Mineral resources of the earth. Fossil resources
Diamonds, the hardest natural material, are mined in Russia
Minerals are Russia's main wealth. The well-being of the people and the solution to many economic issues depend on this area. Natural resources provide both the country’s internal needs for raw materials and the ability to supply them to other countries.
Russia has the most powerful potential of mineral resources in the world, which allows it to occupy a leading place on the planet in terms of explored reserves of the most important minerals. Reserves of natural resources are distributed very unevenly throughout the country. Most of them are concentrated in Siberia, the main storehouse of the country.
Russia is a leading country in terms of reserves of coal, iron ore, potassium salts and phosphates. In addition, it is common knowledge that our country has many oil fields. Oil and natural gas- the basis of the country's fuel and energy balance. Oil and gas fields are concentrated in 37 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The largest oil reserves are concentrated in the central part of Western Siberia.
Russia is also the world leader in iron ore mining. The world's largest iron ore deposits are located in the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly (KMA) region. Just three KMA iron ore mines provide almost half of the total volume of ore mined in Russia. There are smaller iron ore deposits on the Kola Peninsula, Karelia, the Urals, the Angara region, South Yakutia and other areas.
Russia has reserves of various non-ferrous and rare metals. In the north of the Russian Plain and in the mountains of southern Siberia there are deposits of titanomagnetite ores and bauxite. Copper ores are concentrated in the Northern Caucasus, the Middle and Southern Urals, and Eastern Siberia. Copper-nickel ores are mined in the Norilsk ore basin.
Gold is mined in the depths of Yakutia, Kolyma, Chukotka, and the mountains of Southern Siberia. Our country is also rich in sulfur, mica, asbestos, graphite, and various precious, semi-precious and ornamental stones. Table salt is mined in the Caspian region, the Urals, the Altai Territory and the Baikal region. Diamonds are also mined in Russia - the hardest natural material.
Did you know that diamonds and coal have the same chemical formula and are the same in chemical composition? In addition, they vary from colorless to dark gray. In Russia, diamonds were first discovered in the Middle Urals, then in Yakutia and later in the Arkhangelsk region. Precious and semiprecious stones The Urals are famous. Emeralds, malachites, jasper, aquamarines, rock crystal, alexandrite, topazes and amethysts are found here.
Russia supplies the world market with 30-40% of produced gas, more than 2/3 of oil, 90% of copper and tin, 65% of zinc, and almost all the raw materials for the production of phosphate and potash fertilizers.
Minerals of Russia
Russia is one of the largest powers in the world in terms of total natural resource potential. It is especially rich in minerals. Among the countries of the world, Russia is the leader in reserves of fuel and energy resources.
The mineral resources complex of the Russian Federation provides about 33% of GDP and 60% of federal budget revenues.
Russia receives more than half of its foreign exchange earnings through the export of primary mineral raw materials, primarily oil and natural gas. The Russian Federation contains a significant portion of the world's proven reserves the most important species minerals (diamonds, nickel, natural gas, palladium, oil, coal, gold and silver). The population of Russia is only 2.6% of the total population of the Earth, but our country provides more than half of the world's production of palladium, a quarter of nickel, natural gas and diamonds, over 10% of oil and platinum.
Mining and processing of mineral resources forms the basis of the economy of all the most prosperous constituent entities of the Russian Federation. In many peripheral regions of Russia, mining enterprises are city-forming enterprises and, including service organizations, provide up to 75% of jobs. Oil, natural gas, coal, ferrous, non-ferrous and precious metals, diamonds provide a stable socio-economic situation in the regions of the north of the European part of Russia, the Urals, Western Siberia, Kuzbass, the Norilsk mining hub, Eastern Siberia and the Far East.
The distribution of mineral resources throughout the country is associated with the characteristics and differences in tectonic processes and the conditions for the formation of minerals in previous geological eras.
Ore minerals are confined to the mountains and ancient shields. In foothill troughs and on platform troughs, and sometimes in intermountain depressions, there are deposits of sedimentary rocks - oil and gas. The position of coal deposits is approximately the same, but coal and oil rarely occur together. Our country ranks one of the first in the world in terms of reserves of many minerals (and first in terms of natural gas reserves).
The cover of the ancient platform on the East European Plain contains various minerals of sedimentary origin.
Limestone, glass and construction sands, chalk, gypsum and other mineral resources are mined in the Central Russian and Volga Uplands. Coal and oil are mined in the Pechora River basin (Komi Republic). There are brown coals in the Moscow region (west and south of Moscow) and other minerals (including phosphorites).
Iron ore deposits are confined to the crystalline foundation of ancient platforms.
Their reserves are especially large in the area of the Kursk magnetic anomaly, where high-quality ore is mined in quarries (Mikhailovo deposit, Belgorod group of deposits). A variety of ores are confined to the Baltic Shield on the Kola Peninsula (in the Khibiny Mountains). These are deposits of iron ore (in the Murmansk region - Olenegorskoye and Kovdorskoye, and in Karelia - Kostomuksha), copper-nickel ores (in the Murmansk region - Monchegorskoye). There are also deposits of non-metallic minerals - apatite-nepheline ores (Khibinskoe near Kirovsk).
The Urals still remains one of the important iron ore regions of Russia, although its reserves have already been severely depleted (Kachkanarskaya, Vysokogorskaya, Goroblagodatskaya groups of deposits in the Middle Urals, as well as Magnitogorsk, Khalilovskoye, Novo-Bakalskoye in the Southern Urals, etc.).
Siberia and the Far East are rich in iron ores (Abakanskoye, Nizhneangarskoye, Rudnogorskoye, Korshunovskoye deposits, as well as deposits in the Neryungri region in the south of Yakutia, in the Zeya River basin in Far East and etc.).
Copper ore deposits are concentrated mainly in the Urals (Krasnoturinskoye, Krasnouralskoye, Sibaevskoye, Blavinskoye, etc.) and, as noted earlier, on the Kola Peninsula (copper-nickel ores), as well as in the mountains southern Siberia(Udokan), etc.
In the area of development of deposits of copper-nickel ores, as well as cobalt, platinum and other metals in the north of Eastern Siberia, the Big City Polar region - Norilsk.
IN Lately(after the collapse of the USSR) in different areas Russia has to begin developing deposits of manganese, titanium-zirconium and chromium ores, the concentrates of which were previously completely imported from Georgia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.
Siberia and the Far East are regions of the Russian Federation exceptionally rich in ore and non-metallic minerals.
The granite intrusions of the Aldan Shield are associated with reserves of gold (placer deposits in the basins of the Vitim, Aldan, Yenisei, and Kolyma rivers) and iron ores, mica, asbestos and a number of rare metals.
Industrial diamond mining has been organized in Yakutia. Tin ores are present in the Yana Highlands (Verkhoyansk), in the region of Pevek, Omsukchan (on the Kolyma Highlands), and in the Far East (Dalnegorsk).
Polymetallic ores (Dalnegorskoe, Nerchinsk deposits, etc.), copper-lead-zinc ores (in Rudny Altai), etc. are widely represented. Deposits of non-ferrous metals are also presented in Caucasus mountains– Sadonskoye lead-pink deposit (Republic of North Ossetia) and tungsten-molybdenum deposit in Tyrnyauz (Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria). Of the deposits and areas of distribution of raw materials for the chemical industry (nonmetallic), it should be noted: Kingiseppskoye in the Leningrad region and Vyatsko-Kamaskoye in the Kirov region (phosphorites), in lakes Elton, Baskunchak and Kulundinskoye, as well as in Usolye-Sibirskoye (table salt), Verkhnekamskoye deposit - Solikamsk, Berezniki (potassium salt) and many others.
In the south of Western Siberia there are large reserves of coal.
The vast Kuznetsk coal basin is located in the spurs of the Kuznetsk Alatau. It is this pool that is currently the most used in Russia.
Russia also owns the southeastern part of the Donetsk coal basin (most of which is located on the territory of Ukraine) and coal is mined there (Rostov region).
In the northeast of the European part of the country there is the Pechora coal basin (Vorkuta, Inta - Komi Republic). There are huge reserves of coal on the Central Siberian Plateau (Tunguska Basin) and in Yakutia (Lena Basin), but these deposits are practically not used due to difficult natural and climatic conditions and poor development of the territory.
These are promising deposits. Many coal deposits are being developed in Siberia and the Far East (South Yakutskoye - in Yakutia, Uglegorskoye - on Sakhalin, Partizanskoye - near Vladivostok, Urgalskoye - on the Bureya River, Cheremkhovskoye - near Irkutsk, etc.). Coal deposits in the Urals (Kizelovskoye) have not yet lost their importance, although brown coal is still represented here to a greater extent (deposits - Karpinskoye, Kopeiskoye, etc.). The largest, most famous and currently developed brown coal deposit is the Kansko-Achinskoye deposit in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.
