The mineral resources of the Urals are represented by jewelry diamonds and other minerals, as well as various metals and non-metals.

The very first Urals that began to be mined, the history of their mining began about 4 thousand years ago.

Much later, approximately in the V-III centuries BC. e., began to mine iron ore. Gold began to be mined in the 1st millennium BC. Since the deposits reaching the surface, where the minerals of the Urals were located, quickly dried up, it was necessary to carry out deeper developments. But temporarily this type of human activity fell into decline, since in the first millennium BC. the entire Southern Urals are inhabited by nomads who were not involved in the mining and smelting of metals.

Only 1.5 thousand years later, people began to mine the minerals of the Urals again, and a new era of using these resources began.

Minerals of the southern Urals

Ferrous metals

From the end of the 18th century to the present day, brown iron ores have been mined. At the beginning of the last century, iron ore deposits began to be developed at a rapid pace, and the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works was built, but today the ore reserves here are practically exhausted. Not far from Magnitogorsk, a deposit of magnetite and titanomagnetite ores is being developed, which is called Maly Kuybas.

The mineral resources of the Urals are represented not only by iron ores, but also by others such as titanium, chromium, vanadium, and manganese.

Currently, deposits of iron-titanium-vanadium ores are being developed, the reserves of which are very large. They have a high iron content - up to 57%, titanium - up to 6.5%, vanadium - up to 0.4%.

Non-ferrous metals

In the Southern Urals there are many ores of various non-ferrous metals. A large number of deposits of sulfide copper, as well as deposits of sulfide ores, have already been developed. Since they are located at a shallow depth, they are being mined open-pit. Not far from the Arkaim nature reserve, a zinc deposit was discovered at the end of the last century and is now being developed. The main difference between pyrite ores is that they always have several components. If the main ones are zinc and copper, then along with them there is a fairly high amount of gold, lead, silver, as well as such rare metals as gallium, indium, scandium, mercury and others. Sulfur is also obtained from these ores.

Along with pyrite ores, there are significant deposits of porphyry copper ores, which contain a significant amount of molybdenum.

The Ufaley nickel-cobalt ore deposits are known far beyond the country's borders. Some of them have already been worked out, but a constant search for new deposits of these ores is being carried out. There are deposits of bauxite, from which aluminum is smelted.

Noble metals

The Southern Urals are the main supplier of gold to the state treasury. It was in the Urals that a nugget of this metal weighing about 36 kilograms was found. carried out from mines whose depth reaches 700 m. Gold and silver are also mined by processing pyrite ores.

Rare metals

This includes tungsten, tin, tantalum, beryllium and others. Mining of such a rare mineral as columbite is underway. It is from it that niobium is extracted; zirconium ores are also mined, along with which ceramic feldspathic raw materials are mined. There are deposits of tungsten and beryllium ore.

A few kilometers from Satka there is a unique deposit of rare metal ores, namely zirconium, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, which is called Simbirka. This ore has an unusual mineral composition and is very rich in tantalum and niobium, which is extremely rare.

To date, a map of the mineral resources of the Urals has been compiled, which is constantly updated as new searches and development of deposits are carried out.

One of the most valuable minerals for industry is iron ore. Deposits of this mineral are found in abundance in Russia. It is not for nothing that our country is one of the top five in terms of production of this raw material. Let's find out where the richest iron ore deposits in Russia are located.

The role of iron ore in industry

First, let's find out what role it plays in Russia, more precisely, in its industrial production, what qualities it has.

Iron ore is a natural mineral that contains iron in such quantities that its extraction from the ore is cost-effective and feasible.

This mineral is the main raw material for the metallurgical industry. The main end product is cast iron and steel. The commodity form of the latter is called rental. Mechanical engineering, automobile manufacturing, shipbuilding and other areas of the national economy depend indirectly through this industry on the supply of iron ore.

That is why every existing iron ore deposit in Russia is so important for the development of the country. The economic regions of the country, especially the East Siberian, Central Black Earth, Ural, Northern and West Siberian regions, are largely dependent on the processing of ore raw materials.

The main properties of iron, which is why it is so widely used in industry, are strength and heat resistance. Equally important is that, unlike most other metals, the mining and extraction of iron from ore is possible in large volumes and at relatively low cost.

Classification of iron ores

Iron ores have their own classification system.

Depending on the chemical composition, ores are divided into the following types: oxides, hydroxides and carbon dioxide salts.

The main types of iron ore minerals are: magnetite, limonite, goethite, siderite.

Iron ore deposits in Russia also have their own classification. Depending on the method of occurrence of the ore and its composition, they are divided into several groups. The following are of primary importance: sedimentary deposits, skarn, complex, quartzite.

Volumes of reserves and production

Now let’s find out what volumes of iron ore are mined in Russia.

In terms of the volume of explored iron ore deposits in terms of iron, the Russian Federation shares first place with Brazil, having 18% of the total world reserves. This is explained by the fact that we have the largest deposits of iron ore - in Russia.

