Deposits of ore raw materials (coal)
Coal in the Southern Urals was discovered in 1831 by I.I. Redikortsev on the Miass River, near the village. Balandino. More than 75 years passed before the extraction of this valuable raw material began, but already east of Chelyabinsk, near the village. Tugaikul. The mining town of Kopeysk is now located here. It took geologists another quarter of a century to understand how, at what depths and areas coal occurs. In the 30s geological maps The Chelyabinsk brown coal basin was damaged, the reserves of which in 1935 amounted to 1800 million tons. It has a length of 140 km and can be traced from Lake Tishki in the north to Yuzhnouralsk in the south.
The maximum width of the coal-bearing structure is 14 km, depth up to four kilometers. The basin is conventionally divided into seven coal-bearing regions:
Sugoyaksky, Kozyrevsky, Kopeysky, Kamyshinsky, Korkinsky, Emanzhelinsky and Kichiginsky.
In total, about 30 coal seams have been explored, the thickness of which ranges from 0.75 to 13 m. The thickest seams (up to 200 meters) are mined by the Korkinsky open-pit mine. Open way mining is also carried out in Kopeisk. In addition to the two quarries, four more mines produce coal (in 1996 there were seven). In 1996, 7.8 million tons of coal were mined in the basin.
The carbon content in Chelyabinsk coal is on average 72.5%, ash (non-combustible part) - 28-32%. Calorific value - 4000-6000 kcal/kg. Coal is capable of spontaneous combustion. It burns for years in the waste heaps of Kopeisk, Yemanzhelinsk, in the quarries of Korkino and Kopeisk, causing considerable harm to nature. The remaining coal reserves in the basin at the end of the 20th century amounted to 523 million tons.
Deposits of non-metallic raw materials
The name is arbitrary, but it has taken root in geology and industry. Non-metallic minerals include deposits of mica, graphite, magnesite, dolomite, phosphorites and apatites, building materials, fluxes and other useful minerals and rocks.
At the turn of the century, one of the world's largest deposits of magnesite was discovered, from which exceptionally resistant refractory materials for metallurgy are obtained. The accompanying dolomites make good crushed stone and facing tiles.
Deposits of limestone and dolomite are being developed near Miass (Turgoyakskoye), near Magnitogorsk (Agapovskoye, Yangelskoye), near Yemanzhelinsk (Pervomaiskoye). In total, about 20 deposits of carbonate raw materials are being developed in the region (in addition to Satkinskoye). Total production is approximately 15 million tons per year.
To the south of Kyshtym, crystalline graphite has been mined since 1939. The deposit was discovered by geologist Z. I. Kravtsova and is one of the few in Russia that produces high-quality graphite for nuclear energy and other needs. Graphite reserves are significant, located near the surface and are mined in an open pit - in a quarry.
South of Vishnegorsk, in the Vishnevye Mountains, the Potanin deposit of vermiculite, mica containing water, is being developed.
When heated to 300°, vermiculite swells. At the same time, its volume increases more than 20 times. Expanded vermiculite is characterized by increased fire resistance (tmel = 1400°), high sound-absorbing ability, low thermal conductivity and other valuable properties that allow it to be used in construction, agriculture and in other industries. Vermiculite reserves exceed 1.5 million tons; they are mined using open pit mining.
Talc (talc stone) is mined in a large quarry at the Syrostan deposit, near Miass. Talc is used in the production of building materials, chemical and Food Industry, perfumery and medicine. Annual production ranges from 40 to 100 thousand tons. The reserves of soapstone in the region are large. They will be enough even with an increase in production for more than 50 years.
In the west of the region, in the Ashinsky district, there are deposits of phosphorites, the reserves of which are estimated at 836 thousand tons. They lie almost on the surface, which will allow open-pit mining.
The Chelyabinsk region is rich in quartz raw materials. Chemically resistant quartz glass and dishes are made from quartz. Quartz crystals have the ability to transmit ultraviolet and infrared rays, which is used in microscopes and other optical instruments. Plates cut from quartz single crystal are good resonators and are widely used in radio engineering.
