Obtaining a gold mining license. Law on liberation License for gold mining for legal entities

How to start gold mining legally? This question is asked by those who want to use their savings and their muscular strength to obtain their own means of subsistence and replenish the country’s budget. When will the Law on Free Bringing be adopted? Once again we began to consider this Law and once again it is dying so sluggishly. Why? Unclear. There are a lot of places throughout the country where no one will ever mine gold industrially - it is not profitable. Small reserves and industrial development will cause irreparable damage to the environment. The prospector will even enter any corner with pomp and, having developed the site, peacefully leave.
Let's return to the topics of my article - License to search for gold on the application principle.
Is it possible? How to do it?
At a minimum, you need an area where there is gold. You know about this site and that's good. The Subsoil Law allows you to obtain a license for exploration and production without an auction, as a discoverer, if there were no reserves and resources on the site and go ahead. Please note that there should not be any reserves or resources on the site. In fact, these areas are not interesting for industrial development. If initial exploration can be carried out by an amateur, then to calculate reserves according to C1 and C2 it is necessary to conduct professional exploration. Either study it yourself or involve certified specialists. Everyone decides for themselves. To obtain a geological exploration license, you will still need a specialist with a diploma. Or maybe it makes sense to involve an organization that has the right to conduct geological exploration.
Before thinking about geological exploration, we will study the possibility of obtaining a license for the extraction of mineral resources on an application basis. First, read 58-FZ dated 04/29/2008

Article 10.1. Grounds for the emergence of the right to use subsoil plots

The grounds for the emergence of the right to use subsoil plots are:

1) decision of the Government of the Russian Federation adopted:

when establishing the fact of the discovery of a mineral deposit on a subsoil plot of federal significance or on a subsoil plot that is classified as a subsoil plot of federal significance as a result of the discovery of a mineral deposit by a subsoil user who carried out work on geological exploration of the subsoil at his own (including borrowed) funds for exploration and production of mineral resources of an open deposit and, if available, reimbursed the state’s expenses for the search and assessment of mineral resources in a subsoil plot of federal significance in the manner established by the Government of the Russian Federation;

In connection with changes in Law 58-FZ dated April 29, 2008, changes were made to Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources dated November 11, 2004 No. 689 “On approval of the Instructions on the procedure for establishing the fact of the discovery of mineral deposits”

We read the Order.

We submit an Application for recognition of the discovery of a deposit and receive a Certificate of Establishment of the fact of the discovery of a mineral deposit.

With the certificate of discovery of a mineral deposit in hand, you can begin to issue a license. It is known from practice that obtaining a license will take no more than six months. Naturally, work on cartography and geology is necessary - there must be a geologist and a surveyor. The license agreement must indicate large-scale bulk sampling and the Methodological Recommendations allow such work. As a result of testing, a certain amount of metal appears on your hands. Where should I put it? Can't legally take it to a refinery. It is recommended that the agreement include the phrase “the metal obtained as a result of prospecting work must be sold in the manner prescribed by law.”

As for geological exploration, a little later, and there are quite a lot of enterprises in the Moscow region that are engaged in geological exploration work. This is no longer a problem.

Amur region. The mine was closed in the mid-seventies. All tributaries have been rewashed many times since the 19th century. Most of the landfills are “ripped down to the magma.” It would seem that what can be found here?

...I begin exploration with brushes in the river bed. Small signs are everywhere. At one turn I notice that a protruding rock while the miners were working should have prevented the bulldozer from clearing out all the sand. Having rolled out the “bolotniki”, I wade to the rock. I raked the river scraper, disassembled the flagstone of the brush and immediately visible gold! Almost every hole contains one or two large gold pieces. Some of them break off and are carried away by the current. I had to rack my brains a lot before I was able to come up with a way that would allow me to collect this small natural treasure without loss. I collected about one hundred grams from a microscopic area.

