Life on the "gold" career: from the top to the bottom. Location of gold deposits in russia Gold mine

Since ancient times, gold has been used to make jewelry and mint coins. At present, the role of the precious metal has changed somewhat: coins are no longer made from it, but are used as an investment object and one of the elements of gold and foreign exchange reserves. The world reserves of the yellow metal are approximately 55 thousand tons, a significant proportion of which are gold deposits in Russia.

Gold mining in Russia and the world

Several countries have the largest reserves of the precious metal, including: South Africa, the USA, Canada, Australia, Indonesia and Russia. AT Russian Federation reserves of the yellow metal are accounted for in 372 primary and 5,000 alluvial deposits. Approximately 2.5 thousand tons of gold are mined every year in the world, the bulk of this volume falls on five countries - the USA, South Africa, Australia, Russia and China. Our country in terms of gold production in annual terms takes 4-5th place with a value of 200 tons.

Gold mining by country in tons.

The largest gold deposits in the world include:

• Pebble Deposit - USA, Alaska, not mined;
• Natalka - Russia, Kolyma, no production;
• Grasberg - Indonesia, mining ongoing.

In the top five largest deposits there is another Russian one - Olimpiada (Olimpiada), located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, which has been developed since the early 80s of the 20th century.

All gold reserves in all of Russia are estimated at about 12.5 thousand tons of the precious metal, of which more than 60% are industrial reserves belonging to categories A, B and C1 - explored in detail, preliminary explored and reserves of explored deposits of complex geological structure.

In order to imagine how gold deposits are located on the territory of our country, we need a map with marked gold ore regions. These areas include:

• Eastern Siberia - Yenisei, Bodaibo, Prilensky and East-Zabaikalsky regions;
• Yakutia - Aldan and Verkhoyansk regions;
• Regions of the North-East of Russia;
• Amur Region;
• Territories of Primorsky Krai.

The bulk of Russian gold deposits are located in Siberia and Far East.

Types of gold deposits

Gold in the surrounding world is quite widespread, metal as chemical element present even in the human body. But in terms of content in the earth's crust, the precious metal is only in 61st place: its share by mass is less than 0.000001%, the reason for this is its pulverized state in nature.

The largest gold deposits in the world are places where the yellow metal is found in high concentrations. In these deposits, exploration geological work is carried out first, then the construction of a mine and the industrial development of existing reserves.

The entire mineral resource base of gold mining consists of directly gold deposits and complex deposits containing gold. Gold deposits are primary and alluvial.

What is a primary deposit?

Primary deposits were formed in the earth's crust due to magmatic processes. In the magma of our planet, in contrast to its earth's crust, the concentration of gold is much higher. For many centuries, as a result of the activity of volcanoes, flows of red-hot magma escaped to the surface of the Earth. According to its content, magma is a melt of various compounds. The melting point of these compounds is different, therefore, when the magma cooled, refractory substances were the first to crystallize. Inside the already solidified mass, the circulation of more fusible elements continued. These processes in the area of ​​magma breakthrough to the surface contributed to the appearance of a gold deposit here.

Particles of gold in a primary deposit.

The melt of fusible elements shot out through the cracks of the solidified magma, forming veins, inside which hot solutions of gold-bearing salts continued to circulate. When completely cooled, these salts were destroyed, and gold crystallized in the formed veins in its pure form. During the ejection and solidification of magma, many chemical reactions, the course of this process could differ, as well as the final composition of the compounds.

Primary gold deposits could be formed in different ways, but they were always accompanied by magmatic processes. This explains the location of primary deposits: they are always located in the mountains, where the rock was formed as a result of magmatic activity.

Gold in such deposits in its pure form is very rare, most often it contains other metals. The most common alloys are silver and copper. Sometimes there are deposits of gold containing platinum and other elements of this group.