The first deposit of granular (granular) quartz - Kyshtymskoye - was discovered in the region in the 30s by G. N. Vertushkov. In 1941, V.N. Morozov discovered the Svetlinskoye piezoquartz deposit near Plast, and in 1946, a group of geologists discovered the large Astafievskoye crystalline quartz deposit in the Nagaybak region. Quartz here forms long, up to 1 km, veins with a thickness ranging from a few centimeters to 10 meters or more. Quartz crystals (called rock crystal) or their aggregates (druze) usually form in large cavities within veins. Chambers filled with quartz crystals are often found in pegmatite veins (Svetlinskoe deposit). Quartz is mined using open pit mining.
The extraction of quartzites - rocks containing 95-98% silica oxide, is carried out simultaneously with the extraction of iron ore at the Bakal deposit, as well as in the south of the region, near Troitsk, in the Bobrovsky quartzite quarry. Chelyabinsk quartzites are different good quality, are used mainly in metallurgical production as fluxes. The reserves of this raw material are significant.
A very valuable mineral is kaolin white clay - the main raw material for the production of high-quality porcelain and earthenware. Five kaolin deposits with reserves of 36 million tons have been explored in the region. Kaolin is mined at the Kyshtym deposit, the Zhuravliny Log deposit in the Uvelsky district and the Eleninsky deposit in the Kartalinsky district. Chelyabinsk kaolins are not among the best and are not used for the production of high-quality porcelain, but the demand for them is great. Kaolin is mined 150-200 thousand tons per year.
The Berlin deposit of refractory clays in the Troitsky region and the Nizhne-Uvelskoye deposit near Yuzhnouralsk are used for metallurgy. For foundries of machine-building plants, high-quality molding sands are mined at the Kichiginskoye deposit near Yuzhnouralsk - about 600 thousand tons annually.
A large group of deposits of building materials provides construction in the region. There are four quarries of cement raw materials, 22 quarries of brick clay, 11 quarries for the extraction of sand and sand-gravel mixtures and 54 quarries for the extraction of building stone. The annual production of construction materials is approximately 23.5 million tons.
The Chelyabinsk region is rich in facing rocks (marble, granite, etc.). 14 deposits of facing stone with total reserves of 70 million cubic meters have been explored here. m (10% Russian reserves). White marble from the Koelga, Polotsk (Kizilsky district) and Prokhorovo-Balandinsky (Krasnoarmeysky district) deposits is valued throughout the country and abroad; banded marble from the Pugachevsky deposit (Miass), brown decorative limestone from the Suleinsky deposit (Satkinsky district).
Lemesites (stromatolite limestones) from the Bedyarysh deposit (Katav-Ivanovsky district) are excellent facing and ornamental stones. They are very decorative, but are only suitable for cladding rooms. Lemezite (along the Lemeza River) is a light brown stone with a very original pattern, not found anywhere else. The deposit was discovered in 1975 by young geologists from Satka. Its reserves are estimated at 20 million cubic meters. m.
In total, 34 types of mineral raw materials are mined in the Chelyabinsk region. The production level is high. In terms of one resident, 7-7.5 tons of minerals are mined in the region, which is 2-3 times higher than the Russian average.
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Minerals of the Chelyabinsk region
The subsoil of the Chelyabinsk region (especially its mountainous part) is rich in various minerals. Ural Mountains very ancient and badly destroyed. Essentially, these are only the preserved foundations of former mountains. Everything that was once hidden great depth, was now almost on the surface. A significant share of the mineral resources of the Urals is concentrated within the Chelyabinsk region.
More than 20 deposits contain iron ore. First of all, this is the Magnitogorsk deposit, on the basis of which the country's largest Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works began operating. This deposit has been known since 1747. The total ore reserves amounted to approximately 200 million tons, the iron content in the ores was 50-54%.
Ore of ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
Copper Aluminum
As a result of intensive exploitation, many ore deposits in the Southern Urals are becoming scarce. So, at present, the ores of Mount Magnitnaya are almost completely exhausted.
Chemical raw materials Among the mineral resources related to chemical raw materials, the region contains talc, phosphorites, sulfur pyrites, and salts. The largest talc deposits are located in the Miass region.
Talc Phosphorites
Gold The Chelyabinsk region is an old gold mining region in the Urals. Gold deposits are associated with both bedrock (ore gold) and river sediments (placer gold).
Alluvial gold mining in the region is carried out in the Miass gold-bearing region. Quite large nuggets of gold were found here. Thus, in 1842, a nugget weighing about 36 kg was discovered, which was the largest found in the country. In 1936, two nuggets weighing 14.4 and 9.5 kg were found.
