Recent analyses show that ore from mines on the Kola Peninsula contain gold and platinum. The gold content is 5 grams per ton of ore, which is considered to be a relatively good start.
“The gold on Kola Peninsula has industrial perspectives, but to be able to develop it, we need both technological and legislative solutions”, Director of the Kola Science Center Yury Voytekhovsky said to Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
“We found hints that the ore could contain gold already in archives form the 1930’s, but then the focus was on other things. Now we have located it and are in a phase where we need to start drilling,” Voytekhovsky said.
But to start drilling for the gold is not that easy, according to the science director. The gold reserves are located very unevenly – some places the concentration is substantial, other places very low. Consequently, comprehensive and expensive geological surveys are needed, something only the state or a prosperous company are capable of conducting.
“In modern Russia there are no companies who can afford this”, Voytekhovsky said. “Foreign companies are not allowed there according to federal law, and companies are in principle not very interested in large investments that do not give quick profit. It is easier to buy a ready-to-use mine abroad.”