Features of alluvial deposits

Placer deposits are called secondary, the reason for this is the peculiarities of the process of their formation. Alluvial gold deposits are formed from primary deposits as a result of the ongoing impact of physical and chemical nature. The action of winds, temperature changes, precipitation, the movement of groundwater, the vital activity of microorganisms and plants throughout long period time gradually leads to the destruction of the rock. The collapsing rock releases the gold in it: the precious metal begins to descend from the mountains into the valley, where a placer-type deposit is formed.

The main factors in the formation of placers are:

1. The action of water - it is precipitation and the impact of groundwater that contributes to the destruction of the mountain range and
2. Descent of the gold-bearing rock down;
3. Chemical properties of gold - the metal does not react with water, therefore it remains in its original form unchanged;
4. The physical properties of gold - due to its density, the metal accumulated in those places where lighter elements were washed out with water.

Placer-type gold deposits are different: they differ in size, territory and method of formation. Changes in the earth's surface occurred over millions of years, often instead of a primary deposit, a placer could form, and at a very large distance from the initial point of magma outflow.

Gold in placers is more accessible, in primary deposits it must be mined from ore. The features of the location of the particles of the precious metal can be clearly seen in the photo of the rock fragments of both types of deposits.

Notable Russian deposits

The most famous deposits of our country are of the primary type, most of them have been developed since Soviet times.

Dry Log

Sukhoi Log is a Russian gold deposit located in Eastern Siberia, namely on the territory belonging to the Bodaibo gold-bearing region. Sukhoi Log was discovered in 1961, and today it is still one of the largest deposits of yellow metal in Russia. Large reserves of gold in these places are offset by its low content in the ore.

After the discovery of the deposit in these places in the 70s, exploration work and technological research were carried out, the purpose of which was measures to enrich the ore. A set of preparatory work was carried out in the next decade. In the 80s, a power line was built here, a year-round road between neighboring settlements, reconstructed the airport in the nearby city of Bodaibo, began the construction of a hydroelectric power station.

The ores of this gold deposit are of the gold-sulfide-quartz type, the main part of the metal is associated with pyrite. The content of the precious metal ranges from 0.5 to 10 g/t, average equal to 2.7 g/t. Nearby, five more medium-sized deposits with low content of the element in the ore were discovered. Three deposits are already being developed, while the rest are still being developed.

Berezovskoe

The Berezovskoye deposit is a unique place for gold mining in our country. Its uniqueness is due to the fact that it was discovered in the 18th century. The discovery is associated with the peasant Yerofei Markov. Development at the Berezovsky field has been carried out since 1748 and has not stopped to the present.

Nugget from the Berezovsky deposit.

The gold here is mostly fine and dusty. Berezovsky is characterized by an uneven distribution of the precious metal: inclusions in sulfides are thin and dispersed. Sometimes the metal is represented by large accumulations in the upper horizons, even more rarely - in the form of small nuggets.

Since the beginning of work in the 18th century, more than 140 tons of precious metal have been mined here.

The duration of the industrial operation of the deposit allows us to say that this place has no analogues either in Russia or in the world. Balance reserves of C1 and C2 categories are about 90 tons of gold.

Vorontsovskoye

Vorontsovskoye is a famous gold deposit in Sverdlovsk region. Exploration work here began in the mid-80s of the last century. The gold deposit has been developed since the end of 2000. Gold mineralization is represented by two natural types: oxidized ores (loose) and primary gold-sulfide ores.

Quarry Vorontsovskoye gold deposit.

The Vorontsovskoye deposit is dominated by free, thin gold in the form of intergrowths with the main minerals of the rock. The size of gold particles varies in the range from the smallest particles to 0.5 mm.

Ore processing is carried out in two ways: oxidized ores are processed by heap leaching, primary ore is processed by the "coal in pulp" method at a metal recovery plant near the deposit.

The Vorontsovskoye field is the first in Russia where heap leaching technology was tested in winter time. The positive results of the work carried out made it possible to mine the precious metal all year round regardless of seasonal conditions.