The mineral resources of the Chelyabinsk region are quite diverse. The mountainous part of the region is of particular interest. Considering that the Ural Mountains have been significantly destroyed, many rock layers that were located at significant depths are now on the surface.
Features of iron rocks
Mineral resources are estimated at 300 industrial deposits. Ores of non-ferrous and ferrous metals, chemical raw materials, coal, semi-precious stones, various Construction Materials.
Twenty deposits contain For example, in the Chelyabinsk region it is carried out in the Magnitogorsk deposit. It was on its basis that the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works was built and put into commercial operation. Experts estimate ore reserves at 200 million tons, with an average iron content of 50 percent.
For two centuries, the Bakal iron ore district has been supplying ore for metallurgy. More than twenty iron ore deposits have been found in the Bulandikha, Shuida, and Irskuskan ridges. Two varieties of them were found in this area: brown iron ores containing about 48 percent iron, as well as poor rocks in which the quantitative metal content does not exceed 32%. These mineral resources of the Chelyabinsk region amount to almost 600 million tons.
Mining problems
Intensive use of ore deposits in the Southern Urals leads to their depletion. Nowadays, the ores are almost completely mined. Now the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works is forced to work on imported raw materials.
Of interest is a deposit such as the Kusa group of titanomagnetite ores. They contain about 50 percent iron, vanadium, chromium, and titanium. Despite the fact that some of them have already been worked out, quite impressive reserves of titanomagnetites remain.
Copper ores
Answering the question about what minerals are mined in the Chelyabinsk region, we will also highlight copper ores. Most of them are located in the eastern foothills of the Urals. In the 18th century, factories were built to process ores. At the end of the twentieth century, a copper ore deposit was discovered in the territory adjacent to the village of Mezhozerny.
What other mineral resources can be identified in the Chelyabinsk region? The list can be continued with deposits of cobalt and nickel. They are located in the Upper Ufaley region. in the form of bauxite were discovered near the village of Mezhevoy Log, where the South Ural bauxite mines operate.
Ore gold is located in the Kochkar deposit; it has been operating since the second half of the nineteenth century. Placer gold is mined in the Miass gold-bearing region. It was here that a gold nugget weighing 36 kilograms was found, which became the largest sample of the noble metal found in the country.
Raw materials for chemical production
The list of common mineral resources in the Chelyabinsk region can be continued with minerals that are important for chemical industry. These include phosphorites and talc. The largest talc deposits are in the areas of Miass and Syrostan. Phosphorites were discovered in the vicinity of Asha. At the bottom of some lakes there are deposits of mineral salt.
Minerals for the construction industry
What mineral resources are there in the Chelyabinsk region? Significant reserves of magnesite have been discovered here. This mineral is considered an excellent raw material for the manufacture of refractory bricks, which are necessary for lining blast furnaces and open-hearth furnaces, and special chemical products with the addition of chromium.
Fireproof clays were found in the Troitsk region. Cement raw materials were found in the form of clays, marls, and limestones. The largest deposits were discovered in the area of Magnitogorsk and Yemanzhelinsk.
Analyzing the mineral resources of the Chelyabinsk region, it is necessary to mention the presence of marble of the highest quality. Currently, deposits of this mineral are estimated at 10 million cubic meters. The largest deposits marbles are Balandinskoye and Ufaleyskoye.
Molding sand is mined at the Buskolsky and Kichiginsky deposits. About 140 deposits of brick clay have been found. Kaolin is an excellent raw material for the earthenware and porcelain industries. Its reserves are about 30 million tons. White clay is being mined at the Elininskoye deposit.
About fifty large graphite deposits have been identified in the Chelyabinsk region. One of the largest is located near Kyshtym.
Ornamental stones
They were found in three areas: in the Vishnevye and Ilmen mountains, as well as near Plast. Geologists consider the Ilmen Mountains to be a real mineralogical museum. Amethyst, topaz, amazonite, malachite, jasper, rubies, moonstone, and opals were discovered in this territory.
Glass sand reserves at the Erofeevskoye deposit exceed 17 million tons.
Fuel reserves
Brown coals in the Chelyabinsk region occupy an area of about 14 kilometers. They were found in the area from Lake Tishki, as well as in the nearby area.
Coal mining has been carried out on an industrial scale in the Southern Urals since the beginning of the twentieth century. This mineral is currently mainly consumed by thermal power plants.