Yakutia. Modern gold mining site. The artel is large, with powerful equipment. At some test sites, the raft is loose, made of easily dismountable siltstones. Bulldozers remove them to the entire depth of the subsidence, reaching three to four meters! The training grounds are designed like airfields. Here there is only a small chance of finding gold defects on the sides of the quarries. Areas with hard bedrock are another matter. I was lucky on one of them, composed of massive sandstones. Having waited for its activation and completion of production, with the permission of the chief geologist, I carefully examine every depression and crack. The result does not disappoint. After several hours of painstaking searching with a metal detector, I managed to collect 50 grams. Having learned about my loot, a powerful CAT-10 was urgently sent to the test site. An experienced bulldozer operator, remembering someone’s mother, crawled around the training ground for several hours. Having broken the “loose”, torn the tracks on the rock, he scraped up five hundred cubes of “crumbs”. Washing gave the result - 50 grams - just like mine. The landfill was finally abandoned. Subsequently, this small area measuring 15 by 70 meters gave me several hundred more grams. Why not "Minieldorado"?

But here is another place, also in Yakutia. The steeply falling bed of a small stream, narrowing in places to a meter. No technique will work here. The slopes are crumbling, waterfalls and huge suitcase blocks weighing several tons do not allow traditional work. The placer is of a spoon type, very small from the point of view of modern industrial production. The stream is fed by precipitation and meltwater and dries out at times. It was worked out by Dalstroy prisoners with hand tools, as evidenced by PPSh shell casings, crowbars sticking out of the permafrost, and the remains of a stretcher. They say that here a prisoner had to hand over 50 grams per day for enhanced rations! Apparently, the place is not poor. I go through the entire riverbed several times from bottom to top. There must be enriched places somewhere?! Here is a remarkable sharp turn in the riverbed. The flow of flood waters knocked out an entire cave in the rock. From her? at the disposal - blocks measuring more than a meter. I loosen it with the help of a pole and bring down one of them. There are several good signs in the river fish, hammered into the cracks and washed in the sample tray. A few days of hard work, and here is the reward - a trap simply loaded with gold!

Kolyma. Having found a job as a testing geologist with difficulty, with the boss’s promise to allow me to go freely searching after my shift, I expected to receive a significant increase in my basic salary. Twelve hours of hard work systematically testing polygons to delineate sands left virtually no energy left. But the passion of the prospector and the polar night, when the sun was shining with all its might, did not allow me to sleep. And so after dinner I ask the mountain foreman to give me a ride to the thirtieth training ground. The old miner laughs: “What did you lose there? We scraped this landfill like a frying pan last season!” Okay, let's see! The landfill was really torn out “conscientiously.” The raft is composed of oxidized, easily dismountable siltstones of a rusty color. There is not a trace of “lubricant” in the raft. Didn't they leave anything for me? I carefully walk around the test site in a circle, taking a sample from the sides. In one place some kind of discrepancy catches the eye. Having cleared the side and looked closely, I find traces of alluvium in a crack in the rocky side. Having gone a meter deeper into the wall, I notice that the riverman here is not accidental. A few days later, taking advantage of the opportunity, I asked a bulldozer driver passing by to “pick” my “burrow” with a blade. Three minutes and the bulldozer drove off to its place of work. After cleaning, I take a sample with a scraper. Something flashed in the tray. That’s right, a nugget worth two grams. My heart started beating faster! EAT! I turn around at the sound of an approaching UAZ. Damn it! “Sam” came, it was not easy to bring him at such a moment! What to do, I show you the washed sample. The boss's eyes became round. No heh... to myself. He calls everyone on the radio. A crowd of specialists gathers at the site. The boss yells obscenities, someone makes excuses. Standing quietly to the side, I understand that my place is “bye bye.” And so it happened. For three days, bulldozers and an excavator opened the side. Under the landslide that collapsed in ancient times, the old river bed opened up. Over thousands of years, the stream flowing from the opposite bank has turned a small section of the riverbed into a real “Eldorado”. They took an additional fifteen kilograms from there. I thought the prize was in my pocket! But it was not there.