If we take into account not pure iron, but all ore with impurities, then in terms of reserves the Russian Federation ranks second on the globe - with 16% of world reserves, second only to Ukraine in terms of this indicator.

In terms of production volumes of this valuable mineral, Russia has long been among the top five countries. Thus, in 2014, 105 million tons of iron ore were mined, which is 1,395 million tons less than the leader of this list, China, or 45 million tons less than India, fourth on the list, produces. At the same time, Russia is 23 million tons ahead of next-ranking Ukraine in terms of production.

For many years, Russia has been among the top ten countries in iron ore exports. In 2009, the country ranked sixth with an export volume of 21.7 million tons, in 2013 it dropped to ninth place, and in 2015 it rose to fifth. According to this indicator, the constant world leader is Australia.

In addition, it should be said that two Russian metallurgical plants are among the top ten world giants in the production of iron ore products. These are Evrazholding (production volume - 56,900 thousand tons/year) and Metalloinvest (44,700 thousand tons/year).

Main deposits

Now let's determine where the main iron ore deposits in Russia are located.

The largest iron ore basin in the country is KMA. The Kola ore region and deposits of Karelia have large reserves of ore. The Urals are also rich in iron ore. One of the largest in Russia is the West Siberian basin. Large iron ore deposits in Russia are located in Khakassia and the Altai Territory.

With the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 2014, another large iron ore basin appeared in the Russian Federation - the Kerch basin.

Deposits of the Kursk magnetic anomaly

The Kursk anomaly is not only the largest iron ore deposit in Russia, but also the undisputed world leader in terms of iron content. In terms of the amount of unrefined ore (30,000 million tons), this area is second only to one Bolivian deposit, the reserves of which are still being clarified by specialists.

KMA is located on the territory of the Kursk, Oryol and Belgorod regions and has a total area of ​​120,000 square meters. km.

The basis of iron ore in this region is magnetite quartzite. It is the magnetic properties of this mineral that are responsible for the anomalous behavior of the magnetic needle in this area.

The largest deposits of the KMA are Korobkovskoye, Novoyaltinskoye, Mikhailovskoye, Pogrometskoye, Lebedinskoye, Stoilenskoye, Prioskolskoye, Yakovlevskoye, Chernyanskoye, Bolshetroitskoye.

Deposits and Karelia

Significant iron ore deposits in Russia are located in the Murmansk region and the Republic of Karelia.

The total area of ​​the Kola ore district, located within the Murmansk region, is 114,900 square meters. km. It should be noted that not only iron ore is mined here, but also many other ore minerals - nickel, copper, cobalt ores and apatites. Among the deposits in the region, Kovdorskoye and Olenogorskoye should be highlighted. The main mineral is ferruginous quartzite.

The largest deposits in Karelia are Aganozerskoye, Kostomuksha, Pudozhgorskoye. True, the first of them specializes more in mining

Deposits of the Urals

The Ural Mountains are also rich in iron ore. The main production area is the Kachkanar group of fields. Ore from this region has a relatively high titanium content. Mining is done by open-pit mining. The total explored volumes of iron ore are approximately 7000 million tons.

In addition, it should be said that the largest metallurgical plants in Russia are located in the Urals, in particular Magnitogorsk and NTMK. But at the same time, it should be noted that a significant part of the former reserves of iron ore has been exhausted, so they have to be imported to these enterprises from other regions of the country.

West Siberian Basin

One of the largest iron ore regions in Russia is the West Siberian basin. It could be the largest deposit in the world (up to 393,000 million tons), but, according to exploration data, it is still inferior to the KMA and the El Mutun deposit in Bolivia.

The pool is located primarily in the Tomsk region and occupies an area of ​​260,000 square meters. km. It should be noted that despite the huge volumes of ore reserves, exploration of its deposits and production are associated with a number of difficulties.

The largest deposits in the basin are Bachkarskoye, Chuzikskoye, Kolpashevskoye, Parbigskoye and Parabelskoye. The most significant and explored of them is the first on the list. It has an area of ​​1200 sq. km.

Deposits in Khakassia

The deposits in the Altai Territory and Khakassia are quite significant. But if the development of the first of them is carried out rather weakly, then the Khakassian ore reserves are actively mined. Of the specific deposits, Abagazskoye (volume more than 73,000 thousand tons) and Abakanskoye (118,400 thousand tons) should be highlighted.

These deposits are of strategic importance for the development of the region.

Kerch basin

More recently, in connection with the annexation of Crimea, Russia’s wealth was replenished with the Kerch Basin, rich in iron ore. It is located entirely on the territory of the Republic of Crimea, and has an area of ​​more than 250 square meters. km. Total ore reserves are estimated at 1800 million tons. A peculiarity of ore deposits in this region is that they are located mainly in rock troughs.

Among the main deposits are Kyz-Aulskoye, Ocheret-Burunskoye, Katerlezskoye, Akmanayskoye, Eltigen-Ortelskoye, Novoselovskoye, Baksinskoye, Severnoye. Conventionally, all these deposits are united into the northern and southern groups.

