A HISTORICAL OUTLINE
Considering the ancient origins of man's obsession with gold, Russia's gold mining industry developed extremely late. Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Mediterranean were heavily mined for gold long before the time of Christ, whereas Russia found no gold until relatively recently. Even if one takes into account that Russia is much younger than the aforementioned civilizations, the absence of any gold production at all is startling. This was not for lack of trying. ...