State Commission for Mineral Reserves

The State Commission for Mineral Reserves was established on May 31, 1927 by order of the Director of the Geological Committee A.K. Meister ^[1] . The formation of the commission was associated with the need to create a unified system of accounting for proven reserves, to ensure at the state level an objective assessment of mineral reserves for existing, reconstructed and under construction industrial enterprises and qualified, responsible examination of reserves of mineral deposits for designed facilities.

The Commission has repeatedly changed its name ^[2] :

• 1927 - Special Commission for the Calculation of Mineral Reserves (OKZ)
• 1930 - Central Commission for Mineral Reserves (CDC)
• 1940 - All-Union Commission on Mineral Reserves (VKZ)
• 1954 - State Commission for Mineral Reserves (GKZ)

The history of the Commission on Mineral Reserves, dating back 90 years, from its inception to the present day can be divided into four time stages according to its functions and the level of tasks to be solved ^{[3] [4]} .

1927–1954

At the first stage, the OKZ had two main tasks: to verify the authenticity (responsibility) and uniformity of the author's calculation of mineral reserves, since the data were published in the publications of the Geological Committee and recognized as “official figures of the Geolcom ”, which give grounds for the construction of new mining enterprises; “Speed ​​up the work of establishing uniform methods of calculation” instead of “the generally accepted division of reserves into categories of reliable, probable and possible”. The OKZ was entrusted with the verification and approval of the numbers of mineral reserves obtained during exploration and as a result of off-site processing of available data, categorizing them, and developing methods for calculating reserves.

Since 1932, the Central Concert Hall has been conducting an external examination of the materials under consideration and in its minutes it fixes the main criticisms based on which changes were made to the author's numbers and categories of reserves. During this period, the Commission paid special attention to assessing the quality of geological exploration work, analyzing geological documentation, reliability of testing, principles of contouring of reserves calculation areas.

Since 1935, the TsKZ has become the supreme body that determines and approves mineral reserves in the subsurface for the design of capital construction of new ones, reconstruction and expansion of existing mining enterprises of Union, republican and regional (oblast) significance.

In order to radically improve the organization and organization of prospecting and exploration, and in accordance with the Decree of the USSR Council of People's Commissars of November 17, 1937, Order of the USSR People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry No. 993 of November 20, 1937, the Central Concert Hall was separated from the State Humanitarian State University and transferred directly to the heavy drug industry . Thus, TsKZ actually becomes a departmental body of state expertise.

In 1940, the TsKZ joined the Committee on Geology, but already as the All-Union Commission on Mineral Reserves (VKZ), retaining its status as the highest state body for the determination (calculation) and approval of reserves of all types of mineral resources in the bowels. On March 25, 1940, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, by its Decree No. 403, approved the Regulation on the VKZ, according to which decisions of the VKZ on the approval of mineral reserves were binding on all institutions, enterprises and organizations.

In 1946, the VKZ became part of the USSR Ministry of Geology. The functions of the Reserves Commission in the post-war period underwent dramatic changes in the direction of even more giving it state powers in matters of the formation and systematization of the country's mineral resource base.

1954-1991

By Decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 1347 of July 1, 1954, the All-Union Commission for Mineral Reserves was renamed the State Commission and transferred directly to the Council of Ministers of the USSR. During this period of activity of the GKZ, a school of expert geologists was created - original, but not isolated from the world geological community. This school brought together highly qualified specialists from various fields of geological sciences, united by common goals and objectives. Extensive theoretical knowledge, practical experience and high moral qualities of these people, as well as the principle of collegiality, implemented in the process of reviewing expert materials, ensured the objectivity of decisions made by the GKZ commissions.

1992-1998

After the formation of independent Russia, the state acceptance of reserves lost relevance due to a sharp drop in the volume of exploration work. The last major facilities whose exploration was completed during the transition period were involved in mining with a violation of the Federal Law "On Subsoil", without conducting a state examination. The main task of that time was - not to allow the unique state structure to collapse, to save the documentary, informational base of Russia's natural resources.

Since 1996, the provisions of the State Reserves Committee began to be strengthened, the commission began to carry out a state examination of mineral reserves, geological and economic information on the subsoil blocks provided for use. The circle of her responsibilities is being clarified. By the order of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia No. 95 dated 06/09/1997 “On Approving the Differentiation of Powers in the Field of State Expertise” in the field of examination of reserves, the boundaries of the areas of the GKZ, TKZ and TsKZ, their powers, control and responsibility were determined. A new trend has been identified in the work of the State Reserves Committee: the transition from "state acceptance of reserves" to determining the real state of the mineral resource base at a given time in the current situation in the economy, regardless of the customer (or owner).

Since 1998

Since 2004, one of the priority areas has become the state examination of mineral reserves. In 2006, 19 branches were established to carry out the examination of mineral reserves. The establishment of branches was a significant step in the development of a unified Russian system of state examination based on general principles and approaches. Today, in connection with a change in the structure, 10 branches of the FBK GKZ are operating.

For the period from 2004 to the present, work has been carried out to improve the methodology of the state examination of information on explored mineral reserves, geological, economic information on the subsoil blocks provided for use regarding rational use of the subsoil.