Since the last century, oil has been extracted in the North Caucasus (Grozny and Maikop oil and gas regions - the Republics of Chechnya and Adygea).
These fields are closely connected with the oil-bearing basins of the northern part of the Caspian region in Kazakhstan, as well as on the Absheron Peninsula in Azerbaijan.
In the 1940s, oil and gas fields of the Volga region and the Urals began to be developed (Romashkinskoye, Arlanskoye, Tuymazinskoye, Buguruslanskoye, Ishimbayskoye, Mukhanovskoye, etc.), and then the fields of the Timan-Pechora oil and gas province in the northeast European Russia(oil - Usinskoye, Pashninskoye, gas condensate - Voyvozhskoye, Vuktylskoye).
And only in the 60s, the deposits of the West Siberian basin, which is now largest region oil and gas production in Russia.
In the north of Western Siberia (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug) the largest gas fields of Russia (Yamburgskoye, Urengoyskoye, Medvezhye, Balakhninskoye, Kharasaveyskoye, etc.) are concentrated, and in the middle part of the West Siberian region (Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug) - oil fields (Samotlorskoye , Megionskoye, Ust-Balykskoye, Surgutskoye and other fields). From here, oil and gas are supplied through pipelines to other regions of Russia, neighboring countries, as well as to European countries.
There is also oil in Yakutia, and it is being extracted on Sakhalin Island. It should be noted the discovery of the first industrial accumulation of hydrocarbons in the Khabarovsk Territory (Adnikanovo field). For the Far East, with its chronic shortage of energy resources, this event is very important.
The volume of proven mineral reserves in Russia is estimated at $10 trillion, and undiscovered resources - at least $200 trillion.
According to this indicator, Russia is approximately 4 times ahead of the United States.
Until now, it was generally accepted that all or almost all of Russia’s mineral resources are located in the Urals, the Far East and Siberia, and the European part of the country, especially its Northwestern region, is a poor region in this regard. But the North-Western region is also a unique territory in terms of mineral resources.
In recent years, new deposits have been discovered in the Russian Federation: natural gas on the shelf Barents Sea(Shtokman), gas condensate – on the shelf Kara Sea(Leningradskoe), oil - on the shelf of the Pechora Bay.
The first diamond deposits associated with kimberlite pipes were found first near St. Petersburg and only 10–15 years later in the Arkhangelsk region (the famous Lomonosov pipes).
In addition, large reserves of non-metallic minerals exist in the North-West (especially in Karelia and the north of the Leningrad region). Large reserves of uranium ores have been found in the Kursk-Ladoga crater.
In the field of mining, the following problems can be identified.
The country's mineral resource base has a relatively low investment attractiveness due to the unfavorable geographical and economic location of many mineral deposits and the relatively low quality of mineral raw materials, their low competitiveness in modern economic conditions.
Therefore, it is necessary to implement effective policies aimed at rational use mineral resource base. For these purposes, the “Energy Strategy of Russia for the period until 2020” was developed, which reflects the state policy on the main issues of development of the fuel and energy complex, its raw materials (primarily oil and gas) component.
In the Russian Federation, the problem of replenishing reserves at mining enterprises in the main mining regions of the country has sharply worsened.
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, for the period from 1994 to 1999, the replenishment of reserves extracted from the subsoil with their increases amounted to 73% for oil, 47% for gas, 33% for copper, 57% for zinc, and 41% for lead.
Over 70% of oil companies' reserves are on the verge of profitability.
If ten years ago the share of oil reserves with a well flow rate of 25 tons/day involved in the development was 55%, now this share is made up of reserves with a well flow rate of up to 10 tons/day, and the oil reserves of highly productive fields, providing about 60% of production, have been depleted by more than than 50%.
The share of reserves with depletion over 80% exceeds 25%, and the share with a water cut of 70% makes up over a third of developed reserves. Hard-to-recover reserves continue to grow, the share of which has already reached 55-60% of those being developed.
The development of coal raw materials is carried out at a pace that does not correspond to their potential.
The development of coal production and growth in coal consumption must occur in a rational combination with the production and consumption of other energy resources, taking into account the reserves of each of them, their distribution throughout the country, the cost of production and transportation to the consumer, etc.
Large mining and processing plants (GOK), which form the basis of the Russian iron ore industry - Lebedinsky, Mikhailovsky, Stoilensky, Kachkanarsky, Kostomushsky, Kovdorsky - are provided with reserves for 25-35 years or more.
The underground mines of Siberia and the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly are sufficiently supplied with reserves.
Minerals in Russia
At the same time, a number of iron ore enterprises have unfavorable raw material bases. Thus, at the Olenegorsk mining and processing plant, the main quarry - Olenegorsky - is provided with reserves for only 15 years, Kirovogorsky - for 20 years.
In 12-13 years, the rich ores in the quarries of the Mikhailovsky and Stoilensky mining and processing plants will be completely mined.
After the collapse of the USSR, Russia was left with virtually no industrial deposits of manganese ores.
Their explored reserves amount to 146 million tons; production on an industrial scale is not carried out. The largest known deposit, Usinskoye in the Kemerovo region, with reserves of 98.5 million tons of poor, difficult-to-process carbonate ores, is classified as a reserve deposit; the remaining deposits are not planned for development. The predominant type of ore is difficult-to-process carbonate, which accounts for about 91% of balance reserves, the rest is easy-to-process oxide and oxidized ores.
Our country still ranks first in the world in terms of explored reserves and production of nickel.
In the early 90s, Russia accounted for 95% of proven reserves and 91% of nickel production in the CIS countries. Since the main type of nickel deposits is sulfide copper-nickel, many of the problems of developing the mineral resource base and nickel production indicated above for copper are also true for nickel, especially in the Norilsk region.
In order to expand the mineral resource base of nickel, it is necessary to strengthen geological exploration work in the areas of existing enterprises, as well as searches for deposits in promising areas of Karelia, Arkhangelsk, Voronezh, Irkutsk and Chita regions, as well as Buryatia.
As scientists predict, in the coming years the situation with our own production of lead and zinc will worsen even more.
In addition to the retirement of zinc mining capacity in the Ural copper-zinc deposits, reserves in developed lead-zinc deposits in other areas will decrease by 2010.
by 80-85%. An analysis of the state of the raw material bases of mining enterprises shows that by 2005, 11 mines in the regions of the North Caucasus, Western and Eastern Siberia were withdrawn from the number of operating mines. It remains relevant to carry out geological exploration work in the areas of existing enterprises for additional exploration of flanks and deep horizons at the exploited deposits of the Nerchinsky, Sadonsky, Altai Mining and Processing Plant, PA Dalpolimetal, as well as to identify new deposits of rich lead-zinc ores in these and other promising areas - Buryatia, Primorye , Krasnoyarsk Territory, Altai.
The demand for tin exceeds its production by almost a third, and the difference was previously covered by imports.
The current situation in the tin mining industry seems quite difficult. A number of enterprises are poorly supplied with proven reserves. These include enterprises developing reserves of tin primary and alluvial deposits in Magadan region and Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, where a number of mining—enrichmentfactories.
The situation on the global tin market will become increasingly unfavorable for consumers in the future. The price of refined tin on the London Metal Exchange is constantly increasing. The further deterioration of the situation on the world market is explained by the fact that the countries that are the main consumers of tin (USA, Western European countries, Japan) do not have their own raw material resources, and its needs are forecast to increase.
It is estimated that tungsten mines have reserves for an average of 34 years, but for individual mines the duration of production ranges from 8 to 40 years.
At the same time, large reserves of low-grade ores in the Tyrnyauz and Inkur deposits account for 76% of all reserves of developed deposits. The supply of reserves for five mines with rich deposits and one with average quality ores is 8-14 years.
This means that in 10-15 years, reserves will be exhausted at half of the tungsten mining enterprises, and the remaining mines will develop mainly low-grade ores.
Russia, unfortunately, lags significantly behind the advanced industrial developed countries according to the level of consumption of tantalum, niobium, strontium and other rare and rare earth metals.
In particular, in terms of consumption of niobium and rare earths, our country lags behind the United States by 4 and 6 times, respectively. Meanwhile, Russia has a fairly large raw material base of rare and rare earth metals, but it is poorly developed. In recent years, rare earth and tantalum production has practically ceased, and niobium production has been reduced by 70% compared to 1990. At the same time, of those produced by Lovozersky plant(Murmansk region) of tantalum and niobium concentrates, more than half of the metallic niobium and all the tantalum were produced at factories in Estonia and Kazakhstan.
Crisis state Russian economy is manifested in the ongoing decline in production and domestic consumption of almost all strategic types of raw materials and primary products from them.
Oil and coal production, steel production, production of aluminum, nickel, lead, zinc, other non-ferrous and precious metals, diamonds, phosphate and potash fertilizers decreased in the 90s to a critical level (by 30-60%), and rare and rare earth minerals by 90-100%. The situation is also aggravated by the extremely insufficient, and for most types of raw materials, the complete absence of new mining capacities and the catastrophic curtailment of geological exploration work.
Russia lags behind other developed countries in terms of consumption of mineral resources per capita.
Thus, in per capita consumption of the most important minerals - copper, lead, zinc, tin - Russia ranks 9-11th in the world, in molybdenum, nickel, aluminum, zirconium and tantalum - 4-6th place, in phosphate concentrate and fluorspar, respectively, are 7th and 6th in the world.
But it is precisely these indicators that characterize the level of economic development of the country, and in end result– national independence and authority of the state in the international arena.
When developing a strategy for the development of the mineral resource base, the time factor should be taken into account as a determining factor.
The experience of developing Russian territories shows that preparing a resource base in volumes that are profitable for industrial development requires 10-15 years, subject to the concentration of significant funds. The modern resource base, even in developed areas, is characterized by a complex structure, and under the current tax system, at least 50% of prepared reserves turn out to be unprofitable for industrial development.
It’s sad, but we have to admit that the state has withdrawn itself from both the development of the mineral resource base and the management of the fuel and energy complex, which leads to the development of negative processes throughout the economy.
Thus, the problem of the development of the fuel and energy complex and its mineral resource base is one of the most important for the Russian economy, on the solution of which both the country’s development prospects and its national security depend.
ORE DEPOSITS
Rocks surrounding the deposit or included in it, containing no metal (useful mineral) at all or containing, but in an amount insufficient for industrial processing, is called waste rock.
The boundary between ore and non-metallic minerals is arbitrary.
Many minerals that were previously used immediately after extraction are now undergoing complex processing to extract all their useful components. Sometimes a mineral, such as limestone, is not processed; sometimes it is used as a chemical raw material. Therefore, now the term “ore” is losing its original meaning. It is also applied to many non-metallic minerals. In this sense, we will continue to use the concept of “ore”.
The choice of development system and technology from the characteristics characterizing a deposit is most influenced by its shape (morphology), size and occurrence conditions.
Based on their shape, ore bodies can be divided into three groups:
isometric, i.e.
i.e. equally developed in all three directions in space;
columnar, i.e. elongated in one direction;
vein type - elongated in two directions.
The first type of isometric ore bodies includes rods and nests. Often they have irregular shape but all three dimensions in space are more or less equal. Rods differ from nests in their large sizes, measured in tens and hundreds of meters.
A typical nest-shaped deposit is the Khaidarkan mercury deposit (Central Asia).
Many primary diamond deposits have a columnar shape. IN South Africa Diamond tubes extend several kilometers in depth with transverse dimensions measured in hundreds of meters.
In the Krivoy Rog basin, ore bodies with a length exceeding the thickness by more than six times are classified as columnar.
Lentils and lenses are transitional forms from the first to the third group.
A typical representative of this type of ore bodies are the Ural copper-pyrite deposits. The lens-shaped Rio Tinto copper pyrite deposit (Spain) consists of lenses with a length of 300 to 1700 m and a thickness of up to 100 - 250 m.
Ore bodies of the third group - sheet and vein - are limited by more or less parallel planes (surfaces) and have a thickness that varies within relatively small limits.
The veins are often irregular in shape and have variable thickness.
Ore deposits of the same group, which differ from the layers in a less consistent shape and thickness, are called sheet-like.
There are also more complex forms of ore bodies - saddle-shaped, dome-shaped, etc.
In most cases, a deposit is represented not by one, but by several ore bodies.
These co-occurring ore bodies are separated from one another by waste rock; sometimes they intersect, join together and separate again. In this case, one ore body is the main one, and the rest are its branches.
Deposits are often disturbed by faults and shifts; they are bent, crushed, or fragmented, as a result of which their development becomes more complicated.
The more irregular the deposit is in shape, the more tectonic disturbances it has, the more difficult its development, the greater the loss of ore it occurs.
In addition to the shape of the deposit, an important feature is the nature of its contact with the host rocks.
In some cases, the contact is sharply expressed, and the ore body is clearly separated from the host rocks. In other cases, the transition from ore to gangue occurs gradually, and the boundaries of commercial mineralization can only be determined by sampling.
Development of deposits with distinct contacts is usually easier. Sometimes the presence of mineralization in the host rocks, on the contrary, has a beneficial effect on development, since the ore during mining is clogged not with empty rocks, but with ore-bearing rocks.
Depending on the nature of the distribution of ore minerals, they are distinguished: solid ores, consisting of ore minerals mixed with a certain amount of rock, and usually having sharp boundaries with the host rocks; disseminated ores are relatively rare inclusions of ore minerals in an ore rock, usually having distinct boundaries with the host rock.
In many deposits both types of ores occur; Usually in the middle part of the ore body the ores are continuous, and at the periphery they are disseminated. In the Leninogorsk lead-zinc mines, continuous sulfide ores, as they approach the contact of the recumbent side, gradually become poorer and turn into hornfels disseminated ores. At the Degtyar copper deposit, solid copper-pyrite ore ores in places transform into disseminated lead ores.
Some deposits of Krivbass in their central part or on one side are represented by continuous rich ores, which are gradually replaced in the direction of the lying side by disseminated ores and then by weakly ferruginous side rocks.
One of the main factors determining the choice of system is the angle of incidence.
Based on the angle of incidence, deposits are divided into horizontal and gently dipping with an angle of incidence from 0 to 25°; inclined with an incidence angle from 25 to 45° and steeply inclined with an incidence angle of more than 45°. This division is associated with a significant change in development conditions and the use of different methods of mining and ore delivery at different angles of incidence.
The thickness of an orebody is measured as the distance between the hanging wall and the footwall of the deposit.
If this distance is measured along the normal, then the power is called true, but if it is measured vertically or horizontally, then the power is called vertical and horizontal, respectively. Vertical thickness is used for gently dipping ore bodies, horizontal thickness for steeply dipping ones.
In a stock-shaped deposit, the thickness is considered to be the smaller of its horizontal dimensions.
The larger horizontal dimension is called the rod length. Sometimes the power of a rod is considered to be its vertical dimension, and the horizontal power is called its width. The latter is appropriate when the rod (array) has significant dimensions horizontally and relatively small dimensions vertically.
The thickness of ore bodies can change along strike and with depth gradually or abruptly, naturally or randomly.
Inconstancy of thickness is typical for ore deposits. Drastic changes capacity makes development difficult.
For deposits with variable thickness of ore bodies, the extreme limits of its fluctuations are indicated, as well as the average thickness for individual sections of the deposit.
Based on their thickness, ore bodies can be divided into five groups.
Very thin, less than 0.6 m thick, during the development of which the mining excavation is accompanied by the blasting of the host rocks.
Safety rules allow a minimum width of the treatment space of 0.6 m, and a height (if the ore bodies are gently sloping) of 0.8 m.
Thin - with a thickness of 0.6 to 2 m, during the development of which the production excavation can be carried out without blasting the host rocks, but carrying out horizontal development workings in most cases requires their blasting.
Average thickness - from 2 to 5 m. The upper limit of thickness corresponds to the maximum length of the simplest type of support during a mining excavation - spacers, racks.
The development of medium-thickness deposits can be carried out without blasting the host rocks, both during production excavation and during development workings.
Thick - from 5 to 20 m, the excavation in which, with a steep drop, can be carried out along the strike to the full thickness.
Very thick - more than 20 - 25 m. Mining in these ore bodies is usually carried out across the strike.
The depth of the deposit also largely determines the choice of development method.
Depth is indicated from the surface vertically to the upper and lower boundaries of the deposit. The distance between the lower and upper boundaries of the deposit vertically or along the slope of the formation determines the depth of its distribution.
Deposits with a depth of more than 800 m are considered deep. At this depth, peculiar manifestations of rock pressure begin, expressed in the shooting of rocks and rock bursts.
The ore area of a deposit is the area of its horizontal section.
The depth of occurrence and distribution of the deposit, the ore area, the length along the strike, as well as the angle of incidence, may be different in different areas of the deposit.
Therefore, different development systems are often used in separate areas of the same field.
Of all the physical mechanical properties ores and host rocks, the greatest influence on the choice of development system and mining technology is their strength and stability.
The strength of rocks, determined by the combination of many of their physical and mechanical properties (hardness, viscosity, fracturing, layering, the presence of foreign inclusions and interlayers), affects the choice of mining system, machines and tools used in mining, the productivity of mining machines and the productivity of miners , on the consumption of materials and the cost of production.
For the first time, the classification of rocks by “strength coefficient” was created by the famous Russian scientist prof.
MM. Protodyakonov (senior). It is still widely used in domestic practice and literature.
Indicators of rock stability that would make it possible to determine the amount of permissible exposure have not yet been established. Therefore, when choosing a development system, a method for maintaining mined-out space and the area of permissible exposure, approximate characteristics of rocks in terms of their stability are used.
