Dig your money: a tax on mining activities will appear in the Russian Federation

Until 2021, only legal entities could use the subsoil for the extraction of precious metals on a legal basis. But now the issue of amending the Russian Federation Law “On Subsoil” and the Federal Law “On Precious Metals and Precious Stones” is being resolved in order to make gold mining in Russia possible for individuals.

The final version of the bill, aimed at allowing Russians to mine gold themselves, was published on July 31, 2017 on the federal portal of draft regulations. In September, public consultations ended, and the document, finalized based on the results of public discussions, was approved by the Institute of RIA - Regulatory Impact Assessment and submitted for consideration to the Government of the Russian Federation.

History of gold mining in the Russian Federation

This is not an innovation in the history of the Russian Federation - from 1992 to 1998, any interested adult citizen of Russia could legally become a prospector, but later the law was revoked, and mining was allowed only to enterprises after receiving the appropriate license.

Even earlier, in Soviet Russia, private gold mining was allowed from October 1921 until 1956. At that time, there were about 120 thousand people as free miners and members of artels, who accounted for up to 50% of the total gold mining volume.

Discussions about the legalization of private gold mining by individuals have been going on for a long time; a corresponding bill has existed since 2010, however, for a long time there was no progress in its adoption and entry into force.

Why was private mining allowed?

Many officials spoke in favor of introducing amendments to the Russian Law “On Subsoil” to legalize gold mining by individuals. Private mining does not promise any problems for the activities of large gold miners, but it will increase budget allocations. Moreover, the shadow turnover from illegal gold mining is huge - presumably about 10% of the entire production of the precious metal worth trillions of rubles.

In addition, with a significant number of deposits, not all of them are profitable in industrial quantities. It’s a different matter for a private owner who does not incur the costs of expensive equipment and related project documentation. For him, the expected income may be quite acceptable.

State income before and after the amendment

According to some forecasts, at the expense of individuals, an increase in gold mining is expected by 3000 kg. annually, but I do not undertake to make assumptions until a bill is presented on the procedure for organizing the purchase of mined metal and setting the price for it at collection points, because this could radically affect the situation.

But if we rely on data from past years, then bringing this activity out of the shadows will certainly provide Russia with an increase in budget revenues through licensing payments and tax deductions. The official volume of precious metal production will also increase.

World gold production and Russia’s role in it

The total volume of gold mined worldwide in 2021 was 3,246.6 tons. The undisputed leader in extracting precious metals from the ground for the eleventh year in a row is China. Its production in 2021 amounted to 426.1 tons. Australia took second place, albeit with a significant margin - its volumes are 295 thousand kg. And Russia closes the top three – 270.7 tons.

Quantity of gold as a political tool

Having your own gold reserves is an economic instrument and does not in itself ensure political independence. Japan serves as a clear example - having the world's second largest gold and foreign exchange reserves, this country is an unconditional satellite of the United States of America, which is not even in the top ten in terms of reserve accumulations.

But there is an opposite example - Germany, which placed its own reserves in the United States and is now a hostage to the situation and an object of outright political blackmail, unable to return gold to its territory, or even conduct an audit of its property.

One conclusion suggests itself - it is not the tool that is important, but the hand of the master who uses it.

No more than 30 kg

Pull out of the shadows: financial benefits will be added to the self-employed

The experiment to introduce a tax on professional income will continue

As Izvestia found out, we are talking about introducing amendments to part two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. The Ministry of Finance proposes to introduce a new category of taxpayers - miners, as well as to register a new purpose of taxation - miners' activities.

“According to the timing of its preparation, the bill should be submitted to the Government in September and submitted to the State Duma in November of this year,” the press service of the ministry confirmed to Izvestia the development of the document.

At the same time, the Ministry of Finance clarified that the bill is accompanying the initiative of the Ministry of Eastern Development.

— First, it is necessary to adopt a law on artisanal mining that would define this concept. The author of the corresponding bill is the Ministry of Eastern Development of Russia, so its fate must be clarified with this department, the press service emphasized.