Having drawn conclusions about the degree of greed of the boss, I am looking for new places. I ask the locals where your “predators” hunted, does anyone know? They remain silent, smiling slyly. Having walked dozens of kilometers in a month, I decided to collect mushrooms. Having found several boletuses, I turn my attention to the high terrace on the starboard side. I rise, making my way through the thickets of dwarf birch, and discover a waste landfill overgrown with 10-centimeter-diameter larches. Judging by the thickness of the trees, it was worked out 40-50 years ago, when there were no heavy bulldozers, and oh, how far away it is from the water! Looks like this could be interesting. A day later I come back with a metal detector. I climbed, it seemed, everything. The heat is about forty degrees, and I didn’t take water with me. We need to get out, it looks empty. Sitting down to rest in the shade, I notice several rusty cans of stew. The banks are old, from the seventies. Having carefully examined the neighboring bushes, I discover the parking place of the “predators”. A mountain of cans indicates that they have been picking here for more than one year. I again begin to thoroughly examine the surroundings with a metal detector. In one place there are traces of “burrows” worn out by time. Is there really nothing here? A clear signal interrupted my thoughts and made my heart gallop. Almost on the surface is a 20 gram nugget! Further more. After two hours of clearing away the rubble, a depression filled with riverine was exposed. Putting the device aside, I disassemble it with a scraper and pick out small nuggets with my hands. Fatigue takes its toll and I, feeling a pleasant heaviness in my pocket, go to the base.

Three weeks of going to one place could not go unnoticed. To avoid trouble, he is forced to hand over his gold plantation. The boss takes the geologist, and the three of us drive up to the foot of the terrace in his jeep... A day later, Kamatsu completely demolished the entire young forest down and paved the road. After another three weeks, the device was already at the test site and washing began. I managed to run through there a few more times with a metal detector and collect more than a dozen nuggets. The largest of them weighed 55 grams. The news that during the first shooting from the device a 500-gram beauty was discovered only made me sigh heavily...

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

You can legally mine gold only under an agreement with a company that has a license. But there are few gold mining enterprises and they are located far away, mostly in the Magadan region and Yakutia. To go to them, you need money and time, but it is not at all a guarantee that they will hire you. In order to work legally, I have to enter into contracts every year, and, without exaggeration, this is the most difficult thing in gold mining. Most directors do not want to allow outsiders into their area, and this is understandable.

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

I read with envy how in other countries people take a pan or a metal detector and freely search for gold near their home or in any open area. For example, in Australia, a license for non-industrial prospecting is sold on the Internet to everyone. The cost of a license for 2 years is 1000 rubles (30 dollars). The license specifies the region of work (for example, the state of Victoria) and specifies restrictions: farmland, private property, land allocations of mining enterprises, as well as a list of equipment that can be used for gold mining (tray, mini-dredge with a nozzle up to 100 mm, etc. ).

If we in Russia provided for the simple sale of licenses for prospecting and non-industrial gold mining (as in Australia), then every Russian would have the opportunity to earn additional income in his free time. Schoolchildren and students could earn extra money during the summer holidays; pensioners could supplement their small pensions from gold mining. This used to be the case in Russia and the USSR. A prospector was considered to be someone who, in his free time from work, earned extra money by mining for gold.

In my opinion, what they say about the increase in crime due to free gold mining is in vain. If you give people the opportunity to earn money, there will be fewer crimes.

Private gold mining is still not permitted by current legislation. For successful business development, it is necessary to implement your entrepreneurial ideas within the framework of the law. In this regard, the most important procedure when mining and searching for gold is obtaining a license.

Gold reserves in Russia are extensive; this metal can be mined in all regions of our country, from the traditional Magadan region to the Moscow region. Gold in the Moscow region is found in the north of the region in the Dmitrovsky district, in Vyazma and near Podolsk.

Currently, gold mining is available only to legal entities, although for about 15 years there has been talk about the possibility of allowing a private person registered as an individual entrepreneur to engage in this type of business.

Let's consider some aspects of the legislation in force in this area, as well as existing bills today.

Gold mining license for organizations

The gold mining business and its licensing are regulated by the Federal Law “On Subsoil” No. 2395-1, adopted in 1992, and the Federal Law “On Precious Metals and Precious Stones” No. 41-FZ, adopted in 1998. According to the current version of these laws, gold extraction can only be carried out by legal entities that have received permission (license).

The licensing authority is the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use - Rosnedra and its local branches.

The procedure for obtaining a license is as follows:

1. Search for sites offered by a government agency for an auction or competition (you must search in official sources, all information is publicly available on the website of Rosnedra and its territorial divisions).
2. Filling out an application for participation in an auction or competition and providing a list of documents determined by the competitive (auction) requirements.
3. The winner of the competition (auction) receives a license to develop the site.

As a rule, a gold mining license is issued for 20-25 years or for the period of complete development of the deposit. The license is considered valid from the moment of state registration.

