The State Duma of the Russian Federation has adopted a bill to regulate the artisanal precious metals mining at non-industrial deposits in the country, TASS reports.
Currently, gold can be mined in Russia only from officially registered deposits, while depleted mines or small alluvial deposits that are unpromising for industrial development, cannot be developed legally.
The law introduces the concept of "artisanal mining activity", which means the activity of finding and extracting gold in artisanal areas and parts of water bodies, carried out by miners in accordance with the requirements established by the bill.
For the new rules, a three-year trial period was established, during which artisanal mining can be carried out in the Far East and the territories of the Arctic zone of Russia. After the pilot program ends, the new rules will apply to other regions of the country.
An alluvial site may be provided to a citizen of the Russian Federation registered as an individual entrepreneur for three years on a royalty-free basis. This period can be extended further.
Prospecting activities on an alluvial site are terminated upon expiration of the period of use or if the total amount of gold in chemically pure form mined by this individual entrepreneur in the area has reached 30 kilograms.
Prospectors will be required to submit reports in the form of a declaration of miners' activities.
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished
