Estimating Soviet Gold ProductionAPPROVED FOR RELEASE 1994
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
2 JULY 96
SECRET
A case study of the Muruntau Gold Plant
ESTIMATING SOVIET GOLD PRODUCTION
Richard Flynn
The USSR has long maintained a veil of strict, unbroken secrecy on domestic production of gold. The State Secrets Decree of 1947, amended in 1958, forbids disclosure of data on the quantity of gold produced, plan goals, production capacity of plants, and the size of gold deposits. To help ensure a reticent attitude among knowledgeable Soviet officials, the State Secrets Decree carries harsh criminal sanctions for violation of its provisions.
Since the early 1950s, intelligence analysts in the Office of Economic Research (OER) and its predecessor, the Office of Research and Reports, have tried to unravel the mystery of Soviet gold production. By effective use of all-source intelligence — and with expert assistance of other components of the intelligence community, non-USIB agencies, and sources in the business community — OER was able to penetrate much of the official blackout on gold production in the USSR and to develop estimates that are accepted as the official position of the United States government and by the intelligence services of allied nations as well.
Intelligence methods used to estimate gold production in the USSR are highlighted by a new methodology developed to estimate the capacity of the Muruntau Gold Plant, the largest gold plant in the world.*
The Basic MethodologyGold is produced in the USSR by two methods: by mining placer and vein deposits, and by recovery as a by-product in the processing of other non-ferrous metals such as copper, leads, and zinc.....
Read full Story Here: https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol19no3/html/v19i3a02p_0001.htm
CIA HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM
2 JULY 96
SECRET
A case study of the Muruntau Gold Plant
ESTIMATING SOVIET GOLD PRODUCTION
Richard Flynn
The USSR has long maintained a veil of strict, unbroken secrecy on domestic production of gold. The State Secrets Decree of 1947, amended in 1958, forbids disclosure of data on the quantity of gold produced, plan goals, production capacity of plants, and the size of gold deposits. To help ensure a reticent attitude among knowledgeable Soviet officials, the State Secrets Decree carries harsh criminal sanctions for violation of its provisions.
Since the early 1950s, intelligence analysts in the Office of Economic Research (OER) and its predecessor, the Office of Research and Reports, have tried to unravel the mystery of Soviet gold production. By effective use of all-source intelligence — and with expert assistance of other components of the intelligence community, non-USIB agencies, and sources in the business community — OER was able to penetrate much of the official blackout on gold production in the USSR and to develop estimates that are accepted as the official position of the United States government and by the intelligence services of allied nations as well.
Intelligence methods used to estimate gold production in the USSR are highlighted by a new methodology developed to estimate the capacity of the Muruntau Gold Plant, the largest gold plant in the world.*
The Basic MethodologyGold is produced in the USSR by two methods: by mining placer and vein deposits, and by recovery as a by-product in the processing of other non-ferrous metals such as copper, leads, and zinc.....
Read full Story Here: https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol19no3/html/v19i3a02p_0001.htm
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