Other iron ore regions

In addition, there are a significant number of other iron ore deposits located in Russia, which are of smaller importance and volume than those listed above.

A large iron ore deposit is located in the Kemerovo region. Its resources are used to provide raw materials to the West Siberian and Kuznetsk metallurgical plants.

In Eastern Siberia, in addition to Khakassia, iron ore deposits are found in Transbaikalia, the Irkutsk region and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In the Far East - in the future - large developments may begin in Yakutia, Khabarovsk and Primorsky Territories, and the Amur Region. Yakutia is especially rich in iron.

However, this is far from a complete list of iron ore deposits that exist in the region. In addition, we must not forget that some deposits may be poorly explored, underestimated in volume, or not discovered at all at the moment.

Importance of the iron ore industry

Of course, the extraction of iron ore and its subsequent processing and export are of quite high importance for the economy of the entire country. Russia has the largest iron ore reserves in the world and is one of the leaders in their extraction and export.

We stopped at the most important iron ore deposits in Russia, but this is not a complete list. This mineral can be found in almost every economic region of the country. Select (by the way, not all iron ore deposits in Russia have been fully explored) any of them on the economic map - and you will definitely come across such a site.

Today this industry is of great interest as a promising direction.

Along with ferrous metals, ores of non-ferrous, rare and precious metals play a huge role in the development of the economy of the Urals.

The copper deposits of the Urals have long been known. They were formed from hot solutions that rose through cracks from the depths of the earth, and can be traced along the entire eastern slope of the Ural Mountains from Vsevolodo-Blagodatsky in the north to Orsk in the south. The ore of most Ural copper deposits is represented by cuprous pyrites (pyrite ores) and contains large amounts of sulfur, as well as zinc, rare and noble metals. This promotes the combination of copper smelting with the chemical industry and other branches of non-ferrous metallurgy. Medium and small copper deposits predominate. The ore usually occurs in the form of veins and small inclusions. There are also large deposits. The content of the base metal in the ore is variable - from traces to several percent. Occasionally there are ores containing up to 30% copper. The presence of a large number of satellites in pyrite ores makes it possible to exploit poor deposits.

The most important copper mining areas (from north to south) are Krasnouralsky, Kirovogradsky, Sredneuralsky, Karabashsky, Orsko-Blyavinsky; outside the district - Uchalinsky and Sibay-Buribaevsky. Deposits in these areas are being intensively developed. The most valuable currently known copper deposit in the Urals, Gai, was discovered only in 1949 near Orsk. Until 1960, five deposits were explored here, stretched into a chain in the form of lenses and layers. Ore bodies are located at different depths - from several tens to hundreds of meters. The average copper content is from 3 to 11%, sulfur - 35-45%. In addition, Gai copper pyrite ores contain zinc, gold, lead, and cadmium. Some of the ore can be mined by open pit mining.

The history of the discovery of this deposit is interesting. The water of a small lake in the vicinity of Orsk has long been known to the local population for its healing properties. A hospital was built on its shore. But no one suspected that the lake water contained copper until in 1933, geologist I.L. Rudnitsky became interested in a bone he saw from a local peasant, which he found at the bottom of the lake. The bone was covered with a green coating of copper oxide. This gave the geologist the idea that copper ores lie somewhere in the lake area. However, searches in the pre-war years did not find copper. Only in 1949, when drilling work in Gai, interrupted by the Great Patriotic War, was resumed, the first ore deposit was found while deepening one of the old wells. It contained 4-5 times more copper than other deposits in the Urals.
Along with copper, molybdenum is often found in contact deposits, and in the oxidation zone, clusters of dense patterned malachite, an excellent ornamental Ural stone, have formed. Malachite is found here both in the form of grains and large blocks. In 1836, a block of malachite weighing more than 300 tons was discovered at the Mednorudyanskoye deposit. It was used to decorate the famous Malachite Hall of the Winter Palace. Of the contact deposits, Turinskoye and Gumeshevskoye are being developed. At the latter, production was resumed in the late 50s after an 80-year break.
In addition to pyrites, contact copper deposits are known in the Urals: Turinskoye, Mednorudyanskoye and Gumeshevskoye. They were formed at the contact of igneous and sedimentary rocks. Copper deposits are represented by individual nests located at different depths and are mined underground. The ores of contact deposits contain, as a rule, a significant amount of copper and were early involved in industrial exploitation.

Copper ores embedded in gabbro were discovered in the Krasnouralsk region (Volkovskoye deposit). These are low-grade ores with a copper content of up to 1%, but they contain, in addition to copper, iron, vanadium and phosphorus. Copper is found in small quantities in cuprous magnetites of the Northern and Middle Urals.

Cuprous sandstones of Upper Permian age are widespread in the Western Urals. Thousands of deposits of these ores are scattered in the strip from Solikamsk to Orenburg. Copper in them is presented in the form of oxide compounds. They contain an average of 2-3%, less often up to 6% of metal, lie shallow from the surface, produce pure copper suitable for use without special purification, and were widely developed in the early period of development of Ural metallurgy. All deposits of cuprous sandstones are small, the ores occur in thin layers and are not yet of industrial importance.

