Mining in Russia

Mining In Russia

The mineral industry of Russia is one of the world's leading mineral industries and accounts for a large percentage of the Commonwealth of Independent States' production of a range of mineral products, including metals, industrial minerals, and mineral fuels. In 2005, Russia ranked among the leading world producers or was a significant producer of such mineral commodities as aluminum; arsenic; asbestos; bauxite; boron; cadmium; cement; coal; cobalt; copper; diamond; fluorspar; gold; iron ore; lime; lithium; magnesium compounds and metals; mica, sheet, and flake; natural gas; nickel; nitrogen; oil shale; palladium; peat; petroleum; phosphate; potash; rhenium; silicon, sulfur; titanium sponge; tin; tungsten; and vanadium.

In 2005, the Russian economy benefited significantly from high oil, gas, and metal prices. Oil revenues accounted for about 14% of the GDP. Following the mineral fuel industry, the next leading branch of the mineral industry, in terms of its contribution to the national economy was the metallurgical sector, which contributed 19% of the value of industrial production, accounted for 11.1% of the value of industrial capital stock, and employed 9.3% of the industrial labor force. In 2005, a total of 1,071,000people were employed in the mineral extraction sector and made up 1.6% of the country's labor force. Investment in mineral extraction and metallurgy accounted for about 20% of total investment in the Russian economy.