New government regulations for mine design and solid mineral mining

The regulatory control in mine design and solid mineral mining should be relevant and comprehensive. The new procedure of preparation, approval and authorization of technical projects became law in 2022 after enactment by the Government of Russia on November 11, 2021. Today there are also the Solid Mineral Mining Regulations approved by the Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency under authority of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation as of April 15, 2025. In addition, there is the Draft Regulations for Solid Mineral Mining Design. The new acts of law embrace the latest conceptual changes introduced in the subsoil legislation and the analysis of the law enforcement practice. The new acts of law are expected to modify the concept of solid mineral mining design: the technical designs will be prepared in a digital form; designs will be flexible and adjustable based on sound reasons: production capacities may be declined depending on circumstances, mined-out stopes may be abandoned and closed concurrently with actual mining operations in an extraction panel; designs will take into account production of subsoil use waste and subsoil monitoring results.