Dig your money

Photo: RIA Novosti/Evgeniy Epanchintsev

“For gold miners, the 1990s were a quieter time than now.”

Ex-CEO of Petropavlovsk Pavel Maslovsky talks about a corporate conflict in a gold mining company

As Izvestia was told by the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East, the bill “On Mining Activities and Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation” is already under consideration by the government. Its introduction to the State Duma is planned for the autumn session. The department clarified that today only legal entities that have received the appropriate license for the use of subsoil as a result of participation in an auction or competition can legally mine gold.

The bill introduces the concept of “mining activity,” which means the search for and extraction of precious metals (gold, silver, platinum and platinum group metals) carried out by Russian citizens registered as individual entrepreneurs in mining sites in a non-industrial manner.

As Alexey Chekunkov, Minister for the Development of the Far East and Arctic, explained to Izvestia, the bill legalizes the search for and extraction of precious metals by non-industrial methods.

“Gold miners remain pioneers in the development of the Far East”

The founder of one of the largest gold mining companies in Russia, Pavel Maslovsky, talks about the results of the year and the prospects for the industry

“This innovation will allow non-industrial deposits limited in metal reserves from one to 20–30 kg to be brought into legal economic circulation. Their exploitation by traditional industrial methods is not economically efficient given the current market conditions. The innovation we are proposing will help create new jobs in the Far East and Arctic territories,” said the head of the department.

According to him, it will be possible to obtain the status of a prospector using a special digital service. The bill provides for the possibility for individual entrepreneurs to independently select mining sites online on an interactive map. Such a system will be created by analogy with the Internet services operating in the Far East: for registering a Far Eastern hectare, obtaining land for aquaculture.

At the same time, it is difficult to answer exactly how many people are employed in this field of activity - most of them do not work under a license.

Dig your money

Photo: Depositphotos

This week, the Ministry of Eastern Development announced another bill regulating this area - “On amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation in terms of establishing liability for the illegal mining of precious metals.” It establishes the responsibility of citizens for the extraction of gold, silver, platinum and platinum group metals without a license. As stated in the explanatory note, the document was also developed in pursuance of the instructions of the head of state.

Punishment for illegal mining

Today, illegal gold mining in Russia leads to administrative liability for an individual, a fine of 5,000 rubles, and confiscation of the mined metal and tools.

If the value of the seized gold is greater than or equal to one million rubles, then the Criminal Code comes into force, providing for punishment in the form of imprisonment for a term of up to three years. Illegal gold mining by a group of persons can result in imprisonment for up to seven years with a fine of 1 to 3 million rubles.

Predators or prospectors?

Predators are people who mine gold without licenses or permits. The word was known even in pre-revolutionary Russia, since even in those days not everyone could obtain a license.

The predator's equipment has changed little over the century. These are a pick, a shovel, a tray, primitive devices for searching for gold. Few people use expensive modern means, as they may be taken away. And not only law enforcement agencies, but also crime.

All predators dream of getting rich, but only a few succeed. Even if a black miner attacked a gold-bearing site, selling what he found is a big problem. Most often, the predator himself becomes a victim of crime or envious fellow miners.

On the Internet you can easily find a lot of stories about successful miners who received prison sentences for their efforts, and whose gold was confiscated. A man in Buryatia washed gold all summer and washed about three kilograms. He was caught on the highway by FSB officers. Most likely, the lucky predator was betrayed by his fellow prospectors. The man was given a two-year suspended sentence and his gold was confiscated.

Mining precious metals using a tray is hard work. But he is illegal in Russia. Many miners die at the hands of bandits or in the taiga, left without help.

People do not become predators because they have a good life. Many people are driven to search not by a thirst for adventure, but by unemployment, a natural desire to feed their family.

Legalization of alluvial gold mining could solve a lot of problems.

eliminate unemployment in many localities;
attract people to the regions of Siberia and the Far East, where there is now a massive outflow of population;
increase the production of precious metals in the country;
fill the budget by donating legal gold to the population.