Zinc, in the Urals, is found mainly in copper ores. At the same time, zinc ores were discovered here in the form of typical polymetallic ores containing, in addition to zinc, lead.

The Urals are rich in nickel. Its main reserves are confined to the greenstone belt and the intrusion zone on the eastern slope of the Ural Mountains. The most important are the South Ural nickel deposits, formed in the weathering zone of the coils. Large reserves, occurrence close to the surface under a cover of loose rocks, despite the low metal content, make their exploitation profitable. The second type of nickel ore deposits in the Urals occurs in the contact zone of serpentine rocks with limestones. The percentage of nickel in them is higher than in the first ones, but the concentration of the fossil is low. Such ores are common in the Middle Urals: Ufaleyskoye, Rezhevskoye, Aidirliiskoye, etc. The first two of them are being developed.

Currently, in the southeast of the Orenburg region, in the zone of ultrabasic intrusions, a nickel-rich deposit has been found, named after the Buruktalsky river. The ore body contains, in addition to nickel, iron and cobalt, lies shallow and is accessible for open-pit mining.

The Urals are the main supplier of raw materials for the aluminum and magnesium industry of the Soviet Union. The best Middle Devonian bauxites in our country are located in the Northern Urals. They had long been known to the local population, who considered them poor in iron ore. Indeed, bauxite contains up to 20% iron in the form of oxides, which give the ore a red color. The leading geologist and crystallographer I. S. Fedorov, who worked here in the 90s of the last century, also did not suspect the presence of aluminum in them, calling these ores “poor iron ore.” They were rediscovered in the 30s by geologist N.A. Karzhavin. The first of the Severoural deposits received the poetic name “Little Red Riding Hood”.

Ssneroural bauxites have few harmful silica impurities, and the aluminum oxide content reaches 10%. The thickness of the formation in some places reaches 15 m. The deposit extends from the banks of the Vagran River to the north along the sixtieth meridian, often called the “silver” due to the presence of large accumulations of aluminum along it. The western wing of the bauxite strata comes to the surface and is mined by open-pit mining to a depth of 20-30 m. As the reservoir is developed, open-pit mining is replaced by underground mining. The ore layer is included in highly karst and water-logged limestones. Where the mines are deepened, the influx of water increases. Every year, tens of millions of cubic meters of water are pumped to the surface from the North Ural bauxite mines. During the period from 1941 to 1958, more than 700 million cubic meters were pumped out of the mines. m of water - a whole lake. The main source of water supply to mines is rivers. Therefore, in the area of ​​mines they have to be enclosed in concrete channels.

To the north and south of the North Ural bauxite deposits, reserves of Upper Devonian bauxite have been found - Ivdelskoe. Boyuslovskoye, Ust-Utkinskoye, etc. However, they do not form such large accumulations of ore and not all of them are of industrial importance.

Deposits of Carboniferous bauxite are located in the vicinity of Kamensk-Uralsky. The ore lies in the form of lenses shallow from the surface. The most valuable deposits have been worked out, and mining here has been stopped since the mid-50s.

The USSR ranks first in the world in iron ore reserves. The Soviet Union contains about 54% of the world's proven iron ore reserves. The main deposits in the USSR are the following.

South and Center of the USSR

The ores of the Krivoy Rog deposit are distinguished by a high iron content and a small amount of harmful impurities: 0.04 - 0.08% S and 0.03 - 0.06% R. The Krivoy Rog basin has very large deposits of so-called quartzites, which contain about 35% iron and approximately the same amount of gangue in the form of silica (SiO 2).

The Kerch deposit is represented mainly by brown iron ores, which contain up to 4.6% manganese, up to 1% phosphorus (sometimes higher) and relatively little iron - up to 39%.

The Tula and Lipetsk deposits are represented by brown iron ores. In the ore of the Tula deposit, the iron content reaches 45%, and in the Lipetsk ore - up to 47%. Tula ore contains more phosphorus (about 0.44%).

The Belgorod iron ore district includes five deposits. Some deposits in this area are rich in magnetite quartzites. There are also rich ores here, in which the iron content reaches 61%.

Kursk Magnetic Anomaly (KMA) is a deposit containing rich hematites (containing 54.8 - 61.4% iron) and poor quartzites. The deposit is very large and promising.

Fields of the North-West

There are seven iron ore deposits in this area. The largest are Olenegorskoe and Eno-Kovdorskoe, the ores of which serve as the iron ore base of the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant. The ores of the Olenegorsk deposit are mainly represented by magnetites and hematites. The average iron content in these ores is about 31%. The waste rock of the ores of this deposit is the same as in the Krivoy Rog deposit. Features of the chemical composition of the iron ores of the Eno-Kovdor deposit are their high phosphorus content and the increased basicity of the waste rock. The average iron content for this deposit is 30%.