Based on their stability, ores and host rocks can be divided into the following five groups.
Very unstable - they do not allow the roof and sides of the mine to be exposed at all without fastening and, as a rule, require the use of advanced support.
Minerals
When developing ore deposits, such rocks (quicksand, loose and loose rocks saturated with water) are very rare.
Unstable - allow a slight exposure of the roof, but require strong support after the excavation.
Medium stability - they allow the roof to be exposed over a relatively large area, but with prolonged exposure they require maintenance.
Stable - allow very significant exposure of the roof and sides and need to be maintained only in certain places.
Very stable - allow huge exposure both from below and from the sides and long time can stand without collapsing, without support.
Breeds of this group are less common than the two previous groups. Rocks of the 3rd and 4th groups are most common during the development of ore deposits.
The lumpiness of broken ore (the size of the pieces obtained during breaking) is characterized by its granulometric composition, i.e.
e. the quantitative ratio of pieces of various sizes in the total mass of broken ore. The size of irregularly shaped pieces is usually expressed as the average size in three mutually perpendicular directions.
There are different gradations of lumpiness. The following gradation is the simplest and most convenient.
Ore fines - from ore dust to pieces with transverse dimensions of 100 mm. When developing vein deposits, ore is sometimes sorted and waste rock is removed from it; in this case, a special gradation is distinguished - unsorted fines with piece sizes less than 50 mm.
Medium size ore - from 100 to 300 mm.
The ore is coarse - from 300 to 600 mm.
The ore is very coarse - more than 600 mm.
The lumpiness of ore during breaking depends, on the one hand, on the physical and mechanical properties of the ore in the massif, in particular on its structure, and on the other hand, on the breaking method used, the diameter of blast holes and wells, their location, type of explosive, blasting method and etc.
A qualified piece of ore is a piece with the maximum allowable size that can be released from a mined block for loading into haulage vessels.
During underground mining of ore deposits, it ranges on average from 300 to 600 mm and sometimes reaches 1000 mm.
The size of the standard piece has a great influence on the choice of equipment for all production processes of mining, delivery, loading, and transportation.
Pieces of ore exceeding standard sizes are usually called oversized.
The weight amount of oversized pieces in the total mass of broken ore, expressed as a percentage, is called the oversized yield.
Ore deposits, compared to coal deposits, have a number of features arising from their geological origin.
They significantly influence the content and technological solutions when developing an ore deposit.
The main features are:
high strength and abrasiveness of ores, most of which have a strength coefficient of 8 - 12, and stronger ones - 15 - 20.
This necessitates the use of explosive breaking in underground work in most cases associated with drilling and charging holes and wells;
variety of sizes and variability of ore body occurrence elements, which significantly influences the adoption of technological decisions, stripping and preparation schemes, as well as the choice of development systems;
variability in the content of useful components and the mineralogical composition of ores over the volume of the deposit, which necessitates averaging the quality of the ore mass coming from different blocks;
less destruction of broken ore when moving it by gravity along ore passes up to 100 m or more in length.
This influences the features of opening deposits and preparing blocks;
less reliable information about mining and geological conditions and the flow of technological processes, which complicates operational control of their implementation;
a wide range of stability of ores and host rocks, which predetermines a variety of technological solutions;
the ability of some ores to caking and spontaneous combustion, which limits the use of mining systems with storage of broken ore;
the high value of most ores, which determines more stringent requirements for the completeness and quality of mineral extraction;
the absence of methane emissions in most mines, which allows the use of open fire and normal equipment in underground conditions.
Previous34353637383940414243444546474849Next
SEE MORE:
Mineral reserves in Russia are large.
502: bad gateway
It ranks first in the world in iron ore reserves. Balance reserves of iron ore are estimated at 90-100 billion tons, forecast reserves are much higher. Most of the explored iron ore reserves are located in the European part of Russia.
The most important iron ore basin is the KMA (Kursk Magnetic Anomaly) basin.
Balance reserves of KMA (according to various sources) amount to 40-50 billion tons, most of which are concentrated in the Belgorod and Kursk regions.
In the European part of Kostomuksha, Kovdor and Olenegorsk there are iron ore deposits, the balance reserves of which are estimated at 4 billion Euros.
The iron ore of the Urals is concentrated in Goroglagodatsky, Kachkanar, Serov, Bakal Orsk-Khalilov and other areas.
The eastern regions account for more than 10 billion tons of balance reserves. The main iron deposit of Tashtagol ( Kemerovo region). Bakchar, South Kolpashevo (Tomsk). Abakansky, Nizhneangarsk, Teisko (Krasnoyarsk) Korshunov Rudnogorsk, Tagorskoe (Irkutsk region) Garinsky (Amur region). Kimkanskoe ( Khabarovsk region), Aldan basin (Republic of Sakha).
The main roles of manganese ore remained outside of Russia (Ukraine, Georgia).
Ore deposits are located in the Urals (midnight mine) in Russia, Western Siberia (Usinsk deposit), and the Far East (Khingan).
In the Perm region (Saranovskoe deposit) there are chromite ores.
Ore non-ferrous metals contain a significantly smaller amount of useful components. Therefore, while the poorest iron ores contain at least 20% iron, copper ores with a copper content of 5% are considered rich.
To heavy Non-ferrous metals are usually called zinc, lead, nickel, chromium, tin, easily metals, aluminum, magnesium, titanium, alloying (used as additives for steel) - tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium.
group nobly metals - silver, gold, platinum.
Deposits of copper ore, which are located in the Urals (Krasnoural'sk, Kirovograd, Degtyarsk, Karabashsky Gaiskie, Blyavinskoe and other applications), in Eastern Siberia (Talnakh, Norilsk, Udokan deposits) in the Murmansk region (Pechenga Monchetundra) for the North Caucasus (Urupskaya deposit ).
Deposits of silver (polymetallic) ores in most cases are characterized by a complex composition.
In addition to zinc and lead, they contain copper, silver, tin, gold, etc.
The main polyethylene ores are concentrated in Eastern Siberia(Ozernoye, Khapcheranga, Kili, Garevskoye), in the Far East(Dalnegorskoye field), Western Siberia(Salair, Zmeinogorskoye field), on North Caucasus(Sadon deposit).
The raw materials for the production of nickel and cobalt are nickel (containing copper and nickel) and cobalt ore.
The main reserves of these ores are concentrated in Eastern Siberia (Talnakh, Oktyabrsky, Khova Aksinskaya-pole), the Urals (upper Ufalej, Khalilovsky and other deposits) on the Kola Peninsula (nickel). When it comes to nickel reserves, Russia ranks first in the world.
The main deposits of tin ore are associated with the Pacific ore belt and were located in the Far East (ESE-Khaya, Deputatskoye, Omsukchanskoye, Solntse, Hrustalnenskoe deposit) and partly in Transbaikalia (Hapcheranga, Sherlovaya Gor).
Ores, tungsten and molybdenum are found in the Northern Caucasus (Tyrnyauz), Eastern Siberia and the Far East (Dzhida, Davenda, Vostok-2).
Bauxite, nepholine and alunites are used as raw materials for aluminum production.
Aluminum ores are found in many areas, which form the basis for the aluminum industry. In European Russia, bauxite deposits have been discovered in Tikhvin, Leningrad), Arkhangelsk (Northern Onega), Belgorod (Vislovskoe) deposits in the Komi Republic (bauxite region of southeastern Timan). In the Murmansk region there are Nepheline deposits in the Khibiny Mountains. In the Urals there are bauxite dumps in Sverdlovsk region(Little Red Riding Hood, Cheremukhovskoe). There are deposits of bauxite and non-cellulose; In western and eastern Siberia (diaries of Salairsky, Kiya-, Shaltyrsky, Nizhneangarsk, Bokson, Goryachegorsky).
The role of titanium and magnesium ores was determined in the Urals, Siberia and the Komi Republic.
Silver is limited to areas where polymetallic ores occur.
The main gold reserves are concentrated in the Republic of Sakha (Aldane Ust-Nera box, Kular), in the Magadan region (Kolyma region), Chukotka in Eastern Siberia (Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk and Chita regions).
The main sources of platinum are associated with deposits of copper-nickel ores (Norilsk, Murmansk region).
group mining and chemical resources includes phosphate ores, potassium and ordinary salts, sulfur and others, which form the raw material base of the chemical industry.
Phosphate ores - apatite and phosphorite, which are raw materials for the production of phosphate fertilizers. Higher reserves of apatite concentrate in the Khibiny Mountains are phosphates located in the central region (Egoryevskoye), Volga-VYATKA (Vyatko-Kama deposit), Middle Black regions of Siberia and the Far East.
Russia ranks first in the world in terms of potassium salt reserves.
Kornennaya potassium deposits (Solikamsk, Berezniki), located in the region and Permian salt deposits in addition to the above in Orenburg (Sol-Iletsk fields), Astrakhan (ie Elton Baskunchak), Western and Eastern Siberia (Mikhailovskoye, Usol-Siberian deposits) .
Russia has large and varied resources mineral construction materials that are the basis for industrial development building materials and the construction industry.
Almost all natural building materials are available in all economic regions.
Thus, Russia's mineral resource potential is very impressive. The cost of research into some types of minerals in Russia is estimated at 20-30 trillion.
U.S. dollar. Forecast estimates are 140 trillion. dollars. According to calculations, reserves of coal, iron ore, potassium salts and phosphorus raw materials in Russia are guaranteed for two or three centuries.
Sedimentary minerals most typical for platforms, since the platform cover is located there. These are mainly non-metallic minerals and fuels, the leading role among which is played by gas, oil, coal, and oil shale. They were formed from the remains of plants and animals accumulated in the coastal parts of shallow seas and in lake-marsh land conditions. These abundant organic residues could only accumulate in sufficiently moist and warm conditions, favorable for lush development. In hot, dry conditions, in shallow seas and coastal lagoons, salts accumulated, which are used as raw materials in.
Mining
There are several ways mining. Firstly, this is an open method in which rocks are mined in quarries. It is more economically beneficial, as it helps to obtain a cheaper product. However, an abandoned quarry can cause a wide net to form. The mine method of coal mining requires large expenditures and is therefore more expensive. The cheapest method of oil production is flowing, when oil rises through a well under oil gases. The pumping method of extraction is also common. There are also special methods of mining. They are called geotechnological. With their help, ore is mined from the depths of the Earth. This is done by downloading hot water, solutions into layers containing the necessary minerals. Other wells pump out the resulting solution and separate the valuable component.
The need for minerals is constantly growing, the extraction of mineral raw materials is increasing, but minerals are exhaustible natural resources, so it is necessary to use them more economically and fully.
There are several ways to do this:
- reducing losses of minerals during their extraction;
- more complete extraction of all useful components from the rock;
- integrated use of mineral resources;
- search for new, more promising deposits.
Thus, the main direction in the use of minerals in the coming years should not be an increase in the volume of their production, but a more rational use.
At modern searches mineral resources, it is necessary to use not only the latest technology and sensitive instruments, but also a scientific forecast for the search for deposits, which helps to conduct targeted exploration of subsoil on a scientific basis. It was thanks to such methods that diamond deposits in Yakutia were first scientifically predicted and then discovered. A scientific forecast is based on knowledge of the connections and conditions for the formation of minerals.
Brief description of the main minerals
The hardest of all minerals. Its composition is pure carbon. It is found in placers and as inclusions in rocks. Diamonds are colorless, but they are also found in various colors. A cut diamond is called a diamond. Its weight is usually measured in carats (1 carat = 0.2 g). The largest diamond was found in Yuzhnaya: it weighed more than 3,000 carats. Most diamonds are mined in Africa (98% of production in the capitalist world). In Russia, large diamond deposits are located in Yakutia. Clear crystals are used to make gemstones. Before 1430, diamonds were considered common gemstones. The trendsetter for them was the Frenchwoman Agnes Sorel. Due to their hardness, opaque diamonds are used industrially for cutting and engraving, as well as for polishing glass and stone.
Soft malleable metal yellow color, heavy, does not oxidize in air. In nature it is found mainly in its pure form (nuggets). The largest nugget, weighing 69.7 kg, was found in Australia.
Gold is also found in the form of placers - this is the result of weathering and erosion of the deposit, when grains of gold are released and carried away, forming placers. Gold is used in the production of precision instruments and various jewelry. In Russia, gold lies on and in. Abroad - in Canada, South Africa,. Since gold occurs in nature in small quantities and its extraction is associated with high costs, it is considered a precious metal.
Platinum(from the Spanish plata - silver) - a precious metal from white to steel-gray color. It is characterized by refractoriness, resistance to chemical influences and electrical conductivity. It is mined mainly in placers. It is used for the manufacture of chemical glassware, in electrical engineering, jewelry and dentistry. In Russia, platinum is mined in the Urals and Eastern Siberia. Abroad - in South Africa.
Gems(gems) - mineral bodies with beautiful color, brilliance, hardness, and transparency. They are divided into two groups: stones used for cutting and semi-precious stones. The first group includes diamond, ruby, sapphire, emerald, amethyst, and aquamarine. The second group includes malachite, jasper, and rock crystal. All precious stones, as a rule, are of igneous origin. However, pearls, amber, and coral are minerals of organic origin. Precious stones are used in jewelry and for technical purposes.
Tuffs- rocks of various origins. Calcareous tuff is a porous rock formed by the precipitation of calcium carbonate from sources. This tuff is used to produce cement and lime. Volcanic tuff - cemented. Tuffs are used as a building material. Has different colors.
Mica- rocks that have the ability to split into thin layers with a smooth surface; found as impurities in sedimentary rocks. Various micas are used as a good electrical insulator, for the manufacture of windows in metallurgical furnaces, and in the electrical and radio industries. In Russia, mica is mined in Eastern Siberia, in. Industrial development of mica deposits is carried out in Ukraine, the USA, .
Marble- crystalline rock formed as a result of limestone metamorphism. It comes in different colors. Marble is used as a building material for wall cladding, architecture and sculpture. In Russia there are many of its deposits in the Urals and the Caucasus. Abroad, the most famous marble is mined in.
Asbestos(Greek inextinguishable) - a group of fibrous fireproof rocks that split into soft fibers of greenish-yellow or almost white. It occurs in the form of veins (a vein is a mineral body that fills a crack in the earth’s crust, usually has a plate-like shape, going vertically to great depths. The length of the veins reaches two or more kilometers), among igneous and sedimentary rocks. It is used for the manufacture of special fabrics (fire insulation), tarpaulins, fire-resistant roofing materials, as well as thermal insulation materials. In Russia, asbestos mining is carried out in the Urals, in, and abroad - in and other countries.
Asphalt(resin) - a brittle, resinous rock of brown or black color, which is a mixture of hydrocarbons. Asphalt melts easily, burns with a smoky flame, and is a product of changes in certain types of oil, from which some of the substances have evaporated. Asphalt often penetrates sandstones, limestones, and marl. It is used as a building material for road surfaces, in electrical engineering and the rubber industry, for the preparation of varnishes and mixtures for waterproofing. The main asphalt deposits in Russia are the Ukhta region, abroad - in, in France,.
Apatity- minerals rich in phosphorus salts, green, gray and other colors; found among various igneous rocks, in some places forming large accumulations. Apatites are mainly used for the production of phosphate fertilizers, they are also used in the ceramics industry. In Russia, the largest deposits of apatite are located in, on. Abroad, they are mined in the Republic of South Africa.
Phosphorites- Sedimentary rocks rich in phosphorus compounds that form grains in the rock or bind various minerals together into a dense rock. The color of phosphorites is dark gray. They, like apatites, are used to produce phosphate fertilizers. In Russia, phosphorite deposits are common in the Moscow and Kirov regions. Abroad, they are mined in the USA (Florida Peninsula) and.
Aluminum ores- minerals and rocks used to produce aluminum. The main aluminum ores are bauxite, nepheline and alunite.
Bauxite(the name comes from the area of Beau in the south of France) - sedimentary rocks of red or brown color. 1/3 of the world's reserves lie in the north, and the country is one of the leading countries in their production. In Russia, bauxite is mined in. The main component of bauxite is aluminum oxide.
Alunites(the name comes from the word alun - alum (French) - minerals that contain aluminum, potassium and other inclusions. Alunite ore can be a raw material for the production of not only aluminum, but also potash fertilizers and sulfuric acid. Alunite deposits are in the USA , China, Ukraine, and other countries.
Nephelines(the name comes from the Greek “nephele”, which means cloud) - minerals of complex composition, gray or green in color, containing a significant amount of aluminum. They are part of igneous rocks. In Russia, nephelines are mined in and in Eastern Siberia. Aluminum obtained from these ores is a soft metal, produces strong alloys, and is widely used in the production of household goods.
Iron ores- natural mineral accumulations containing iron. They are varied in mineralogical composition, the amount of iron in them and various impurities. Impurities can be valuable (manganese chromium, cobalt, nickel) and harmful (sulfur, phosphorus, arsenic). The main ones are brown iron ore, red iron ore, and magnetic iron ore.
Brown iron ore, or limonite, is a mixture of several minerals containing iron with an admixture of clay substances. It has a brown, yellow-brown or black color. It is most often found in sedimentary rocks. If the ores of brown iron ore - one of the most common iron ores - have an iron content of at least 30%, then they are considered industrial. The main deposits are in Russia (Ural, Lipetsk), Ukraine (), France (Lorraine), on.
Hematite, or hematite, is a red-brown to black mineral containing up to 65% iron.
