Russia buys 15.6 tonnes of gold and invests in gold mining sector

Russia added 15.6 tonnes of gold to its reserves in April, according to the latest Figures of the Russian Central Bank. In addition, the country wants to invest much more in the gold mining sector in the coming years, so that gold mine production can reach a level of 400 tons per year by 2030. Last year, Russia was the third largest gold producer in the world with a production of 297 tons of gold.

With the purchase of 15.6 tonnes in April, the total gold reserve rose from Russia to 1,473.50 tonnes. The precious metal is worth $60.5 billion on its balance sheet, which means that the central bank valued the precious metal at a high value in April. Gold price of $1,277 per troy ounce.

Russia keeps buying gold

The gold reserves of Russia represent an increasing share of the total reserves. Before the crisis, the central bank had less than 3% in gold, now it is almost 15.5%. The graphs below show how Russia has gradually moved towards the yellow metal since 2006. On the World Gold Council Ranking of countries with the largest gold reserves, the country has climbed to sixth place in recent years.

Russia wants to bring its gold supply in line with other major economic power blocs in the world. A growing distrust of the US dollar has led Russia to convert a larger part of its reserves into the yellow metal.

Russia already has 15.5% of its reserves in gold

Russia has bought more than a thousand tons of gold in ten years

Russia invests in gold mines

Because the central bank buys a lot of gold from domestic gold mines, Russia has an interest in further expanding the gold mining sector. According to Investor Intel In the coming years, the country wants to invest even more in the development of new gold mines in eastern Siberia and in Yano-Kolyma, two areas with a large underground gold reserve.

According to the Russian Bureau of Geology, the country has an underground gold reserve of an estimated 40,000 tons. This means that Russia can remain one of the largest producers of gold in the world until at least the year 2030.

The gold mining sector of Russia has suffered a setback due to Western sanctions, according to Investor Intel. Many modern production techniques and machines that Russia use come from Western countries. Western sanctions have made it much more difficult to import this technology from the West. That is why Russia will expand part of its mining activities to African countries where the gold is easier to extract.

Russia's going for gold