The artisanal mining method is very promising in many regions of Russia. Prospectors often find new deposits; such precedents have often happened in other countries. Many residents of Buryatia and the Magadan region are ready to look for gold in non-industrial placers, but only one factor holds them back - their activity will be considered illegal.

The best option for legalizing illegal gold mining is to sell licenses, as in Australia. A license to search and mine gold here can be purchased online for $30. Many tourists are attracted by this simple scheme, and they go to the fifth continent in search of gold. Australian statistics are modestly silent on how much each tourist finds on average, but any discovery of a nugget becomes the property of the press. Due to this, tourism in Australia is thriving.

Artisanal gold mining is illegal in many countries. Millions of people in Africa and Asia wash sand every day or climb into adits and mines at their own peril and risk. In Mongolia and Kazakhstan, black mining is widespread, but few people are punished for their activities. In Peru, a quarter of gold is mined illegally.

Illegal gold mining is rampant in South Africa and Ghana. According to some reports, about a million ounces of gold are mined illegally in South Africa alone. But miners cannot sell gold at normal prices in their country and go to Zimbabwe. Gold miners earn no more than five dollars a day.

Illegal business does not bring income to diggers and the state in any country in the world. Developing countries that are interested in developing gold mining are relaxing laws and encouraging gold mining. In many civilized countries, they do not neglect artisanal mining of precious metals and sell licenses without red tape and delays.

Which organization should I contact?

The Department of Geology of Solid Minerals of the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use (Rosnedra) is in charge of issuing the relevant licenses. To obtain a permit it is not necessary to go to Moscow. The relevant papers can be prepared at any of the organization’s regional offices.

You should also not expect to get a plot of land in a rich deposit; individual entrepreneurs will be allowed to develop:

Dumps and residual reserves in host rocks,
Waste from mining companies,
Inventories subject to write-off and substandard
Ore and sand that are not subject to industrial mining.

In what cases is it not necessary to obtain a license?

You can do without obtaining a license in two cases:

Acquisition of an enterprise with already completed paperwork for gold mining,
Signing a contract agreement with a gold mining organization for the development of areas under its jurisdiction.

For what period is a license issued?

The document gives the right to develop a plot of 15 acres to a depth of no more than 5 meters and extract gold weighing up to 10 kg for five years. After this period expires, the license can be renewed.

Types of license

For JSCs and LLCs, two types of licenses are provided: a gold mining permit for a period of 20 years and deposit development, which includes geological exploration with a validity period of 25 years.

Does the type of permit depend on the gold mining method?

An individual entrepreneur’s permit for the extraction of precious metal gives the right only to artisanal mining of metal in alluvial deposits.

In order to develop a mine using the mine method, or use modern methods of metal extraction, it will be necessary to register an enterprise and attend to obtaining a license for a legal entity. But, whatever the method of gold mining, the license will be the same.

Where can you mine gold?

First of all, the restriction affects the ability to operate special equipment. Private entrepreneurs do not have the opportunity to use mining and geological exploration equipment.

How to get a license

Even if you have the necessary funds, obtaining a license for such activities is not so easy. Rosnedra announces an auction for the development of strictly defined deposits.

Individuals can also contact Rosnedra and receive one of the sites for development, a full list of which is publicly available. At the moment, there are already about a hundred such sites.

Required documents for individuals and individual entrepreneurs

To obtain a license, you must obtain the status of an individual entrepreneur; for this you will need:

Application for registration in the prescribed form,
Copy of the passport,
Receipt for payment of state duty.

Procedure for obtaining permission

After registering an individual entrepreneur, an individual can submit an application for the corresponding plot. The decision to grant a license is made within 30 days.

Upon receipt of a license, an individual entrepreneur is required to register with the tax office as a payer of mineral extraction tax.

Approximate cost of LDZ

The cost of a license for a non-resident is from 5 billion rubles. The price for domestic companies is lower, but is also expressed in significant numbers, depending on the results of the auction.