June 7th, 2016

The Super Pit mine located in the western part of Australia is also one of the largest and most famous. It brings in more than 780,000 ounces of gold annually to its owners, Newmont Mining and Barrick Gold. Super Pit is Australia's largest open pit mine, measuring some 3,500 meters long and 1,500 meters wide. The depth of the quarry is also impressive, it is about 570 meters.

Let's take a closer look at it...

Photo 2.

About 550 employees work directly on the territory of the mine, not counting the specialists who service the transport system of the industrial area. The Super Pit gold mine was discovered at the end of the 19th century. Initially, the precious metal was mined in small mines, without the use of any special equipment. In 2001, the mines were merged into a single industrial complex, and by 2009 the construction of a huge mine was fully completed.

Photo 3.

Gold mining at the Super Pit mine is not only the largest, but also one of the most difficult in Australia. The thing is that the precious metal in the processed rock is contained in the form of telluride. This mineral cannot be processed by the usual purification method - cyanidation, therefore, a lot of money and effort is spent on its multi-stage processing and purification of gold from impurities.

Photo 4.

Mining at the Super Pit is done by quarrying, loaders and trucks. Over the history of the existence of one of the largest mines in the world, more than 295 million cubic meters of rock have been lifted up from here.

During the day they work under the scorching sun, at night - in the light of searchlights. At night, the mine looks like the set of a science fiction action movie about another alien takeover of the Earth. Most of the giant machines are owned by Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines (KCGM). While truck drivers work three shifts in many mines around the world, here in Kalgoorlie they spend 12 hours driving.

Photo 5.

Meanwhile, behind the busy life of the mine, with a special observation deck watch hundreds of tourists who come here from all over the world. The picture is really breathtaking: giant trucks moving through a huge quarry with a wheel diameter of two human heights and a driver's cab located at the height of a four-story building, from here, from the site, seem like small toy cars.

Photo 6.

Caterpillar 797B, with a gross weight of 623,690 kg, this giant is capable of carrying up to 345 tons of cargo at a time. If we take into account the gross weight, then this is the heaviest car in the world. But CAT 797B is remarkable not only for its weight and dimensions. It is the only one of the giant dump trucks that uses a traditional transmission with a gearbox and torque supply to the wheels through the final drive. The rest of the giants - Liebherr, Terex, BelAZ - use a diesel-electric transmission to drive the wheels.

Photo 7.

Structurally, the 797th is the most ordinary car, perhaps slightly hypertrophied. The 117.1-liter diesel engine (no typo here) sends deadly torque to a seven-speed hydromechanical planetary gearbox - the largest in the automotive world! And from there, Newton meters are sent to another grandiose engineering structure - the main gear, where they increase 21 times, taking on truly astronomical values. The final link in this chain is the massive twin rear wheels. The largest tires in the world, mounted on 63-inch rims, were developed by Michelin specifically for this model. Turns the mastodon by spinning the front wheels like a normal car. Only not by muscle strength, slightly enhanced by a hydraulic drive, but by hydraulic motors driven from the main internal combustion engine. In case the diesel engine stalls, emergency accumulators are provided. They can make up to three 90-degree turns with the engine off. Deceleration is carried out by engine braking, as well as multi-disc brakes with forced oil cooling.

Photo 8.

Only the Liebherr T282B, the world's largest truck with an electric transmission, can compete for the palm with the CAT 797B. This giant can carry 363 tons of cargo in its bucket - 18 tons more than Caterpillar. When the dump truck, 14.5 m long and 8.8 m wide, was first shown to the general public at the Munich Building Exhibition 2004, it was immediately dubbed the "eighth wonder of the world." Mainly not for its impressive size and formidable appearance, but for the fact that it is capable of carrying cargo one and a half times its own weight. According to this indicator, which characterizes the level of engineering excellence of the design, the Liebherr T 282 B beats all other giant specimens. The truck's 20-cylinder, 3650-horsepower, 90-liter diesel engine spins an alternator that powers the electric motors in the rear dual wheels. Due to the features of the electric transmission, the car accelerates faster, although it has a slightly lower maximum speed than the CAT 797B. When braking, the motor-wheels work here as generators, saving the resource of working brake mechanisms. As a parking brake, disc brake mechanisms of all wheels are used. The steering is hydraulic, about the same as that of Caterpillar.

Photo 9.

If career giants are inferior to a regular car in something, it is in speed. However, recklessness is of no use to them. On the territory of the quarry, where, in fact, their whole life passes, they move at a permitted speed of 40 km / h. The 797B has a top speed of around 68 km/h, while the Liebherr T 282 B is about 3 km/h slower. Having time to turn around in 35–40 minutes and again stand under the bucket of an equally gigantic mining hydraulic excavator (for example, Komatsu PC8000 or PC8000-6), two-thirds of this time is spent by a heavily loaded dump truck getting out of the quarry to the surface. These giants spend their entire working life in the mines. Under no circumstances can such a truck get there by itself on a regular road, because there will simply be nothing left of it. They are delivered to the mines in parts, in containers, and assembled on site. Of course, any car - whether it's the tiny Peel P50, the world's smallest car from 1962, or the gigantic Liebherr T 282 B - requires constant maintenance. It needs to be refueled, serviced, repaired. Each instance working in quarries is served by dozens of trucks, trains or helicopters (as, for example, in some mines South America where there is no rail link or associated road links). This is the delivery of fuel, which is poured into giant tanks located permanently at the mine, and maintenance, and huge workshops - all this together makes up an extremely developed, expensive infrastructure.

Photo 10.

Each of the gigantic mechanisms itself is worth a fortune. average price CAT 797, for example, is just under four million US dollars. Accordingly, its maintenance, as well as spare parts for it, is also worth it. The price of a 59/80R63 XDR tire is about $200,000, but if, for example, the motor burns out, it will take about $1 million to replace it. The only way these massive machines can recoup their cost is if they run smoothly and trouble-free, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. As soon as the dump truck enters the mine, from the very first minute everything is directed to only one thing - to quickly recoup the millions of costs; every time the body of a giant is filled with ore, it works off its value. I’ll note right away: with the cost of the dump truck itself at several million dollars, the costs of delivering equipment to the place of work, developing and maintaining infrastructure, these giants usually pay for themselves faster than other equipment - in less than 12 months! And it is their size that plays a significant role in this. After all, the fewer trips a truck makes, the more ore it can load, the faster it will pay for itself. Carrying 300-360 tons of rock at a time, the giant does its job perfectly.

Photo 11.

It would seem that this can be put an end to, because all conceivable and unimaginably huge mechanisms have already been invented, exist, and work. Does it make sense to continue working in this direction? Where is the ceiling, after reaching which it makes no sense to develop new supergiants and it is necessary to look for fundamentally new solutions? How huge can a monster be and is it time to stop? However, authoritative experts argue: “The ceiling has not yet been reached and will not be reached in the near future. The fact is that with today's pace of development of mechanization, new promising technologies, further improvement of motors, with the constant development and increase in the level of modern electronics, the creation of new supergiants is quite realistic, and most importantly, economically justified.