Found in various rocks in the form of crystals and thin plates. Sometimes it forms clusters in the form of hard or earthy masses of a bright red color. The main deposits of red iron ore are in Russia (KMA), Ukraine (Krivoy Rog), USA, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Canada, Sweden.
Magnetic iron ore, or magnetite, is a black mineral containing 50-60% iron. This is high quality iron ore. Composed of iron and oxygen, highly magnetic. It occurs in the form of crystals, inclusions and solid masses. The main deposits are in Russia (Ural, KMA, Siberia), Ukraine (Krivoy Rog), Sweden and the USA.
Manganese ores- mineral compounds containing manganese, the main property of which is to give steel and cast iron malleability and hardness. Modern metallurgy is unthinkable without manganese: a special alloy is smelted - ferromanganese, containing up to 80% manganese, which is used to smelt high-quality steel. In addition, manganese is necessary for the growth and development of animals and is a microfertilizer. The main ore deposits are located in Ukraine (Nikolskoye), India, Brazil and the Republic of South Africa.
Tin ores- numerous minerals containing tin. Tin ores with a tin content of 1-2% or more are being developed. These ores require beneficiation - increasing the valuable component and separating waste rock, so ores are used for smelting, the tin content of which has been increased to 55%. Tin does not oxidize, which caused it wide application in the canning industry. In Russia, tin ores are found in Eastern Siberia and on, and abroad they are mined in Indonesia, on the peninsula.
Nickel ores- mineral compounds containing nickel. It does not oxidize in air. The addition of nickel to steels greatly increases their elasticity. Pure nickel is used in mechanical engineering. In Russia it is mined on the Kola Peninsula, the Urals, and Eastern Siberia; abroad - in Canada, in Brazil.
Uranium-radium ores- mineral accumulations containing uranium. Radium is a product of the radioactive decay of uranium. The radium content in uranium ores is negligible - up to 300 mg per 1 ton of ore. are of great importance, since the fission of the nuclei of each gram of uranium can produce 2 million times more energy than burning 1 gram of fuel, so they are used as fuel in nuclear power plants to generate cheap electricity. Uranium-radium ores are mined in Russia, the USA, China, Canada, Congo, and other countries of the world.
I would be grateful if you share this article on social networks:
Mineral resources are usually called minerals extracted from the subsoil. Minerals are natural mineral substances in the earth's crust, which, given the state of technological development, can be extracted with sufficient economic effect and used in the national economy in their natural form or after preliminary processing.
Modern farming uses about 200 types of mineral raw materials. There is no single, generally accepted system for their classification. Depending on the physical or chemical properties of the extracted raw materials, on the sector of the economy where they are used, on the characteristics of their occurrence in the earth’s crust, known minerals are divided into groups.
The classification of minerals based on the technology of their use is widely used: fuel and energy raw materials (oil, coal, gas, uranium), ferrous, alloying and refractory metals (ores of iron, manganese, chromium, nickel, cobalt, tungsten, etc.), non-ferrous metals (ores of aluminum, copper, lead, zinc, mercury, etc.), noble metals (gold, silver, platinoids), chemical and agronomic raw materials (potassium salts, phosphorites, apatites, etc.), technical raw materials (diamonds, asbestos, graphite, etc.), fluxes and refractories, cement raw materials.
The world's predicted geological reserves of mineral fuel exceed 12.5 trillion tons. At the current level of extraction, these resources should be enough for 1000 years. These reserves consist of coal (up to 60%), oil and gas (about 27%), as well as shale and peat.
Among fuel and energy resources, the largest reserves in the world are in coal. The world's proven reserves of hard and brown coal are over 5 trillion tons, and reliable reserves are about 1.8 trillion tons.
Coal resources have been explored in 75 countries of the world. The largest coal deposits are concentrated in the USA (445 billion tons), China (272 billion tons), Russia (200 billion tons), South Africa (130 billion tons), Germany (100 billion tons), Australia (90 billion tons), Great Britain (50 billion tons), Canada (50 billion tons), India (29 billion tons) and Poland (25 billion tons).
In general, the world's coal resources are abundant, and their supply is much greater than other types of fuel. At the current level of global coal production (4.5 billion tons per year), the currently explored reserves may last for about 400 years.
In European countries, as well as in many coal basins in Russia, the upper layers of deposits have already been developed, and extracting coal from depths of over 1000 m is unprofitable with current equipment and technology. Only the development of coal deposits remains profitable open method(in the Western basin of the USA, Eastern Siberia, South Africa, Australia). Thus, mining 1 ton of anthracite in Germany costs three times more than importing from South Africa, including delivery costs.
Most of the oil fields are dispersed across six regions of the world and are confined to inland territories and continental margins: the Persian Gulf - North Africa; Gulf of Mexico - Caribbean Sea (including coastal areas of Mexico, USA, Colombia, Venezuela and Trinidad); islands of the Malay Archipelago and New Guinea; Western Siberia; northern Alaska; North Sea (mainly Norwegian and British sectors); O. Sakhalin with adjacent areas of the shelf.
World oil reserves amount to more than 132.7 billion tons. Of these, 74% are in Asia, including the Middle East (more than 66%). The largest oil reserves are in: Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, UAE, Kuwait, Iran, Venezuela.
The volume of world oil production is about 3.1 billion tons, i.e. almost 8.5 million tons per day. Production is carried out by 95 countries, with more than 77% of crude oil production coming from 15 of them, including Saudi Arabia(12.8%), USA (10.4%), Russia (9.7%), Iran (5.8%), Mexico (4.8%), China (4.7%), Norway (4 .4%), Venezuela (4.3%), Great Britain (4.1%), United Arab Emirates (3.4%), Kuwait (3.3%), Nigeria (3.2%), Canada (2 .8%), Indonesia (2.4%), Iraq (1.0%).
It should also be taken into account that with the current production technology, on average, only 30-35% of the oil lying in the depths is extracted to the surface.
Proven reserves of this type of fuel have grown over the past 15 years from 100 to 144 trillion m3. The increase is explained both by the discovery of a number of new deposits (in particular, in Russia - in Western and Eastern Siberia, on the shelf of the Barents Sea), and by the transfer of part of the geological reserves to the explored category.
The largest proven reserves of natural gas are concentrated in Russia (39.2%), Western Asia (32%), they are also in North Africa(6.9%), Latin America (5.1%), North America (4.9%), Western Europe (3.8%). Recently, significant reserves have been discovered in Central Asia. At the beginning of 1998, natural gas reserves were: Russia - 47,600 billion m 3; Iran - 21,200 billion m 3; USA - 4654 billion m 3; Algeria - 3424 billion m 3; Turkmenistan - 2650 billion m3.
The supply of natural gas at the current level of its production (2.2 trillion m3 per year) is 71 years. In terms of fuel equivalent, gas reserves are close to proven oil reserves (270 billion tons).
Iron ore reserves are important for the production of ferrous metals. The world's predicted iron ore resources reach approximately 600 billion tons, and proven reserves reach 260 billion tons. The world's largest iron ore deposits are located in Brazil, Australia, Canada, Russia, China, the USA, India, and Sweden. Iron ore production in the world is 0.9-1.0 billion tons per year. The resource supply of the world economy with this type of raw material is approximately 250 years.
Of the raw materials for the production of non-ferrous metals, bauxite is in first place. The largest bauxite deposits are concentrated in Australia, Guinea, Brazil, Venezuela, and Jamaica. Bauxite production reaches 80 million tons per year, so current reserves should last for 250 years. In Russia, bauxite reserves are relatively small.
Geological reserves of copper ore are estimated at 860 million tons, of which explored reserves are 450 million tons (in India, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Congo, USA, Russia, Canada). At the current production volume - 8 million tons per year - the explored reserves of copper ore will last approximately 55 years.
The largest reserves of bauxite (the main raw material of the aluminum industry) are located in Guinea (42% of world reserves), Australia (18.5%), Brazil (6.3%), Jamaica (4.7%), Cameroon (3.8%) and India (2.8%). In terms of production scale (42.6 million tons), Australia ranks first.
The total volume of gold production in the world is 2200 tons. The first place in the world in gold production is occupied by South Africa (522 tons), the second place is by the USA (329 tons). The oldest and deepest gold mine in the United States is Homestake in the Black Hills (South Dakota); Gold mining has been going on there for over 100 years. Modern extraction methods (imitation) make it profitable to extract gold from numerous poor and poor deposits.
Approximately 2/3 of the world's silver resources are associated with polymetallic copper, lead and zinc ores. Silver is extracted mainly as a by-product from galena (lead sulfide). The deposits are predominantly vein deposits. The largest silver producers are Mexico (2323 tons), Peru (1910 tons), USA (1550 tons), Canada (1207 tons) and Chile (1042 tons). The largest proven uranium reserves are found in Australia (more than 20% of the world's reserves), Kazakhstan (18%), Canada (12%), Uzbekistan (7.5%), Brazil and Niger (7% each). The large Shinkolobwe uranite deposit is located in Democratic Republic Congo. China, Germany and the Czech Republic also have significant reserves.
