The Russian Federationhas the world largest reserves of chrysotile asbestos (11 deposits). Asbestos mines and mills (Uralasbest. OJSC, Orenburg Minerals, LLC, and Tuvaasbest) develop the fields that concentrate 80 % of balance reserves of ore. These reserves are sufficient for over a hundred years of work.
Today, out of 850 thousand tons to asbestos mined annually, 42 % or 360 thousand tons are used domestically for the production of asbestos cement and asbestos technical products, heat insulation, and other materials; 58 % or 490 thousand tons are exported.
Almost 38.5 thousand people are employed by the Russian chrysotile industry that incorporates 3 asbestos mines and mills, 24 asbestos cement combines, 9 asbestos technical factories, 2 asbestos board factories, and 3 Research Institutes of Technology.
A considerable part of the combines are town-forming (or urban development) enterprises. The Russian asbestos cement industry annually produces chrysotile-containing products for the total of 18 billion rubles, and its tax payments are as high as 5.4 billion rubles. The total of 400 000 Russian citizens are related to the chrysotile industry.