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sources

Career(from French carriere, var.: section) - a set of mine workings formed during the extraction of minerals in an open way; open pit mining enterprise. For the most part, quarries (large quarries) are used for the extraction of metal ores and building materials. But there are also diamond deposits where quarries are used to extract precious stones. Chuquicamata, Chile The world's largest open-pit mine (quarry) in which copper ore is mined at the deposit of the same name. Its dimensions are: 4.3 km in length; 3 km wide and 850 m deep. For many years, since 1910, the quarry has been known as the largest quarry in the world with the largest daily volume of extracted and moved rock mass, but recently lost the palm to the Escondida quarry (Minera Escondida)

Escondida, Chile Escondida is located in northern Chile in the Atacama Desert. The company's infrastructure consists of two quarries (Escondida and Escondida Norte), two concentrators (Laguna Seca and Los Colorados), a plant for the production of cathodes from oxide and sulfide ores, and two pipelines for transporting copper concentrate to a filtration plant. This mining is considered one of the pillars of the Chilean economy. Suffice it to say that Escondida employs 2,951 people, and this is direct employment. In 2006, there was a major strike here, workers wanted to get more. After the management refused to pay large salaries, the workers simply blocked the road to a career. In the end, the company had to go along with the demands of the employees.

Deposit "Udachnaya", Russia The depth of the Udachnoye quarry has already reached 600 meters. This is the largest diamond deposit in Russia in terms of raw materials and ore body size. Many large stones were mined in it, including crystals that are now in the Diamond Fund. The work is complicated by the fact that this field is located right beyond the Arctic Circle, which is enough interesting fact. It can be added that the Udachnoye deposit was discovered a few days after the discovery of the Mir deposit.

Mir kimberlite pipe A quarry located in the city of Mirny, Yakutia. The quarry has a depth of 525 m and a diameter of 1.2 km and is one of the largest quarries in the world. Open pit diamond mining that lasted 44 years. Near the quarry, the village of Mirny was formed, which became the center of the Soviet diamond mining industry. The largest diamond found in Russia was mined at the Mir mine on December 23, 1980. It weighs 342.5 carats (more than 68 g) and is called "XXVI Congress of the CPSU". AT last years mining trucks "wound" along a spiral road 8 km from the bottom to the surface. Mining of diamondiferous kimberlite ore was stopped in June 2001. Currently, an underground mine of the same name is being built on board the quarry to develop the remaining under-quarry reserves, the extraction of which by open pit is unprofitable.

Sibay deposit(Bashk. Sibay yaҡtylyҡ) is a copper-zinc-pyrite deposit in Russia, located in Bashkortostan, near the city of Sibay. Opened in 1913. Development began in the 1930s of the XX century. The depth is more than 500 meters, the diameter is 2 km.

Bingham Canyon, USA One of the largest quarries in the world, gold and copper are mined. Developments have been going on for almost 150 years. It has the following dimensions for 2008: 1.2 km deep, 4 km wide and covers an area of ​​7.7 km2. Ore is transported by 64 huge mining trucks, each of which is capable of transporting 231 tons of ore per trip. In one year, 715 tons of gold and 17 million tons of copper are mined. More than 1400 people are employed in the development.

Grasberg mine, Indonesia The Grasberg porphyry copper ore deposit is the world's largest and highest mountain mine and is engaged in exploration and development, mining and processing of ores containing copper, gold and silver. The quarry is located in the province of Papua in Indonesia, near Mount Punchak Jaya - the highest point in Oceania, the highest mountain in the world located on the island (~ 5030 m)

Diavik Diamond Quarry, Canada The Diavik diamond quarry is located in the northern part of Slave Lake in northwestern Canada. After surveying the territory in 1992, the construction of a quarry began, which began mining in January 2003. It has become an important part of the region's economy, employing more than 700 people and producing 8 million carats (1600 kg) of diamonds worth $100 million annually. The quarry is located on the islands and has its own infrastructure with an airport capable of receiving passenger Boeings.

Super Pit, Australia. Western Australia is known for its gold and nickel mines. Around Kalgoorlie full of mines and quarries, the most famous of which is the open pit Super Pit (Super Pit) - a unique hydrothermal gold deposit. The total area of ​​the ore field is more than 10 km2. The remaining reserves are at least 70 tons of metal.