Peat deposits that have accumulated in large volumes in the swamps of the Chelyabinsk region have not yet been developed. Among the valuable minerals found in this region, we also note rare earth crystal.
Conclusion
Taking into account the varied topography, complex structure, and geological origin, we note that in the depths of the Chelyabinsk region there are a variety of minerals. Their maximum number is located in the mountainous part of the region.
By this period of time, about 13 thousand deposits of various minerals have been discovered in the Urals. Most of Such deposits are distinguished by the convenience of ore occurrence, their complexity, and the highest quality.
The presence of natural reserves and their excellent exploration have made the Chelyabinsk region a region with an excellent mining industry. The region owes its industrial development precisely to the mineral resources lying in the depths of the Ural Mountains.
Currently, Chelyabinsk is the largest industrial city in our country. Its production is represented by mechanical engineering, metallurgical, chemical enterprises. In addition, in the Chelyabinsk region there are enterprises specializing in the production measuring technology and electronics.
Huge deposits of various iron, copper, and nickel ores made it possible to turn the city into the largest transport hub in Russia. Stretched through the city Trans-Siberian Railway railway, numerous highway routes have been created. In addition, a new international airport was built in the northeast of Chelyabinsk.
Among industrial enterprises Of particular interest to the city are the tractor plant, the mechanical plant, the Polet radio plant, the electrometallurgical plant, and the compressor plant. There are other enterprises whose work is related to mineral resources. The Chelyabinsk region is currently considered a donor region, providing the Russian state budget with impressive financial resources.
6 “A” class, Municipal Educational Institution Lyceum No. 77, Chelyabinsk
The article uses photographs by Viktor Sletov (based on Wikipedia materials).
INTRODUCTION
Ural! The supporting edge of the state, Its breadwinner and blacksmith!
A. Tvardovsky
Nature generously endowed the Urals with minerals. About 400 deposits of various metals and non-metals have been discovered in the Chelyabinsk region alone. The history of their development goes back centuries and even millennia. Apparently, copper ore was the first to be mined in the region (3500-4000 years ago). There were a lot of small deposits with rich ores lying on the surface of the earth at that time.
Iron ores began to be mined much later; traces of their mining date back to the 5th–3rd centuries BC.
Apparently, the first finds of gold and gold-bearing veins should be dated back to the 1st millennium BC. There was no need to go into deep mines to find them. Small nuggets were abundant in streams, large and small Ural rivers. It was used only for decoration.
The small ore deposits that came to the surface were quickly mined out. New ones had to be found. But from the 1st millennium BC, the steppe and forest-steppe Southern Urals for a long time became a country of nomads who were not involved in mining or metal smelting. More than one and a half thousand years passed before people began to show interest in ore wealth again on our territory. The modern historical era of the use of mineral resources has begun.
Man has two sources for existence: living nature and mineral resources. Live nature supplies us with food. Green plants produce oxygen necessary for respiration.
Underground wealth and minerals are “food” for industry. Minerals are minerals and rocks that people use. Minerals played vital role in human development and the creation of civilizations. In the Stone Age, people used silicon tools. About 10,000 years ago, man mastered the method of obtaining copper from ore, and with the invention of bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) began new Age– bronze. Since the beginning of the Iron Age, 3300 years ago, man has mastered more and more new ways of using minerals extracted from earth's crust. Modern industry remains dependent on the Earth's mineral resources.
Geologist R. Balandin in his book “Through the Eyes of a Geologist” wrote: “We are strange creatures - people! We are born on earth, we walk on it and go into it when we die. And we don’t know her so well! Mother Earth, the mistress of life, still remains misunderstood by us.”
DESCRIPTION OF THE MAIN MINERAL DEPOSITS OF THE CHELYABINSK REGION
There is no land in the whole world where so much wealth was stored, where the forces of the subsoil were so powerful...
A.E. Fersman
The subsoil of the Chelyabinsk region (especially its mountainous part) is rich in various minerals. This is due to the geological past of our region, with its relief. This is how P.I. describes the past of our region. Otto, two-time discoverer of the deposits: “Where we live now, about 2 billion years ago there was a dead desert. A lot of time passed, and this desert gave way to the sea. At its bottom were deposited fragments of rocks washed away from the banks. The sea was replaced by volcanoes, from whose vents powerful fiery lavas erupted. Under the influence internal forces The lands have risen high mountains. Over the course of two billion years, inexorable time, in collaboration with the sun, water, wind and living organisms, destroyed these vast communities, turning them into sand, clay, and dust. Seas, volcanoes, and mountains arose again, and again everything was destroyed. Finally, relative peace came, and the ancient Ural Mountains gradually took on their modern appearance.”