Another important mineral resource - table salt - is obtained from deposits rock salt and by evaporating salt lake water and sea water. The world's resources of table salt are practically inexhaustible. Almost every country has either rock salt deposits or salt water evaporation plants. A colossal source of table salt is the World Ocean itself. The first place in the production of table salt is occupied by the USA (21%), followed by China (14%), Canada and Germany (6% each). Significant salt mining occurs in France, Great Britain, Australia and Poland.
Diamonds, the most famous of gemstones, play an important role in industry due to their exceptionally high hardness. World diamond production is 107.9 million carats (200 mg); including 91.2 million carats (84.5%) of industrial diamonds and 16.7 million carats (15.5%) of jewelry diamonds. In Australia and Congo, the share of jewelry diamonds is only 4-5%, in Russia - about 20%, in Botswana - 24-25%, South Africa - more than 35%, in Angola and the Central African Republic - 50-60%, in Namibia - 100 %.
Russia is a huge country with practically inexhaustible natural resources. The greatest variety among them are minerals. The Russian Federation occupies a leading place in the world in the export of natural resources, which are estimated at trillions of rubles. However, not all deposits of oil, gas, coal or metals are easily accessible.
Despite the uniqueness, diversity and a large number of natural resources, They characterized by uneven distribution throughout the country. Unfortunately, they are often located in hard-to-reach regions, the extraction from which is greatly hampered by remoteness and complex climatic conditions up to permafrost. At the same time, large-scale exploitation of known sources leads to a rapid depletion of raw materials from them.
Currently, several types of resources are allocated to ensure the country's wealth.
Fresh water is a vital resource, but its reserves are not endless. A large proportion of its total volume is in the form of glaciers and icebergs, which makes such water practically inaccessible. A potential source is permafrost. The water currently used comes from rivers, lakes, reservoirs and underground springs.
20% of the world's water reserves are in Russia, this fact gives the country first place in terms of resource volume. However, clean sources account for less than half of them. The situation can only be corrected by taking environmental measures, in particular, limiting the flow of waste from enterprises into fresh waters.
Land resources
Russia has millions of hectares of land, a quarter of which is actively used in agriculture. Thanks to arable land, which is especially abundant in Siberia and the Urals, and pastures for various farm animals, including deer, the population can be fully provided with food, and industrial complexes receive raw materials.
Forest wealth
Almost half of the entire territory of the Russian Federation is occupied by forest belts, mostly formed coniferous trees. There are especially many of them in the Far East and Siberia. Russia's timber reserves are huge, but the approach to using this resource leaves much to be desired. Deforestation occurs more actively than planting new trees. This does not allow for full efficient use of the resource. The situation is aggravated by the need for long transportation across the country, as well as the hot summer season, which leads to large-scale fires.
Renewable Energy
Solar energy, the wind can become magnificent alternative sources for the operation of power plants. In Kamchatka, Sakhalin and Chukotka, in Krasnodar region, Kaliningrad and Leningrad regions A number of installations using solar, wind or geothermal resources are already in operation. These projects are interesting, but so far they have not reached the level of industrial scale.
Minerals
Russia has almost all types of mineral resources, developed in several tens of thousands of deposits, however, only about 7 thousand are used on an industrial scale. Oil, gas, coal, metals, mining and chemical raw materials, minerals and precious stones - Russia is fully rich in all of this.
On average, Russia accounts for:
Thanks to its vast territory, Russia occupies one of the first places among countries rich in deposits of precious and rare earth metals. IN beginning of XXI century, the total amount of mineral resources in Russia was estimated at approximately 840 trillion rubles. Of these, 270 trillion are gas, 200 trillion are coal, 130 are oil, 120 are non-metallic raw materials.
Further development of deposits, especially gas and oil, is projected to be estimated at between 73 and 240 trillion rubles. However, minerals mined in Russia are often of low quality due to the poor content of useful components, which can be half as low as in similar raw materials located in another territory. In addition, their extraction is complicated by climatic conditions and the inaccessibility of remote areas for transport.
Since fossils are distinguished by a variety of groups, they receive the most attention when studying natural resources in geography. They are found almost throughout the country.
The diversity of natural resources is combined with a very large reserves some of their types, significant volumes of production and use. This determines special role resource potential of the Russian Federation in the global natural resource complex.
Oil, gas and coal
Russia's first place in gas reserves and seventh in the number of oil sources allows the state to receive stable income from the export of these raw materials. Currently, the country has 14 billion tons of oil, and in the future this figure may reach 63 billion. The north and east of the country and the sea shelves are rich in deposits. Half of the known sources are not developed, only 50% of the total volume is sold from those discovered, researchers predict the discovery of new deposits in Siberia.
The deposits are usually found in sedimentary rocks and are believed to have been formed hundreds of millions of years ago. The main oil and gas provinces of Russia:
In each province there can be up to three hundred springs, which are located throughout the entire thickness of the earth. Some oil and gas bearing rocks are more than 500 million years old and are the oldest.
Russia ranks third in coal production. It is being overtaken by the United States and China. The total tonnage of coal is more than one and a half trillion. List of famous swimming pools:
- Kuzbass.
- Pechorsky.
- South Yakutsk.
- Part of Donbass.
Oil shale and peat
Resin is obtained from oil shale, which has similar properties and composition to oil. The shale deposit, which has the greatest industrial importance, is located in St. Petersburg. In addition, deposits were discovered in Siberia, Pechora and Volga regions.
Peat can be used as fuel and fertilizer. Previously, gas was extracted from it by distillation and used for lighting. The overwhelming majority of Russian peat fuel deposits are located in the Ural and Siberian districts.
Metal ores
Russia occupies a leading position in the extraction of iron ore minerals, which are characterized by strength, as well as the complexity of their composition, which includes many components. Russia's main iron ore basin is called the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly.
There are several small deposits of low quality manganese located mainly in the Urals and Siberia. Their base metal content is low and requires a complex beneficiation process for industrial use.
The bulk of titanium mined in the country comes from alluvial deposits containing small amounts of iron titanate compounds. Also in Russia there are several primary deposits characterized by a small content of titanium oxides.
Chrome is mainly mined in the Perm region, and a small share of production occurs in the Urals. Researchers predict the discovery of new large mineral deposits of this metal. Chromium ores contain large amounts of impurities of aluminum, magnesium and iron oxides and require additional enrichment.
Vanadium, whose alloys are widely used in nuclear energy and metallurgy, in Russia it is extracted from titanomagnetite containing it. This iron ore is widespread near the Caspian Sea and on Kuril Islands. Vanadium can be found in coal and iron deposits.
Aluminum is mined in the Urals and Siberia, but its volume is not enough to cover all the needs of the country. And this despite the fact that Russia ranks second after China in the production of primary aluminum. However, the ores are of low quality. The prospects for discovering new deposits are very doubtful.
Complex ores of molybdenum and niobium are found in the Caucasus; individually, these transition metals are found in Yakutia, Chukotka and other regions. Ores usually contain too little trioxide. There are few molybdenum deposits, and its export is unprofitable on the world market, since production is associated with great difficulties due to inconvenient territorial location deposits. In addition, it requires large financial costs, while the quality of the final product is very low. All this makes Russian molybdenum uncompetitive in Europe, but in the future it is possible that new deposits containing metal of better quality will be discovered.
Russian copper is of good quality, but its development is difficult due to climatic conditions. The Norilsk region, the Kola Peninsula, the Caucasus and the Urals are rich in copper. Moreover, the content of the metal itself in ores usually does not exceed 20%, and sometimes is at the level of tenths of a percent.
Cobalt and Nickel, along with platinum and copper, is common in Norilsk and the Kola Peninsula. The length of such deposits sometimes reaches several kilometers. In Tuva there is a deposit rich in arsenic along with the metals in question.
Tin developed in the Far Eastern region accounts for almost 8% of the world's production of this metal. Thanks to this, Russia ranks sixth in the production of this ore, however, the metal content in it is very low, tin is three times less than in sources of other countries and does not even reach a percent, and therefore sources of Russian origin are little valued.
Zinc in Russia is often mined from ores that also contain large amounts of lead and copper. Along with them, tin, gold, silver, platinum and its transition elements, rare earth metals, inert gases and minerals are found in the deposits.
Uranium, used in the production of nuclear fuel, is mined in Russia from more than 50 deposits. The main part falls on Transbaikalia. This will be enough for development for 15-20 years. Currently, approximately two-thirds of all production is exported, the rest is used for the needs of nuclear power plants within the country.
Noble and rare metals
Gold resources in Russia make it possible to obtain this metal in quantities of more than 3 thousand tons per year. There are forecasts that this figure will increase several times. There are several ore deposits in the eastern regions, and gold placers are present in Magadan and Transbaikalia.
