Russia possesses inexhaustible reserves of natural resources, said Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Alexander Kozlov.
“We have one of the richest countries in terms of mineral resources, reserves will never run out. The question is in their economy, in the profitability of reserves, “he said in an interview with Izvestia.
According to the minister, there are more than 300 types of minerals in Russia that are economically profitable to extract, including oil, gas, gold, silver and copper. The Far East, Siberia and the Arctic have the greatest potential for resource reproduction.
In May 2021, Kozlov reported that at the current level of production, oil reserves in Russia will last for another 59 years, and natural gas for 103 years. He also claimed that the country would be backed by gold reserves for about 40 more years.
In October, Pavel Grachev, general director of Polyus (the largest gold miner in Russia), warned that the industry in the country could face a shortage of reserves in 10-20 years. According to him, the rate of renewal of extracted resources over the past few years has fallen from 62% to 30%, including due to insufficient investment in geological exploration. Rosnedra did not confirm the information, stating that at the current level of production, gold reserves will be enough for another 36 years. The department presented its data on the volume of explored gold reserves in the country, which significantly exceeded Grachev’s estimate – 15 319 tons at the beginning of the year against 7500-8000 tons.
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