Iron ore deposit of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia

The iron ore base of the Transcaucasian Metallurgical Plant is the Dashkesan deposit. The ores of this deposit contain up to 14% lime (CaO) and up to 1.2% magnesia (MgO). In terms of iron content, they are classified as poor, since its content does not exceed 39%.

Iron ore deposits of the Urals

The largest deposits in this area include Magnitogorskoye (the ore is used by the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works), Tagil-Kushvinskoye (Kushvinsky and Novo-Tagilsky Metallurgical Plants) and Bakalskoye (Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant).

The bulk of the magnetic iron ore of the Magnitogorsk deposit consists of two types of ores: magnetite and martite. The magnetites of this deposit are sulfurous. The sulfur content in individual nests reaches 4%, and iron 59%. Martites contain significantly less sulfur (up to 0.16%) with an average iron content of 62% (up to 65%). The gangue of these ores consists of silica, alumina, lime and magnesia. The main waste rock is alumina.

Tagil-Kushva magnetic iron ores (Mountains Blagodat, Vysokaya and Lebyazhya) contain up to 62% iron; in some places its content decreases to 30 - 32%. The gangue of these ores consists of silica and alumina. The ore is sulfur and phosphorous; in some areas the sulfur content reaches 1.5% and phosphorus 1.2%. In some areas the ore is relatively pure in phosphorus. Goroblagodat ore contains copper. During mining, ore is divided into low-copper ore, containing up to 0.2% copper, and cuprous ore - up to 0.7%. Lumpy enriched ores are used for blast furnace smelting in their raw form, and dusty ores are used after enrichment and agglomeration.

Brown iron ores of the Bakal deposit can be considered pure in sulfur and phosphorus. The average iron content in the ores of this deposit is 48 - 50%.

Iron ores of Siberia and the Far East

The deposits in this area can be divided into several groups:

Mountainous Shoria, where the ores contain 42 - 55% iron, and Khakassia (the ores contain up to 46% iron). These deposits are the raw material base of the Kuznetsk Metallurgical Plant.

Beloretskaya, Inskaya (in Altai), Auzasskaya and Alatau-Altalytskaya groups, the ores of which will become the raw material base of the West Siberian Metallurgical Plant.

The Angaro-Pitskaya and Angaro-Ilimsk groups with the Nizhne-Angarsk, Korshunovsk, Rudnogorsk and other deposits will be the main bases of the new metallurgical plants - Krasnoyarsk and Pribaikalsk.

Garinskaya and Kimpanskaya groups (Far East), Priargunsky district of the Chita region and Aldanskaya group in the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.

Waste rock from deposits in Siberia and the Far East is presented mainly in the form of calcium oxide (CaO), which does not cause difficulties during blast furnace smelting. Rich ores of this area contain from 50 to 55%, and poor ores 33 to 45% iron.

Deposits of the Kazakh SSR

On a territorial basis, the iron ore resources of the Kazakh SSR are divided into three regions: Central Kazakhstan, Aral and Kustanai. The latter iron ore region is also the base of the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works and the Barnaul Plant in Western Siberia. This area is represented by magnetite ores (45 - 59%) of the Sokolovsky, Sarbaysky, Kacharsky, Kurzhunkulsky and other deposits; brown iron ores (37 - 42%) of the Ayatskoye, Lisakovskoye and Kirovskoye deposits.

According to technological types, iron ores are divided into magnetites (19.0%), hematites (1.9%), brown iron ores (77.3%), siderites (0.1%) and hematite quartzites (1.7%), from of which 4.17 million tons do not require enrichment (55.9%).

The most important indicator of the quality of iron ore is its iron content. Therefore, when metallurgically evaluating iron ores, attention is first of all paid to this indicator, as well as to the composition of the waste rock. Waste rock, for which the ratio of the sum of bases CaO + MgO to the sum of acids SiO2 + Al 2 O 3 is equal to or close to unity, is called self-melting.

Yu.V.Volkov, I.V.Sokolov, A.A.Smirnov, Institute of Mining Engineering, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Despite the 300-year history of mineral extraction, the Urals remains the richest region, the value of proven reserves per unit area is an order of magnitude higher than the Russian average. However, with the disruption of traditional economic ties after the collapse of the USSR, negative economic and social trends are clearly evident in the mining and metallurgical complexes of the Urals, requiring a change in the strategy of geological exploration, mining and processing of mineral raw materials in order to ensure the mineral resource security of the region.

The mining and metallurgical industries are one of the most important sectors of the economy of the Ural region. The mining and metallurgical complex of the Urals produces 40% of Russian cast iron and extracts up to 20% of iron ores. The main volume of ferrous metallurgy products (up to 85%) comes from enterprises in the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions - these are Nizh-ne-Tagil (NTMK), Magnitogorsk (MMK), Chelyabinsk (Mechel) metallurgical plants.