Law firms offer intermediary services for obtaining licenses for the extraction of valuable metals, estimating their assistance at 100-200 thousand rubles.

Pitfalls of legislation

It is impossible to choose a plot of land somewhere in the Sverdlovsk region or Karelia. The law applies exclusively to the territory of the Magadan region. Mining by individuals in Russia is allowed only by the surface method without the use of any equipment other than hand tools. The use of hired workers is also prohibited.

How to save money

The main way to avoid additional expenses is to do the paperwork yourself, without resorting to the services of intermediaries. Longer and more troublesome, but cheaper.

For legal entities, a way to reduce costs is to participate in a competition. The state, acting as a customer, puts forward a number of demands, but the absence of tenders allows reducing the costs of organizing gold mining.

Obtaining a license for entrepreneurs

The subsoil used for the extraction of minerals by organizations and private owners is state owned. Accordingly, the use of natural resources requires obtaining official permission. The Federal Agency for Subsoil Use (Rosnedra) is responsible for issuing it.

Registration of the right to develop subsoil is not necessary only when an entrepreneur purchases an enterprise that has all the necessary documents or when a gold miner enters into an agreement with an organization. In the second case, work is carried out on the territory of a deposit or mine on the basis of a license from an operating company.

To obtain the right to use a land plot, an individual will need to do the following.

Register as an individual entrepreneur.
Submit an application to the management body of the state subsoil fund.
Wait for the results of consideration of the application by a specially appointed commission, which, based on the results of its study, will make a decision within 30 days from the date of application to issue a permit or to refuse to grant the right to use subsoil.
If the response to the application is positive, obtain a license.

Unlike organizations, individual entrepreneurs do not participate in auctions and competitions in which the winner becomes the owner of the right to gold mining. But at the same time, individuals are limited in the choice of gold-bearing areas and the use of heavy equipment.

If companies are issued a gold mining license for a period of 20–25 years, then for private owners - only for 5 years. The total costs of its registration consist of state duty and payment for the use of natural resources. Current information on the amount of state duty is available on the website of the Department of Subsoil Use of the Central Federal District.

The state duty is quite democratic

For obtaining permission	The fee will be charged in the amount
For the initial design.	7500 rub.
For issuing a duplicate document, renewal or re-registration.	750 rub.

The total cost of obtaining a license depends on whether the papers are drawn up independently or through a law firm. By independently obtaining a permit, the gold miner significantly reduces costs.

Main gold mines and deposits in Russia

If the practice of private gold mining gives a positive result, the question will arise about its distribution throughout the country, fortunately, there are plenty of promising places. Most of the richest mines in Russia have been developed for decades, and some deposits have a history of one and a half centuries, but the gold reserves in them show no signs of drying up.

The most famous of them:

Solovyovsky mine, Amur region,
Udeysky mine, Krasnoyarsk region,
Nevyanovsky mine, Ural ridge,
Gradsky mine, Chelyabinsk region,
Dambuki field, Amur region,
Conder, Khabarovsk Territory,
Altai mine.

Developed fields

There are thousands of places in the Russian Federation where you can find gold. In 15 regions, mining is carried out on an industrial scale. Another 10 regions are characterized by variable gold production volumes. Most of the deposits being developed are secondary (alluvial). In terms of the number of large alluvial gold mines, Russia ranks first in the world.

Stockwork deposits

Such deposits contain excess sulfides and quartz. Gold inclusions look like thin veins, and the gold-bearing layer itself occupies a large area and stretches for tens of kilometers in length. These mines, with a relatively low content of noble metal, are quite suitable for open-pit mining.

Will free gold mining be revived in Russia?

IA SakhaNews. Scientists and representatives of several gold-mining regions of Russia have come up with ideas for reviving free mining of the precious metal in the country, which, in their opinion, will legalize the industry, which employs a lot of “black miners.” At the same time, a number of experts believe that this measure will only increase the volume of thefts at large industrial enterprises, TASS reports on November 12.

