is 0.68%, zinc - 4.33%, sulfur - 20.76%, associated components - silver, gold, cadmium, antimony, bismuth, copper, indium, selenium, thallium. There are also sulfur pyrite ores. Lead-zinc ore occurrences have been identified in the vicinity: Galenptovoe, Kalakachanskoe, Iokskoe, Rybachye. Ondokskoye, Ozernoye, Kosmonavtov, Avgolskoye, Bolshechuyskoye, Losinoye.

Ozernoye deposit (Eravnnsky district). The most widespread are lead-zinc pyrite ores - 70% of reserves, in which the average lead content is 1.1%, zinc - 0.2%. Spderite and barite mineralization and Magyette skarns have been established. Siderite ores have an average iron content of 30.68% and manganese of 3.91%.

The Nazarovskoye field is located near Ozernoye. Attractively compactly distributed rich ore deposits with gold grades up to 4 g/t.

The Dovatka deposit (Khorp district) is represented by isolated linear ore bodies and deposits. The ores consist of 50-90% magnetite, 5-40% sphalerite and galena. The average content of the sum of lead and zinc ranges from 10 to 21%, silver - 140-165 g/t.

Tungsten

Tungsten reserves are concentrated in the Dzhida geological and economic region in 8 deposits (3 primary, constituting 98% of explored reserves, and 5 alluvial). There are promising facilities in other areas as well. Until 1997, tungsten was mined by the Dzhidinsky tungsten-molybdenum plant at the Inkursky and Kholtosonsky deposits.

Kholtosonskoye field is the most large deposit vein-type wolframite in Russia, the ore corresponds to the best deposits in the world and does not contain harmful impurities. The field was developed from 1934 to 1996. More than 60 thousand tons were produced. Calculated reserves are 32.5 thousand tons, with continued prospects for their increase at almost all horizons.

The Inkur deposit is a typical stockwork of quartz-scheelite-huebnerpt composition in quartz rocks. The deposit was explored in detail to a depth of 400 m. From 1973 to 1996. about 35 million tons were produced. The fields are being prepared for resumption of production. Inkurskaya and other tungsten placers were periodically mined.

During the operation of the mines and processing plant, a significant amount of mine dumps and waste (tailings) from processing plants has accumulated at the industrial site of the enterprise. Of greatest interest is the Barun-Naryn deposit of technogenic sediments accumulated in a tailings pond with an area of ​​more than 1 km 2 . 9.1 million tons of heterogeneous and silty sands have been explored, containing 14,270 tons of W0 3 0.156%. In addition, the tailings contain increased concentrations of gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, and bismuth. The exploitation of the field has begun.

75 km from Zakamensk, the Buluktaevskoye tungsten deposit with associated molybdenum, beryllium and fluorite was explored and was mined during the war years.

Promising tungsten-bearing areas are Ikat-Bagdarnnsysh (Angokptskoye deposit, Snezhnoe and Amolskoye ore occurrences) and Kurbino-Eravninsky (Olanskoye ore occurrence).

Molybdenum

Dzhidinsky tungsten-molybdenum plant at the Pervomaisky deposit in 1941-1972. 30 million tons of ore were mined, from

which produced 17 thousand tons of molybdenum concentrate. The deposit is completely mined, but in the quarry area there are several million oxidized ores with a molybdenum content of 0.05-0.12% stored, which can be exploited.

The Orekntkanskoye molybdenum deposit of the stockwork type in the Bauntovsky district, one of the largest in Russia, is being prepared for development, with 30% of the ores being rich (up to 0.15% molybdenum). Associated - tungsten, beryllium, rhenium, tellurium, selenium. The deposit is being further explored as a possible gold-molybdenum deposit.

Preparations are underway for the exploitation of the Zharchikha molybdenum deposit (Tarbagatai district). According to preliminary exploration data, reserves were calculated in the quarry contour to a depth of 365 m with a content of total molybdenum - 0.091%, sulfide - 0.08%.

The Malo-Oinogorskoye deposit (Zakamenyut district) is a large, steeply dipping deposit of veinlet-disseminated ores.

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