The actual costs of obtaining a gold mining license consist of the following payments:

• a one-time fee for participation in an auction or competition (mandatory payment for registration of an application, which is returned only if the auction does not take place);
• one-time payment for the use of subsoil (at least 10% of the mineral extraction tax);
• state fee for issuing a license.

The total cost of the license depends primarily on the proven reserves of the licensed area.

An entrepreneur who has received a license also becomes a payer of taxes to the budget, namely, makes regular payments for the use of subsoil based on a square kilometer of a licensed area per year, as well as a mineral extraction tax (MET).

Gold mining by individual entrepreneurs

The participation of individuals in business activities related to gold mining is not legally established. The existing bill on amendments to the laws “On subsoil” and “On precious metals and precious stones” No. 429535-5, called “On the extraction of placer gold by individual entrepreneurs,” was adopted by the State Duma in 2011 only in the first reading and sent for revision. To date, the date for consideration in the second reading of the bill has not been determined, but in October 2016, a committee was appointed responsible for the further development of this law (State Duma Committee on Natural Resources, Property and Land Relations).

This special bill provides for the following innovations:

1. Gold mining can only be done in areas that are not part of industrial development. The extracted physical volume of gold in the provided area should not exceed 10 kg.
2. The declarative rule for the provision of plots, competitions and auctions are not held.
3. An individual must be registered as an individual entrepreneur.
4. Development of the IP site will be possible based on the decision of the territorial body with the issuance of a license for a period of 5 years.

This important law, if adopted, could bring additional revenue to the budget, promote the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the regions of the country, create new jobs and increase the number of self-employed people. Private gold mining within the framework of the law will definitely reduce the volume of illegal mining.

Kavchik B.K., Ph.D., JSC "Irgiredmet"

How much money do you need for a gold mining business?

Gold is mined from placer and primary (ore) deposits. It is advisable to start gold mining in placer deposits. They require less capital investment and are less risky for the investor.

Industrial mining of gold from placers requires investments of about 10-100 million rubles, mainly for the purchase of machinery and equipment. Minimum investments (up to 10 million rubles) may be required when working under a contract on someone else’s site. The risks are relatively small: if any problems arise, the equipment can be picked up and moved to another site. At the same time, investments that cannot be returned are minimal.

For independent development of a new alluvial deposit, investments of about 50-100 million rubles are required.

Industrial mining of ore goldrequires 15-20 million dollars, only in the first stages of work: exploration, research and design. The construction of the mine will require an additional investment of about 50-200 million dollars. The investment cycle in ore deposits is long, gold mining will not begin in less than 5 years, and the payback period of the project can be 10 years or more. In this regard, investments in ore are more risky than in alluvial deposits: a longer period means a greater risk. An example is the Natalka field in the Magadan region. Polyus Gold invested a lot of money in it over 10 years, built a mine and a factory, and the price of gold fell in 2013. Gold mining began only in 2017.

How to find a deposit for gold mining

1. The fastest way is to buy an existing gold mining enterprise, which already has a license and approved documents for the extraction of placer gold (land allotment, mining project, etc.). Gold mining enterprises are sold quite often, especially small ones with one or two licenses. The main reason for the sale is the lack of mining equipment or working capital. Banks are reluctant to give loans to small businesses. License holders often find themselves in a hopeless situation: the license must be taken away for inaction, but there is no money for work.

To find and choose a good company, advertise in the magazine “Zolotodobycha” or on this website:

“I will buy a gold mining enterprise”

“I will buy an enterprise that has a license for gold mining”

In the ad text, specify where and what kind of company you need. For example, “I will buy an enterprise that has a license to mine alluvial gold in the Republic of Buryatia.”

After receiving offers, you can choose what suits you best in terms of conditions and price. You can buy the entire enterprise, or you can buy a share of the enterprise in order to receive part of the gold mined or part of the profit.

2. It is possible not to buy an enterprise, but to enter into an agreement with the license holder for the development of its deposit or site. This is the lowest budget option. A legal entity - the license holder has the right to mine gold independently, as well as enter into agreements with other legal entities. The license holder is responsible for processing all documents and permits. The mined gold also belongs to the owner of the license, and anyone who works on someone else’s site must hand over the gold to him. The license holder will pay the contractor for the extracted gold at the price established in the contract or under a production sharing agreement.

To find a company, give or in the magazine "":

“I’ll rent a plot for gold mining”

Indicate the area and your capabilities: availability of equipment, specialists.

