MINERAL WEALTH OF THE METALLURGICAL FACTORIES OF THE VYATKA PROVINCE IN THE PRE-REFORM PERIOD

The author studied the specifics of the mineral resource base of the iron and copper smelting factories of the mining department on the territory of the Vyatka province at the end of the XVIII - first half of the XIX centuries. The article pays attention to mining legislation of the mineral resources exploration in the Russian Empire. The dynamics of the mines number is studied on the example of the northern and southern economic districts of the Vyatka province. The percentage of fields put into operation has been determined. The reasons of stopping of mines have been revealed. The dependence of the productivity level on the quality of natural resources, technical and technological conditions (predominance of manual labor, lack of mechanisms), personnel problems (shortage of specialists and workers) has been determined. Conclusions are drawn that, on the one hand, the mining and metallurgical industry of the Vyatka province occupied a significant place in the income structure of the region, and on the other hand, the percentage of iron and copper production was half as much as in the Urals, due to the peculiarities of local ores and a number of other reasons.