Website materials used: http://www.spletnik.ru/blogs/vokrug_sveta/36651_samye_krupnye_karery

The Top 10 Gold Deposits presented are based on 2014 production data, and only in some cases 2015 because this is the last dataset that is updated for the entire gold mining industry. Some of the companies on this list publish their operating results annually. In our listing of companies in this industry, we consider a gold mining company to be any company with a complete production cycle, even if it includes one or more open pits and underground mines.

On the this moment one of the gold mines produces twice as much as any other on the list - this is Muruntau. The Uzbek field is state-owned. Data on gold reserves at Muruntau indicate that it is an excellent source of gold for this country, as its reserves are 2.5 times larger than the estimated reserves of any other mine on the list.

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10

Boddington, Australia

The Boddington field is located in Western Australia near the city of Perth. Mining at Boddington is open pit mining. In 2014, 700 thousand ounces of gold were mined here. It is estimated that there is another 20 million ounces in reserve.

Production at the Boddington gold mine began in 1987 as a joint effort between Normandy Mining (44.44%), Acacia Resource (33.33%) and Newcrest Mining (22.23%). In 2001, production was halted when known reserves of oxide ore were depleted. In 2005, Newmont bought a stake in Newcrest Mining, in 2009 - a stake in Acacia Resource, which allowed this company to take a controlling stake in the Boddington gold mine. Mining resumed the following year, quickly elevating Boddington to the top of the list of top gold mines.

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9

Veladero, Argentina

The Veladero deposit is located in the San Juan province of Argentina, adjacent to the Pascua-Lama Project gold mine (which is also owned by Barrick Gold). The Veladero mine is estimated to have a reserve of 10 million ounces of gold. In 2014, 722 thousand ounces of gold were produced and an additional 622 thousand ounces were produced. From year to year, production increases, so production seems to be on the rise.

In 2007, Barrick Gold installed a wind turbine on Veladero, setting a world record for being the world's tallest wind turbine at 1.28 km above sea level. The nearest mine, the Pascua-Lama Project, occupies a quarter of Argentina and three-quarters of Chile, where the mining industry has come under fire. The mines are located next to glaciers, and Chilean activists complain about the negative impact of mining on the environment.

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8

Olympics is the largest deposit, which is owned by Polyus Gold, the largest gold mining corporation in Russia. The deposit is located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The resources of the Olympiad are estimated at 47.37 million ounces with a reserve of 30.01 million ounces of gold. In 2014, 727 thousand ounces of gold were mined at the Olympics. In order to process sulfide ores, the Olympics use its own bio-oxidation technology, BioNord.

Polyus Gold is the 8th largest gold producer in the world. It is believed that 90 million ounces of gold in proven deposits are located at 5 gold mining enterprises in Siberia and the Russian Far East. Polyus Gold is the largest gold mining corporation listed on the London Stock Exchange (PGIL).

Polyus Gold is owned by Suleiman Kerimov, a mysterious investor who hasn't been interviewed in over 20 years. Mr. Kerimov made his fortune working in the Russian oil industry, but since 2005, when he bought Polymetal, he has ventured into the gold and silver industries. The company's headquarters is located in Moscow.

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7

Cortez, USA

In recent years, production at the Kortes deposit has declined by 48%, due to a gradual transition to mining in underground mines.

The Cortez Gold Mine is located in Nevada. The open pit and underground mining complex is located about 120 km southwest of the city of Elko. The entire complex includes the Cortez Hills underground deposit as well as two open pit mines. Cortes is owned by Barrick Gold, headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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6

Goldstrike, USA

Goldstrike and Cortes in 2014 actually shared the 6th place in terms of production. Since production is decreasing in Cortes, it is reasonable to assume that Goldstrike produced more in 2015. The Goldstrike Mine is located northwest of the Carlin Mine off the Carlin Trend.

Goldstrike is also owned by Barrick Gold, which acquired the deposit in 1987. Prior to this, the mine was owned by the Western State Minerals Corporation and PanCana, who have operated as a joint venture since 1978.