The balance reserves of 75 iron ore deposits in the Urals amount to 14.8 billion tons, incl. 9.3 billion tons of industrial categories A+B+C. The total supply of proven reserves at the achieved level of production, for example, in the Sverdlovsk region is about 150 years. The Ural region is the second most endowed region in the country with iron ore reserves after the Central region and contains 15% of Russia's balance iron ore reserves. The region's iron ore reserves are represented mainly by titanium-magnetite ores of the Kachkanar type. The largest deposit of this type is Gusevogorskoye, whose ores have an average iron content of 16.5%, vanium - 0.15%, titanium - 1.25%. The development of this deposit is carried out by OJSC Kachkanarsky GOK "Vanadium", the provision of balance reserves of which is very high.

The Suroyamskoye deposit (Chelyabinsk region) with reserves of 6 billion tons also belongs to this type. The iron content in the original ore is 14.5%. The ores of this deposit are easy to process and fusible. Considering that the deposit is located shallow from the surface (sediment size is on average 8 m), the cost of opening it will be small. A preliminary technical and economic assessment of the development of the Suroyamskoye deposit showed the possibility of its profitable development with a production capacity of the enterprise of 30-40 million tons. The annual net profit could amount to 60 million US dollars. The payback period for capital costs is 5-7 years.

However, the metallurgical complex of the Urals is experiencing an acute shortage of skarn (contact-metasomatic) magnetite and titanium-magnetite ores. To cover this deficit, the metallurgical plants of the Urals are currently focusing on the use of iron ore raw materials from mining enterprises in the Center of Russia (KMA) and Kazakhstan. Thus, currently up to 30% of raw materials for NTMK are supplied from Mikhailovsky GOK. MMK covers 90% of its raw material needs with supplies from the Sokolovsko-Sarbaisky GOK. Mechel OJSC and Nosta OJSC (Orenburg region) are in the same situation. Already in 2004, 24.8 million tons of iron ore were imported to the Urals from other regions (about 60% of the demand).

In addition, the ferrous metallurgy of the Urals is experiencing an acute shortage of manganese and chromite ores. Manganese ores were not developed in the Urals in the post-war years, although their reserves in six deposits of the Severopeschansky manganese basin in categories A+B1+C2 amount to about 40 million tons. The Urals need for manganese ore is 500-600 thousand tons per year.

The only chromite mining enterprise in the Urals is OJSC Saranovskaya Mine Rudnaya with a design capacity of 240 thousand tons per year. Due to its low chromium content and relatively high iron and silicon content, the ore is used to produce refractories. The Urals need for chromites for metallurgical production is 1 million tons and for refractories up to 500 thousand tons per year. There are currently no industrial reserves of chromite ores suitable for metallurgical production in the Urals. However, the predicted chromite resources are estimated at 170 million tons.

Thus, the shortage of iron ore raw materials in the Ural region and the relatively high cost of imported raw materials predetermine the need to develop the local raw material base. Only its development based on appropriate investments in geological exploration, involvement in the exploitation of already explored deposits, and the construction of new mining enterprises will make it possible to abandon imported raw materials (the cost of transportation of which sometimes exceeds the cost of extracting 1 ton of marketable ore), and increase the sustainability of mining and metallurgical enterprises of the Urals and, therefore, ensure the mineral and raw material security of the region. At the same time, it is necessary to realize that the solution to this problem goes beyond the boundaries of an individual mining or metallurgical enterprise, and the results can only affect the development of the mining and metallurgical complex of the Urals in 20-25 years.

Considering the high level of provision of the Ural region with titanomagnetite ores, the main attention should be paid to the prospects for the development of the iron ore base of skarn-magnetite ores and siderites, manganese ores and chromites.

Numerous deposits of skarn-magnetite ores are located in the Ivdel-Serovsky, Tagil-Kushvinsky, Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk and other regions with balance reserves of 1.4 billion tons and forecast - 1.6 billion tons. The reserves of the Urals are significant (over 1 billion tons). brown iron ores and siderites from the Bakal and other deposits of the Southern and Middle Urals.

Thus, the regions of the Middle and Northern Urals have great prospects for increasing iron ore production. The supply of reserves at the current production level exceeds 100 years. The situation is worse in the Southern Urals, but even there there are large predicted reserves of skarn-magnetite ores - these are the Kruglogorskoye and Glubochenskoye deposits with reserves of 600 and 270 million tons, respectively.

The explored reserves of manganese and chromite ores in the Urals are small, but there are promising areas for their location. In the Sverdlovsk region this is the Alapaevsky district, the predicted resources of which are estimated at 170 million tons of chromites. In addition to the Sverdlovsk region, the raw material base of chromite ores is the Rai-Iz deposits in the Subpolar Urals.

Another significant reserve for reserve growth is the involvement in the development of deep-lying areas of exploited fields. In this regard, a characteristic feature of most mining enterprises in the Urals is the need to switch from open-pit mining to underground.

