Russia to Show IMF Secret Gold Data

Under pressure from the International Monetary Fund, the Russian government has lifted a corner of the cloak of secrecy that covers every aspect of the gold-mining industry.


Acting Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar has authorized the State Statistics Committee and the national gold and diamond corporation, Almazzoloto, to allow the IMF to see data on gold mining, gold production and production quotas of gold enterprises.


But Western mining companies said they were uncertain if they would be able to obtain any of the gold information. They said they were still trying to see how the decree, signed about three weeks ago, would be implemented.


The IMF had made the information a condition of any agreement in current negotiations on rescheduling Russia's estimated $70 billion debt and releasing the remaining $3 billion of stand-by credits to the Russian government.


An IMF spokesman said the information was needed to calculate the amount Russia could be expected to repay on its foreign debt next year.


He said the IMF would not be making public any of the information.


The IMF had previously estimated Russian gold production for 1991 at 250 tons. Western experts expect production will fall 10 percent this year.


Russia has geological surveys of its gold and mineral deposits but little data has been released due to political opposition to giving foreign miners access to Russia's mineral wealth.


The secrecy regime restricts regional gold producers, who are looking for foreign investment to boost falling production. Western companies say it is not clear whether Gaidar's decree will change that structure.


Current government policy generally requires that all new projects be approved through a centralized tendering system carried out by the State Geology Committee.


Although no Western firms are currently mining Russian gold, an Australian consortium. Start Technologies, scored a significant victory last month in officially registering a joint-stock company to mine the Sukhoi Log gold field, north of Lake Baikal.


In April, Gaidar allowed Start Technologies, headed by lan McNee and backed by Australian, U. S. and Hong Kong investors, to negotiate directly for mining rights, but it has taken five months to secure political approval for the new company.


Under the registration documents, Start will invest $250 million to buy a 31 percent stake in Lenzzoloto a joint venture that will replace the Irkutsk region state gold-mining association, the third biggest in Russia. The State Property Committee will transfer 40 percent of the firm's equity to the worker's collective and keep the rest.


Start Technologies has already supplied centrifuges and cyanide separation plants to improve production of alluvial gold.


The company's $250 million investment will be used to upgrade alluvial gold production and winterize the plant to make all-year mining possible.


Next year, the joint venture will start open-pit hard rock mining and increase gold enrichment facilities.


The aim is to raise gold production from 10 to 62 million tons a year. Start says Sukhoi Log has six proven deposits of 185, 000 tons of gold-bearing ore and can sustain decades of mining.


But several political hurdles remain to be cleared. After Gaidar's decision in April to give Start priority, political pressure forced the government to hold an inquiry into the deal.


The inquiry, headed by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Shokhin, eventually reapproved the original decision paving the way for registration. But parliamentary opposition may force still more delays.