At the end of October, Deputy Prime Minister and Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev discussed a bill on gold mining by individual entrepreneurs with gold miners in the Magadan region. As he reported following the meeting, industry representatives also proposed allowing all citizens of the Russian Federation to privately mine gold.

“This issue has more of a social aspect. Many people who now live in Kolyma would like to do this work, and do it officially. That is, to extract metal legally, hand over it, and receive money for it,” said First Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology of the Magadan Region Elena Suranova .

Currently, illegal gold mining in Russia is punishable under Article 191 of the Criminal Code; “black” miners face sentences of up to seven years in prison and heavy fines. However, the article involves causing damage in excess of 1.5 million rubles. Most illegal immigrants earn much less. According to the director of the Institute of Mining, Geology and Geotechnology of the Siberian Federal University Vladimir Makarov , now illegal gold mining is thriving in gold-mining areas, but it can be put on a legal track. One of the directions could even be tourism related to gold mining.

“This is now a niche for wild, “black” mining to flourish. People are outlaws. In addition to allowing work on man-made placers and dumps, the issue of gold delivery must also be resolved. So that a person would not be, to put it mildly, outlawed by finding one or two grams of gold. In a number of countries, people as tourists can obtain a plot of land [under license], put what they find in a test tube, and then be proud of such exotica. Gold is an ordinary commodity, and it should be treated as an ordinary commodity,” Makarov said.

According to representatives of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Magadan, we are talking about non-industrial production, the development of areas that are not interesting for big business - those that have already been exploited by them or those that are unpromising in terms of their reserves.

“There were a lot of worthy offers. One of them concerns the provision for the use of freeholders not of deposits that contain reserves of precious metals <...>, but of mining waste, dumps and areas that are of no interest to industrial enterprises,” - Suranova emphasized. She added that if permission for free mining is accompanied by tougher penalties for illegal fishing, then it will be more profitable for miners to officially hand over this metal rather than take risks.

At the same time, the Chairman of the Government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Yuri Lapshin, spoke out against the idea of free gold mining. In his opinion, this will open a “Pandora's box”.

“This is such a far-fetched story that if it is resolved, then there will be order. If there is no order, there will be more chaos. It turns out that with tight federal control, large gold mining companies are having problems. And if uncontrolled mining of metals is allowed, then how will we keep track of them (miners - TASS note),” Lapshin said.

, Viktor Tarakanovsky, is also against free gold mining . The expert explained that the gold content in deposits where private miners can be admitted is 0.5 grams per cubic meter of sand. Taking into account the fact that mining will have to be carried out manually, without the use of machinery, and only one person will be able to do it at each deposit, all freelancers will be able to extract a maximum of 200 grams of gold there per season. Therefore, according to the expert, the introduction of free labor in Russia could lead to theft, criminalization of the industry and an increase in crime in general.

Russia has experience of free mining. Back in 1902, the country allowed the free circulation of schlich gold, mined by washing river sand. In the Soviet Union, free gold mining existed until the 50s of the twentieth century. Any person who did not have a criminal record could obtain a permit to mine gold. The mined gold was accepted by many gold reception desks. The number of miners reached 120,000 people, they had tax benefits. Since the middle of the last century, non-industrial gold mining has become a criminal matter.

How is gold extracted from ore?

Before gold can be extracted from solid rock, the ore must first be crushed. But even after this, the washing method will not provide maximum metal recovery. The most effective will be the use of other methods.

Extraction methods

In addition to panning, gold is also mined using amalgamation - by mixing ore with mercury, which tends to interact with gold and separate it from the rock. After which the resulting amalgam (an alloy of gold and mercury) is collected and gold is separated from the alloy.

Another method is called heap leaching - exposing gold-bearing rock to an aqueous solution of cyanide, after which the precious metal dissolved in the liquid is precipitated using appropriate reagents.

Tons of gold underfoot. They will try to extract the precious metal in the Voronezh region

Voronezh geologists are going to shake off the dust from maps and reports from 50 years ago. Then a gold mine was discovered in the south of the region. Mining in those days was considered unprofitable, but now everything can change.