Thus, the prospect for the development of the raw material base of the Vysokogorsk Combine (VGOK) is associated with the construction of new iron ore mines. According to the VGOK development strategy, already in 2006, the volume of underground mining will account for up to 90% of the plant’s total. The prospects for the development of the raw material base of the Magnezit plant are also associated with the transition to underground mining of the Satkinskoye magnesite deposit. Mining of Bakal siderites is carried out by the Sideritovaya mine, where the increase in production volumes is associated with the mine reaching its design capacity.

In this regard, the importance of underground geotechnology in the development of the local raw material base is growing significantly.

Currently, there are 8 mines operating in the Urals for the development of deposits of ferrous metal ores using the underground method (Table 1).

The main share in the underground development of iron ore deposits belongs to VGOK, where the following deposits are mined:

Lebyazhinskoye - Operational mine (completion of work by 2013);

Vysokogorskoe - Magnetitovaya mine (completion of work by 2016);

Estyuninskoye and Novo-Estyuninskoye - Estyuninskaya mine (new construction with an output of 4.0 million tons / year, completion beyond 2025);

Goroblagodatskoe - Yuzhnaya mine (reduction of production capacity by 2025).

To maintain the production capacity of VGOK, it is important to increase the production capacity of the Estyuninskaya mine, since the Magnetitovaya and Operational mines are being finalized.

To date, the reserves of the upper part of the Estyuninskoye deposit up to a horizon of + 130 m have been worked out by the quarry. With the commissioning of the Estyuninskaya mine, further development of the deposit is carried out using the underground method. The production capacity until 2015 for the extraction of raw ore is 1,200 thousand tons. The deposit's reserves reach the mountains. -240 m were penetrated by three vertical shafts. A floor-chamber development system with flexible pillars is used. Currently, the first stage reserves are being finalized; the opening of the second stage reserves is delayed due to insufficient funding.

In the Bogoslovsky RU, the main object of underground development is the Peschanskoye deposit of magnetite iron ores, mined by the Severopeschanskaya mine. The Severopeschanskaya mine field was opened by six

vertical shafts located in the lying side of the field. The central group of shafts has been drilled to horizons of -400 m and -480 m. The height of the floor is 80 m. The main production horizon is the horizon. -320 m. Cleaning work in the Severopeschansky area is almost completed and is being developed on the Upper deposits of the Yuzhnopeschansky area. The mine uses two mining systems: level forced caving with breaking into a compressed medium with deep wells and vibratory release of ore (about 80% of the ore mass is mined using this system) and sublevel caving with end release of ore and delivery by self-propelled LHDs.

Mining of the Satkinskoye magnesite deposit (Magnezitovaya mine) is envisaged using a development system with backfilling of mined-out space. The Institute of Mining of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences examined and calculated various options for development systems corresponding to the mining-geological and mining-technical conditions of the deposit. As a result, it was found that two options provide the greatest efficiency: a sublevel-chamber mining system with hardening backfill and a room-and-pillar system with dry backfilling of the goaf. The Magnezitovaya mine is expected to reach its design capacity by 2015 (2.4 million tons per year) and completely replenish the retired quarry capacity.

The Sideritovaya mine mines the deep parts of the Novo-Bakalskaya and North-Shikhanskaya deposits. The deposit was penetrated by vertical shafts - two auxiliary and two ventilation shafts, and one inclined shaft, driven at an angle of 3°. The development system is subfloor caving with end release. Ore delivery by self-propelled vehicles and electric locomotives. Output to the surface by an inclined conveyor 1000 m long. Since 1979, a chamber development system with portable equipment has also been used. The height of the chambers is 20-30 m. With the design productivity of the Sideritovaya mine being 2.5 million tons/year, in 2004 180 thousand tons were mined due to lack of demand.

The Urals have significant resources of copper ore, accounting for 40% of the reserves of the Russian Federation. Within the Ural economic region, there are 45 copper ore deposits on the balance sheet. The total explored reserves of copper pyrite ores in the Urals are about 1.3 billion tons. The Republic of Bashkortostan contains 31.1% of copper reserves, the Orenburg region - 37.8%, the Sverdlovsk region - 21.1%, and the Chelyabinsk region - 10.0%. The Ural copper-zinc industry produces about 10 million tons of copper and zinc ores per year.

According to the stage of development, three groups of copper pyrite deposits can be distinguished (Table 2):

Mined underground or open pit,

which account for 45% of copper reserves;

Prepared for development - 15%;

Deposits on the balance sheet of the State Reserves Committee of the Russian Federation - 40%.

Based on the volume of reserves, copper pyrite deposits can be divided into three types:

Small - reserves up to 50 million tons of ore;

Medium - reserves from 50 to 100 million tons of ore;

Large - reserves of over 100 million tons of ore.

Currently, the volume of ore mining by underground method is 77%. Three large deposits are being developed using underground geotechnology: Gaiskoye, Uchalinskoye and Uzelginskoye, where chamber development systems with hardening backfill are used and self-propelled equipment is used. The Oktyabrskoye and Vadimo-Aleksandrovskoye deposits are developed using chamber development systems with an open treatment space.

