Russia may face with a shortage of gold and some other strategic commercial minerals during the next 20 years, which is mainly due to the decline of the volume of exploration works in the country in recent years.
In the case of gold, the predicted growth of gold production in Russia up to 350 tonnes per year may result in the gradual depletion of gold reserves in Russia already by 2035, taking into account even projected resources.
This will be mainly due to lack of attention to the technological aspects of gold production in Russia, as well as the reduction of exploration works in recent years, because of the economic crisis in the country.
In the case of production methods, due to poor technologies, the losses of gold during ore processing usually reach 27%.
At the beginning of 2014 there were 5935 gold fields in Russia, including 515 primary and 5420 placer gold mines, while their total reserves are estimated at 12,900 tonnes.
During the period of 1991-2014 gold mining in Russia was mostly focused on the best primary gold mines that were initially during the Soviet period, paying insufficient attention to the development of new gold mines.
In the meantime, the Russian government is aware of the current situation in the industry and is considering measures of its solution.
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