Agreements between legal entities are quite widespread. Especially often, large enterprises contract out undeveloped or remote areas to small mining crews with a couple of bulldozers and a washing device.

Buying a placer mine or working under a contract is a real option to get gold in just a few months.

3. Purchasing a license for a placer deposit at an auction is currently less attractive. There are almost no good placers at auctions anymore. There they may offer something like: “the right tributary of the Vesely River with predicted resources of category P2 - 140 kg or “Upper reaches of the Shirokiy stream - predicted resources of category P3 - 40 kg, etc. Forecast resources are “either it will be or not.” And they offer you to find out for your money. After purchasing a license, you will be required to conduct exploration, calculate, and approve reserves, if any. If there are no stocks, then no one will return your money. The consumer rights law does not apply here.

You can start gold mining in the best case scenario in 2-3 years, having spent about 10-20 million rubles on exploration and other work.

Due to the lack of good properties at auctions, it is more attractive to purchase a licensed enterprise. You can get a good deposit with explored and confirmed reserves and quickly extract real gold.

Optimal sequence of actions

You need to start a business by assessing your financial capabilities and choosing an object for them that will ensure a return of funds and a profit within a timeframe acceptable to you. Based on financial capabilities, the main options are as follows.

- If you don't have money to invest and you hope to make money on gold without investing anything other than your labor, then you are better off getting a job in an existing enterprise. Write a few words about yourself in the section: .

- If you have 3-10 million rubles. You can start gold mining under an agreement with an existing gold mining enterprise for the development of a separate area. This is a good option for starting a business.

- Funds up to 30-50 million rubles., you can invest in an enterprise that already has a license and needs funds for production. That is, to enter the business by purchasing a share in the enterprise.

- 50-100 million rubles. allow you to buy an enterprise at the “zero” stage of work or an unprofitable one, and transform it into a profitable one through technical modernization.

- If investments are possible (50-100 million rubles) for several years, then you can purchase a new object at auction.

1. Selection of deposit. It is still possible to find a good placer () now, and you need to choose the one that will allow you to achieve high profitability. It’s not worth taking anything just because it’s close to home. This placer can be complex in structure, require increased capital investment and at the same time be unprofitable. To evaluate placers and select the most promisingis needed, first of all,

Having a geological report on the site and approved reserves is not enough. Reserves can be either less or more than those calculated by exploration. It’s good when there is more gold, but sometimes there is less. An experienced geologist should help evaluate the object and, if necessary, carry out certification work. In addition, the geologist must collect data for mining and beneficiation design.

The choice of an object to purchase must be treated with the utmost care. If you intend to invest millions of dollars in a business, then you should not skimp on collecting information. The more options you find, the more you will have the opportunity to choose a good deposit and make a profitable investment. Give several advertisements, invite an experienced specialist to evaluate the proposals received. Choose the best.

An ore deposit requires investments of tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. To select and evaluate an ore object, it is advisable to involve specialized companies and the best geologists, although this is not cheap.

2. The second most important matter is mining. Perhaps at first glance this is not the most difficult thing, since the mining technology is well known. In any city, pits are being dug for houses and other objects. But placer mining and construction are fundamentally different. In construction, the cost of a cube is an insignificant value, since its share in the cost of a house is negligible. In placer mining, mining is the main cost item. Therefore, a well-calculated and economical mining project is needed, taking into account the specific characteristics of the placer and with economic calculations. Contact the specialists.

3. The third thing is the preparation and approval of documents. If you do not complete the paperwork correctly, you will have to pay fines and you can get into serious trouble if representatives of regulatory authorities follow the letter of the law.

4. Fourth - organization of production, including its financing. Constant control over expenses is necessary so that the money does not run out at the most inopportune moment, and there is enough for good equipment suitable for the site. Purchasing cheap used equipment often ruins the best business. The cost per cubic meter of moved rock mass increases when using old equipment. The equipment must ensure trouble-free operation during the season (4-5 months). A cheap washing device can also ruin the job due to large losses of gold.

Prospector's Tool

Over the period of its existence, humanity has mined 130 thousand tons of gold: 40% of the resulting volume is in jewelry, 30% is stored in state 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, so large stones are 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-industrial 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. In accordance with it, gold is mined from one of 5,000 deposits. The remaining volume, which is not used by large companies, could be given to prospectors. 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.