A Vesti Voronezh correspondent found out about the gold and other minerals that exist in the Voronezh region.

Gullies and gullies with powerful dry lands - this is what the surroundings of Russkaya Zhuravka look like. But literally a couple of kilometers from the village there is an unusual natural object - Zhuravkinskoe gold. And this is not just a beautiful name, but real metal.

There are 3.5 tons of gold hidden right under your feet. Few people know about this, but back in Soviet times, geological research was carried out in this place. The Zhuravkinskoye alluvial gold deposit was officially discovered. But then mining was considered unprofitable, and information about the precious metal was archived.

But, 50 years later, the situation may have changed. VSU geologists talk about this. According to them, they have come up with a new way to extract the precious metal. It is kept strictly secret and they are assured that there is no such technology anywhere else in the world. Most importantly, it makes the Russian Crane gold deposit potentially profitable for mining.

– In light of new technological developments, it may even turn out to be very cost-effective. And the same 3.5 tons that were once put on the balance sheet can yield two, if not three times more,” said Viktor Nenakhov, dean of the Faculty of Geology at VSU.

In Russian Crane itself they know about gold. Old-timers remember well the geological work of 50 years ago. Many even participated in them - as auxiliary workers. Like, for example, Alexey Goryainov. The pensioner is confident that gold mining can create environmental problems, but also jobs. And without work, he believes, the Russian Crane's prospects are not encouraging.

– Over 20 years, there are 1 thousand fewer of us. In 2000 there were 2.5 thousand inhabitants, now there are 1.45 thousand. People are running away. And in ten years, I think, there will be nothing left of our village,” said Alexey Goryainov.

At the same time, the village does not look abandoned. Recently they even installed broadband Internet here. There is street lighting, central water supply and gas. But it is difficult for young people to find work, so many leave. Although a good-quality house with gas that does not require repairs costs only 250 thousand rubles here.

When asked about their attitude towards the appearance of a gold mine nearby, the administration of Russkaya Zhuravka gives an evasive answer. They say that it is not yet clear what kind of new technology it is and how harmful it will be for the environment.

– What will be the ratio of benefit and harm? Of course, I would like to have my own good budget in terms of income. It’s still in short supply,” says the head of the settlements, Galina Kortunova.

Voronezh University assures that there is already an interested investor who will finance new geological research in these places. Approximately, the work will take one and a half to two years.

Taking into account new technology, reserves of the yellow metal may be even greater. But three tons of gold at current prices is about 10 billion rubles.

The Voronezh region, of course, is not the Urals or Western Siberia. But, for example, we made attempts to find oil. In the Povorinsky district they ended in nothing. However, there are minerals in the area. Fireproof clays are mined in Latnoye, and granite is mined in Pavlovsk. In the middle of the region, along the Don, there are huge reserves of chalk, one of the largest in the world. To the west of Voronezh there are phosphorite deposits. They are raw materials for mineral fertilizers.

Well, and most importantly - copper and nickel near Novokhopersk and in the area of the village of Podkolodnovka. The reserves are the third largest after Norilsk and the Kola Peninsula.

By the way, near Novokhopersk there are 5 tons of gold and 7 tons of platinum. Attempts to develop the deposits have been accompanied by scandals for several years.

But the main natural wealth of the Voronezh region is chernozem. And a climate that is much more comfortable than in many other Russian regions.

Experience of non-industrial gold mining in other countries

Australia is a positive example - a gold mining license here can be issued in a matter of minutes and will cost only $30. The service is extremely popular, and despite the low probability of finding gold, it attracts a lot of tourists to the country.

Finally, I suggest you watch a video on the topic:

In most gold mining countries, private miners are illegal. However, illegal fishing is widespread. There are no advantages from this - the state receives less taxes, and miners do not have any social protection and cannot count on help in case of accidents, which are quite common when organizing illegal mining using artisanal methods.