With the participation of the GKZ FBU together with the Society of Russian Experts on Subsoil Use (OERN) and the Committee on International Standards for Reporting on Reserves (CRIRSCO), a Russian Code of Public Reporting was developed, which was approved and publicly signed on October 31, 2011 as part of the annual meeting of CRIRSCO members . Thus, Russia joined CRIRSCO and became its full member.

In modern conditions, the FBU GKZ represents and protects primarily the interests of the state as the owner of Russian subsoil. This is expressed in two key points. First: rational use of mineral resources in the interests of future generations, achieving maximum development of reserves of all minerals without exception. Second: reliable planning of mineral extraction levels, which directly contributes to filling the budget of the Russian Federation, determined in accordance with state plans.

The GKZ FBI continues to take an active position in bringing Russian and international approaches to the classification of reserves and resources closer, which will increase the investment attractiveness of raw materials and create a Russian subsoil use system that meets global trends in the development of the mineral resource complex. The new classification of hydrocarbon reserves, which was put into effect on January 1, 2016, allows solving urgent problems of increasing the reliability of reserves and simplifying the scheme of their approval, reducing administrative barriers and harmonizing with international standards. Key changes are highlighted, thanks to which the new classification of hydrocarbons can be called revolutionary:

1. The main difference between the new classifications was the transition to the design principle of allocating categories of reserves and resources, which allows you to take into account not only knowledge, but also the stage of development of the subsoil.
2. A new concept has been introduced - “recoverable reserves for a cost-effective development period”. As a result, the definition of "hard-to-recover reserves" is formalized and the possibilities of public administration in the field of subsoil use are significantly expanded.
3. State expertise of projects and other technological documents for field development has been introduced in terms of determining recoverable and profitable recoverable reserves. Thus, the coordination of project documents, carried out by the Central Commission for the development of hydrocarbon deposits, has become an element of the state examination of reserves. In this regard, in 2015, the Federal State Budgetary Institution GKZ was entrusted with scientific, methodological and technical support of the activities of the Central Control Commission of Rosnedr for air-blast, MPV and PS. Such transformations will make it possible to form a unified history of field development expertise - from putting on the balance sheet to the end of development.

All these factors made it possible to harmonize the Russian classification with the United Nations International Framework Classification. In September 2016, the UN Sustainable Energy Committee approved a binding document between the new Russian classification (RC 2013) and the UN RC. Thus, the Russian classification for UVS became the first national classification in the world recognized by the UN.

At the final stage is the development of a new classification of TPI.

The Expert Technical Council is actively working at the Federal State Budgetary Reserves Committee, which considers the most modern methods and technologies for geological exploration and development of mineral reserves, and contributes to their maximum advancement in production and further technological progress of the industry.

One of the main tasks for the future is the development of the institution of freelance experts through the establishment of constructive cooperation with the Eurasian Union of Subsoil Use Experts, which was created in 2016 with the aim of uniting the expert community and unifying subsoil use standards of the EurAsEC countries.

The composition of the State Commission on Mineral Reserves includes the following departments and divisions:

• Department of operational accounting of hydrocarbons
• Department of geological reserves
• Department of recoverable hydrocarbon reserves
• Department of Metals
• Department of non-metallic minerals and coal
• Groundwater department
• Department for work with territorial divisions of FBU GKZ
• Department of Monitoring, Analysis and Methodology
• Department of Information Technology
• Kazan branch of FBU "GKZ" (Kazan)
• St. Petersburg branch of FBU "GKZ" (St. Petersburg)
• Timan-Pechora branch of FBU "GKZ" (Syktyvkar)
• Volga-Ural branch of FBU "GKZ" (Samara)

Separate division of FBU "GKZ in Perm

• North Caucasian branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "GKZ" (Essentuki)

Separate subdivision of FBU "GKZ in Rostov-on-Don

• West Siberian Branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution "GKZ" (Tyumen)

Separate division of FBU "GKZ in the city of Yekaterinburg

• Novosibirsk branch of FBU "GKZ" (Novosibirsk)

Separate division of FBU "GKZ in Kemerovo

• Krasnoyarsk branch of FBU "GKZ" (Krasnoyarsk)

Separate subdivision of FBU "GKZ in the city of Ulan-Ude

Separate subdivision of FBU "GKZ in Chita

Separate division of FBU "GKZ in the city of Irkutsk

• Khabarovsk branch of FBU "GKZ" (Khabarovsk)

Separate division of FBU "GKZ in the city of Vladivostok

Separate division of FBU "GKZ in the city of Magadan

Separate subdivision of FBU "GKZ in Blagoveshchensk

• Yakutsk branch of FBU "GKZ" (Yakutsk)

• A.K. Meister (1927-1928)
• VC. Kotulsky (1928-1930)
• N.I. Svitalsky (1930-1934)
• THEM. Gubkin (1935-1937)
• A.P. Zavenyagin (1937-1938)
• V.P. Novikov (1938-1940)
• F. Joking (1940-1942)
• P.M. Tatarinov (1942-1946)
• IN AND. Smirnov (1946-1949)
• M.P. Lozhechkin (1949-1957)
• I.I. Malyshev (1957-1971)
• A.M. Bybochkin (1971-1992)
• M.V. Tolkachev (1992-1993)
• O.V. Zaborin (1993-2002)
• Yu.A. Podturkin (2004-2014)
• I.V. Shpurov (2014-present)

Official website of the institution