Geological exploration in Russia: results of 2023 and forecasts for 2024
193 discovered fields in 2023 and ambitious plans for the current year.
The importance of geological exploration for the country's economy is difficult to overestimate, because without the discovery of new sites it will be impossible to replenish the mineral resource base, which tends to deplete. The past year can be called successful in terms of the discovery of new deposits - the state balance was enriched by 193 sites, which exceeded the 2022 figure (170 sites).
2023 results exceed expectations
Last year, geologists managed not only to maintain the pace and volume of geological exploration, but also to exceed expectations. Of the 193 discovered deposits, 150 were classified as solid minerals, and the remaining 43 as liquid hydrogen. The largest object, according to the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources, was the Ravil Maganov oil and gas condensate field, located in the Caspian Sea. 8.4 million tons of oil, 136 billion cubic meters of gas and 24.4 million tons of condensate were entered into the state balance. Among the solid mineral deposits discovered last year, the department singled out Verkhne-Zolotoye (Primorsky Krai) with 311 thousand tons of copper and 693 tons of silver.
A significant discovery was the Novopetrovskoye gold deposit, owned by the Polymetal company. Its reserves are estimated at 36 tons of gold and 386 tons of silver with an average gold content of 8 g/t. The country's diamond reserves also increased last year - 1.2 million carats are contained in two alluvial diamond deposits discovered in Yakutia - the Beenchime site and the Tyidakh-Yuryakh stream.
Geological exploration prospects for 2024
The development of the mineral base and the extraction of minerals are given special attention at the state level. Thus, plans to increase the volume of geological exploration are supported by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin: "Without a doubt, we really need to expand the possibilities of extracting new minerals and carry out deep processing of our mineral resources, the mineral base, and try to use Russian developments as much as possible ." The head of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation Alexander Kozlov reported on the importance of geological exploration for state security: "The main task is always the same - to ensure the raw material security of the state. Our industry needs lithium, titanium, chromium, niobium, zirconium, manganese, uranium ..." , and emphasized the current trend - now the focus is shifting towards "scarce types of minerals . "
Great hopes are pinned on the Federal Project "Geology. Revival of the Legend", the first stage of which will be completed in 2024. During the second stage, which falls in 2025, special attention will be paid to scarce metals. Today, work continues within the framework of the project to search for new deposits in 13 regions of Russia. The implementation of the project, as expected by the end of 2024, will replenish the country's reserves with the following volume of minerals:
// 290 tons of gold,
// 6.5 thousand tons of silver,
// 160 thousand tons of copper,
// 220 thousand tons of lead,
// 810 thousand tons of zinc,
// 250 million tons of iron ore, etc.
Geological exploration is also a priority for private Russian companies. For example, LUKOIL plans to increase investment in exploration by 30% compared to last year - from 36 billion rubles to 47 billion rubles. According to the forecast of Alexander Semyanov, head of the geological exploration department of LUKOIL, in 2024 the planned volume of exploration drilling will exceed the average annual values for the past five years and will amount to about 200 thousand meters of rock.
Machines and equipment for exploration of deposits at MiningWorld Russia 2025
MiningWorld Russia is an international exhibition of machinery and equipment for mining, enrichment and transportation of minerals. There, manufacturers and suppliers can present their equipment for geological exploration to an interested target audience.
In 2024, the section "Machinery and equipment for exploration of deposits" attracted 34% of the exhibition visitors, or 2,863 specialists. Visitors are interested in the products of the participants:
// 67% planned to make purchases following the exhibition,
// 45% have a purchasing budget of more than 10 million rubles.