Silver is presented in ores complex with other noble metals and in individual deposits. Russia ranks first in the world in silver mining.
8% of the world's total platinum is divided between the Urals and the Murmansk region.
The list of rare metals in Russia includes:
- tantalum in Eastern Siberia;
- beryllium in the Khabarovsk Territory;
- germanium in the Sakhalin region, Primorsky and Transbaikal territories;
- niobium in Yakutia.
Mining chemical raw materials
Among the fossils related to mining chemical raw materials, the following are common in Russia:
- potassium and magnesium salts (Perm region);
- sodium cations (Siberia);
- calcium salts (Primorye);
- phosphates (Urals, Krasnoyarsk region, Irkutsk region);
- sulfur (Far East);
- minerals of barium sulfates (Western Siberia, Khakassia).
Gems
Russia is rich in deposits of the following precious stones:
Thus, the mineral reserves in Russia are enormous. There is practically no resource that is not available in the state. And the primary task should be the competent use of wealth and their renewal, as far as possible.
Natural resources of Russia
Mineral resources are minerals that form naturally in the earth's crust. They can be of organic and inorganic origin.
More than two thousand minerals have been identified, and most of them contain inorganic compounds formed by various combinations of eight elements (O, Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Na, K, and Mg), which make up 98.5% of the Earth's crust. The world's industries depend on about 80 known minerals.
A mineral deposit is an accumulation of solid, liquid or gaseous minerals in or above the earth's crust. Mineral resources are non-renewable and exhaustible natural resources and may also have metallic (eg iron, copper and aluminum) as well as non-metallic properties (eg salt, gypsum, clay, sand, phosphates).
Minerals are valuable. This is an extremely important raw material for many basic sectors of the economy, which is the main resource for development. Mineral resource management must be closely integrated with overall strategy development, and the exploitation of mineral resources should be guided by long-term goals and prospects.
Minerals provide society with everything necessary materials, as well as roads, cars, computers, fertilizers, etc. Demand for minerals is increasing around the world as populations grow and the extraction of the Earth's mineral resources accelerates with environmental consequences.
Classification of mineral resources
| Energy (fuel) mineral resources (coal, oil and natural gas) |
Non-energy mineral resources | |
| Metallic properties | Non-metallic properties | |
| Precious metals (gold, silver and platinum) | Building materials and stones (sandstone, limestone, marble) | |
| Ferrous metals (iron ore, manganese) | Other non-metallic mineral resources (salt, sulfur, potash, asbestos) | |
| Non-ferrous metals (nickel, copper, tin, aluminum, lead, chrome) | ||
| Feroalloys (alloys of iron with chromium, silicon, manganese, titanium, etc.) | ||
World Mineral Resources Map
The role of mineral resources
Mineral resources play an important role in the economic development of countries around the world. There are regions rich in minerals, but unable to extract them. Other resource-producing regions have the opportunity to grow economically and gain a number of benefits. The significance of mineral resources can be explained as follows:
1. Industrial development
If mineral resources can be extracted and used, the industry that uses them will develop or expand. Gasoline, diesel fuel, iron, coal, etc. necessary for industry.
2. Employment
The presence of mineral resources creates jobs for the population. They enable skilled and unskilled personnel to have employment opportunities.
3. Development Agriculture
Some mineral resources serve as the basis for the production of modern agricultural equipment, machinery, fertilizers, etc. They can be used for modernization and commercialization of agriculture, which help develop the agricultural sector of the economy.
4. Energy source
There are various energy sources such as gasoline, diesel, natural gas, etc. They can provide the necessary energy to industry and populated areas.
5. Developing your own independence
The development of the mineral resources industry allows for the creation of more jobs with high quality products, as well as the independence of individual regions and even countries.
6. And much more
Mineral resources are a source of foreign currency, making it possible to earn money from the development of transport and communications, increase exports, supplies of building materials, etc.
Mineral Resources of the Oceans
Oceans cover 70% of the planet's surface and are involved in a huge number of different geological processes responsible for the formation and concentration of mineral resources, and are also a repository for many of them. Consequently, the oceans contain a huge amount of resources, which are the basic needs of mankind today. Resources are now extracted from the sea or areas that used to be within it.
Chemical analyzes showed that sea water contains about 3.5% dissolved solids and more than sixty identified chemical elements. The extraction of dissolved elements, as well as the extraction of solid minerals, is almost always economically expensive, since the geographical location of the object (transportation), technological limitations (the depth of ocean basins) and the process of extracting the necessary elements itself are taken into account.
Today, the main mineral resources obtained from the oceans are:
- Salt;
- Potassium;
- Magnesium;
- Sand and gravel;
- Limestone and gypsum;
- Ferromanganese nodules;
- Phosphorite;
- Metallic sediments associated with volcanism and vents on the ocean floor;
- Gold, tin, titanium and diamond;
- Fresh water.
Extraction of many mineral resources from the depths of the oceans is prohibitively expensive. However, population growth and the depletion of readily available land-based resources will undoubtedly lead to increased exploitation of ancient deposits and increased extraction directly from the waters of the oceans and ocean basins.
Extraction of mineral resources
The purpose of mining mineral resources is to obtain minerals. Modern mining processes include mineral prospecting, profit potential analysis, method selection, direct extraction and processing of resources, and final land reclamation upon completion of the operation.
Mining generally has negative impacts on environment, both during mining operations and after their completion. Consequently, most countries around the world have adopted regulations aimed at reducing exposure. Occupational safety has long been a priority, and modern methods have significantly reduced the number of accidents.
Features of mineral resources
The first and most basic characteristic of all minerals is that they occur naturally. Minerals are not produced by human activity. However, some minerals, such as diamonds, can be manufactured by humans (these are called synthesized diamonds). However, these man-made diamonds are classified as minerals because they meet their five basic characteristics.
Besides being formed through natural processes, mineral solids are stable at room temperature. This means that all solid minerals that occur on the surface of the Earth do not change in shape under normal temperature and pressure. This characteristic excludes liquid water, but includes its solid form - ice - as a mineral.
Minerals are also represented by chemical composition or atomic structure. The atoms contained in minerals are arranged in a certain order.
All minerals have a fixed or variable chemical composition. Most minerals are composed of compounds or various combinations of oxygen, aluminum, silicon, sodium, potassium, iron, chlorine and magnesium.
The formation of minerals is a continuous process, but a very long one (the level of resource consumption exceeds the rate of formation) and requires the presence of many factors. Therefore, mineral resources are classified as non-renewable and exhaustible.
The distribution of mineral resources is uneven throughout the world. This is explained by geological processes and the history of the formation of the earth's crust.
Problems of using mineral resources
Mining industry
1. Dust generated during the mining process is harmful to health and causes lung diseases.
2. Mining of certain toxic or radioactive minerals poses a threat to human life.
3. Exploding dynamite during mining is very risky as the gases released are extremely poisonous.
4. Underground mining is more dangerous than surface mining because there is a high probability of accidents due to landslides, flooding, insufficient ventilation, etc.
Rapid mineral depletion
Increasing demand for mineral resources forces the extraction of more and more minerals. As a result, energy demand increases and more waste is generated.
Destruction of soil and vegetation
Soil is the most valuable thing. Mining operations contribute to the complete destruction of soil and vegetation. In addition, after extraction (obtaining minerals), all waste is dumped on the ground, which also entails degradation.
Ecological problems
The exploitation of mineral resources has led to many environmental problem, among which:
1. Transformation of productive lands into mountainous and industrial areas.
2. Mining of minerals and the extraction process are among the main sources of air, water and soil pollution.
3. Mining involves huge consumption of energy resources such as coal, oil, natural gas, etc., which in turn are non-renewable sources of energy.
Rational use of mineral resources
It is no secret that the reserves of mineral resources on Earth are rapidly declining, so it is necessary to rationally use the existing gifts of nature. People can save mineral resources by using renewable resources. For example, by using hydroelectricity and solar energy as an energy source, minerals such as coal can be conserved. Mineral resources can also be conserved through recycling. A good example is scrap metal recycling. In addition, the use of new technological mining methods and training of miners saves mineral resources and saves people's lives.
Unlike other natural resources, mineral resources are non-renewable and they are not evenly distributed across the planet. They take thousands of years to form. One important way to conserve some minerals is to replace scarce resources with abundant ones. Minerals that require large amounts of energy to produce must be processed.
The extraction of mineral resources has an adverse impact on the environment, including destroying the habitats of many living organisms and polluting the soil, air and water. These negative consequences can be minimized by preserving the mineral resource base. Minerals are increasingly influencing international relations. In those countries where mineral resources were discovered, their economies improved significantly. For example, oil-producing countries in Africa (UAE, Nigeria, etc.) are considered rich because of the profits made from oil and its products.
If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.