A number of new copper pyrite deposits have been explored in the Ural region: Novo-Uchalinskoye, Komsomolskoye, Podolskoye, Severo-Sibayskoye, Ozernoye, etc. Some of them are being planned for development.

The copper smelters of the Urals (SUMZ, Kirovgrad and Karabash MPK, Svyatogor, Mednogorsk MSK) are only 40% supplied with their own raw materials; they mainly process imported copper concentrates and copper scrap. The Turinsky processing plant is loaded with local ores at 60% of capacity, Krasnouralsk - at 10%, Sredneuralsk works entirely on imported raw materials. The development of the copper ore base is associated, first of all, with the expansion of production at Gaisky (lower horizons of the underground mine, involvement in open-pit mining of the Letnee and Osennye deposits) and Uchalinsky (underground mines Molodezhny, Yubileiny, Sibaysky) GOK.

The Urals are the main raw material base for the Russian aluminum industry. Aluminum smelters in the Urals are supplied mainly with high-quality ores from the North Ural bauxite mines. Five fields have been identified in the North Ural basin: Krasnaya Shapochka, Kalinskoye, Novo-Kalinskoye, Cheremukhovskoye and Sosvinskoye. All SUBR mines are characterized by high water content. More than 80% of the deposit areas are mined in severe blast-prone conditions. The depth of mining reached 1000-1200 m. The geomechanical conditions at the deposits are very complex. Explored reserves of bauxite to a depth of 2000 m amount to 460 million tons.

The most promising raw material base for alumina production is the Komi Republic. It is based on the Vo-rykvinskaya group of Srednetimansky bauxite deposits with reserves of 265 million tons. The productivity of the Srednetimansky open pit mine is determined at 6.3 million tons, including the first stage - 3 million tons (put into operation in 2003). ). The main consumers are identified as: Ural (1,600 thousand tons), Bogoslovsky (620 thousand tons) aluminum smelters and Boksitogorsk alumina plant (400 thousand tons).

The Ural region has significant natural potential for the development of precious metals mining. The predicted reserves of ore gold only in the Northern and Middle Urals (within the Sverdlovsk region) exceed the explored reserves by more than 5 times. It should be noted that the mined, explored and confirmed reserves of gold in gold-bearing sulfide deposits alone amount to at least 1000 tons. In the structure of the mineral resource base of precious metals in the Ural region, gold ore deposits themselves dominate in terms of reserves, and alluvial gold deposits dominate in terms of production. Thus, the needs of gold mining enterprises in the Urals are currently met mainly through the development of placer deposits.

The mineral resource base of the gold mining industry in the Urals, despite its more than 250-year history, is far from exhausted. The basis of the explored reserves of primary gold deposits are new deposits: Vorontsovskoye, Svetlinskoye, Gagarskoye, Maminskoye. At the exploited deposits Berezovsky, Kachkarsky, Chesnokovsky, industrial mineralization can be traced to depths of 1.0-1.2 km. Small vein-type deposits are developed in the upper part mainly by artisanal mining.

In the future, the mineral resource base of the gold mining industry of the Urals will be replenished by gold reserves of new promising types of mineralized zones, weathering, gold-argilisite and gold-jasperoid formations (as an example, the Svetlinskoye and Vorontsovskoye deposits).

Currently, the Vorontsovsky GOK has been built on the basis of open-pit mining of the deposit. Reaching the design capacity of 5 tons makes it possible to increase annual gold production in the Sverdlovsk region by more than 2 times. At the same time, the activities of old mining enterprises developing primary gold deposits using the underground method (Berezovsky, Kachkarsky mines) are characterized by low technical and economic indicators. The task is to increase the efficiency of their development. Thus, metallurgical plants of both ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy in the Urals experience an acute shortage of raw materials, which predetermines the need to develop the local raw material base. This will ensure the sustainable development of both the mining and metallurgical enterprises themselves and the mineral and raw material security of the region as a whole. While in non-ferrous metallurgy old mining plants are being reconstructed and new ones are being built, in ferrous metallurgy not a single enterprise has been put into operation over the past 25 years (with the exception of the Magnezitovaya mine). Ferrous metallurgy reserves that replenish the expiring reserves of skarn-magnetite ores, first of all, should be considered the balance reserves of the deep horizons of the Estyuninskoye and Novo-Estyuninskoye deposits, as well as the involvement in the underground development of the North Goroblagodatskoye, Kruglogorskoye and Glubochenskoye deposits.

LITERATURE:

1. Geological survey and development of the mineral resource base / Ed. A.N. Krivtsova, N.D. Migacheva, G.V. Puchkin. - M. - 1993. - 618 p.

2. Sukhoruchenkov A.I. Iron ore base of ferrous metallurgy in Russia // Mining Journal, 2003. - No. 1(0.

3. Fadeichev A.D. Iron ore base of the Urals, state and development prospects // Izv. universities Mining magazine. - 1993. - No. 6.

4. Rapoport M.S. State and prospects for the development of the mineral resource base of the Urals // Izv. universities Mining magazine. Ural Mining Review. - 2000. - No. 3.