Despite the fact that Russia is fabulously rich in minerals, little was known about them a century ago. The bowels of the country were practically not studied, and the necessary raw materials were imported from abroad. Coal was brought from England, phosphate fertilizers were delivered from Morocco, potash s alts were bought in Germany.
Starting from the 30s, large-scale geological exploration of deposits and large-scale mining began in the Soviet Union. At the end of its existence, the USSR was the world leader in identified reserves of mineral resources and their diversity.
Today's situation
Most of the natural we alth of the Soviet Union was inherited by Russia, and at present it is the most mineral-rich country in the world. Experts estimate the explored natural resources on its territory at 27 trillion dollars.
Throughout the 20th century, and most of all in the second half of it, in Russia, mining has steadily increased. For example, from 1960 to 1990In 2008, oil production began to increase by 4.3 times, and natural gas - by 26.7 times. At the same time, the extraction of iron ore increased by almost 2.7 times and coal - by 1.3 times. At the end of the last century, when the country experienced a decline and production decreased, Russia still occupied a leading position in the world in the production of gas, coal, oil, and iron ore.
Today, Russia is considered the most important mining power on the planet. Mining, despite many difficulties, has remained a fairly prosperous industry.
The main problem affecting the development of the extractive industry is the weak transport infrastructure and the lack of modern technologies for processing fossil raw materials, which leads to the predominance of raw materials in exports.
Uneven distribution of natural resources
Deposits of mineral resources across the territory of Russia are distributed extremely unevenly. The largest number of them is in Siberia, which is rightly called the pantry of the country. It is here that the main mining operations are concentrated.
Almost one third of the country's mineral we alth is located in Western Siberia, another quarter - in Eastern Siberia. From 8 to 12% of their reserves are in the Volga, Ural, Northern and Far Eastern economic regions. Other regions of Russia are not rich in mineral resources.
Who is allowed to mine minerals?
In order to complynational interests, mining in Russia is carried out within the framework of the current legislation and in compliance with all its requirements regarding the use of the country's subsoil. Granting the right to use mineral resources is issued by a special permit.
According to federal law, a license for the extraction of minerals can only be issued for deposits that have passed the state examination. It gives the right to search for and carry out the development of deposits, other specified types of work. Licenses are issued by the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use.