The mine consists of three deposits. One of them is the Betze-Post open pit. The remaining mines are Meikle and Rodeo, which are underground.

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5

Karlin Trend, USA

Carlin Trend in the USA is owned by Newmont. The field is located in the state of Nevada and includes open pits and underground mining.

The Carlin Trend, an area 8 km wide and 84 km long, is part of a belt of gold deposits in the Carlin, Nevada region. Gold was discovered in the area in the 1870s. Due to the region's harsh conditions, there was little to no mining until 1909. Even before 1964, about 22,000 ounces per year could hardly be mined. From 1964 to 2008 Carlin Trend produced 70 million ounces of gold worth about $85 billion.

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4

Yanacocha is part of a major mine in the Cajamarca region of Peru. The Yanacocha field is located 28 km north of the city of Cajamarca and 770 km from Lima. This open pit is considered the 4th largest in the world, although there has been a decline in production. In 2014, the mine produced 970 thousand ounces of gold, compared to about 1 million ounces in 2013.

Yanacocha is majority owned by Newmont Mining Corporation (51%), the second largest gold mining company in the world, based in Colorado, USA. The Peruvian company Buenaventura owns 44% of the mine, the World Bank owns the remaining 5%.

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3

Pueblo Viejo, Dominican Republic

The Pueblo Viejo field is only slightly behind the next number, Grasberg. In 2014, 1.108 million ounces of gold were mined here. Pueblo Viejo is a relatively new field, jointly owned by Barrick (60%) and Goldcorp (40%). The mine, the researchers believe, has significant reserves, so it will remain a vital source of gold for our planet for several decades to come.

Pueblo Viejo is a small city on the south coast of the Dominican Republic, located about 60 miles from Santo Domingo. The state corporation Rosario Dominicana first began mining gold here in 1975, producing 5 million ounces of silver and gold over the next 16 years. When the price of metals dropped significantly in 1991, the mine was closed.

In 2001, the Canadian company Placer Dome won a contract to operate the mine for 33 years. Barrick Gold, the world's largest gold miner, bought Placer Dome in 2006 and resumed mining in 2009.

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2

Grasberg, Indonesia

Grasberg in Indonesia has long been the world's leading gold mine. It is still touted as the largest mine in the world, and the third largest copper mine. Currently, Grasberg is an open pit, but by the end of 2017, production will move to the underground part of the field. In 2014, Grasberg produced 1.1 million ounces of gold.

The field is owned by Freeport-McMoRan, which owns 90.64% of the shares. The company has 19500 employees. The Indonesian government owns the remaining 9.36% of the mine. Grasberg is located near Mount Jaya in Indonesian New Guinea. Jaya is the highest mountain in Papua, and therefore mining is a particularly labor-intensive process here.

The deposit was discovered in 1936 by the Dutch geologist Jean-Jacques Dozi, although it was not developed until 1960 when George Miley (CEO Freeport-McMoRan) and Forbes Wilson sent a special expedition to prove the value of this deposit. When Indonesia gained independence in 1963, Grasberg became the first mine opened by the Suharto government.

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1

Muruntau, Uzbekistan

In recent years, Muruntau in Uzbekistan has occupied the 1st place in terms of production, overtaking Grasberg. In 2013 and 2014, the competition between them was not even close. Muruntau produced 2.52 million ounces of gold in 2013 and 2.6 million ounces in 2014. This is a huge open pit, scientists estimate that there are still about 170 million ounces of gold in the reserve, so at the current level of production, the mine can be a leader for next 60 years.

Muruntau belongs to the Navoi Mining and Metallurgical Combine, which is owned by the state of Uzbekistan. The plant was founded in 1964 as part of the gold mining enterprises Soviet Union. The world's largest BIOX plant has been commissioned here to combat the depletion of oxide ore reserves.

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Conclusion

This was an article of the TOP-10 deposits where 90% of gold is mined in the world. Thank you for your attention!