The Ural Mountains are very ancient and heavily destroyed. Essentially, these are only the preserved foundations of former mountains. Everything that was once hidden at great depths is now almost on the surface. A significant share of the mineral resources of the Urals is concentrated within the Chelyabinsk region.
Scientists count about 3,000 types of minerals, but only 100 of them are well studied. The various mineral resources that lie in the depths of our region can be divided into groups:
Minerals
- ore (metals);
- nonmetallic (non-metals);
- ferrous metal ores (iron, chromium);
- construction raw materials (granite, marble, sand, clay);
- non-ferrous metal ores (copper, zinc, aluminum);
- fuel (peat, coal);
- noble metals (gold, platinum);
- precious stones (diamond, emerald);
- ornamental stones (agate, malachite, jasper).
Let's get acquainted with the main mineral deposits of the Chelyabinsk region.
Iron ore
Since 1756, brown iron ores of the Bakal group of deposits discovered by Pyotr Ryabov have been mined in the west of the region. Over two and a half centuries, about 150 million tons of ore were mined at the Bakal mines. And today its reserves amount to 1.2 billion tons.
Since the 18th century, the deposit of rich iron ores of Mount Magnitnaya has been known, and since that time they have been mined, but little by little. It really started working only in 1929, when, on the basis of the deposit, which, according to the calculations of Academician A.N. Zavaritsky about half a billion tons of high-quality ore, the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works began to be built. Today the ore here is practically mined out.
Another field was discovered 20 kilometers north-west of Magnitogorsk - Maly Kuybas, the reserves of which were estimated at 75 billion tons. Nowadays the deposit supplies high-quality ore to the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works.
To the northeast of Kusa, the oldest iron ores in terms of formation (2–2.5 billion years) are developed. These are the Radostnoye and Magnitny Klyuch deposits. Their reserves are small.
Iron ore is a raw material for ferrous metallurgy, which is the leading industry in our region. Our region ranks among the first in the world in the production of cast iron and steel. Among the leading enterprises in the region are the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, the Chelyabinsk Iron and Steel Works, and the Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant.
Copper
Copper ore was found in 1786 by Cossack Ivan Yaroslavtsev near the Koelga fortress, then its deposits were discovered in the area of Kyshtym and Miass. Since the end of the 18th century, the Miass copper smelter operated in local mines, but early XIX centuries, the rich areas were mined out and the plant was closed.
TO end of the 19th century centuries, copper ore deposits were discovered in the Karabash region, and at the beginning of the twentieth century they were sold to English entrepreneurs who built an ore smelting plant there. After the revolution, the plant passed into the hands of Soviet power. In 1949 P.I. Otto discovered “blind” ore deposits in the Verkhneuralsk region. Now copper and its alloys are used in the electrical industry; wires are made from it. The automotive industry, aviation, instrument making, and computer production cannot do without copper alloys and pure copper.
Gold
Gold mining in Rus' began from the time of Peter the Great. On July 9, 1797, professional ore prospector Evgraf Mechnikov discovered indigenous gold in the Miass region, the valley began to be called “golden”. In the Southern Urals, nuggets were found, stored in the Diamond Fund of Russia: “Big Triangle” - weighing 36,015 g (1842), which is the largest of those found in the country, “Hare Ears” - weighing 3,344.3 g (1935 ), “Yolochka” – weighing 199.9 g (1952).
In 1798, the Cossack of the Chebarkul fortress, Rodion Volkhin, found gold in the valley of the Sanarka River, known throughout the world as the Kochkarskoye deposit, and, finally, in 1814, Lev Ivanovich Brusnitsyn discovered alluvial gold for the first time in Russia.
In the Plastovsky district, near the village of Borisovki, Andreevsky stone quarry, declared a natural monument. Thanks to this mining, since 1840, veins have been mined that have yielded about 8 kilograms of gold. The veins are a typical example of primary gold deposits in the Southern Urals.
Since ancient times, gold has been used in the manufacture of jewelry, household items, and coins. Currently, the scope of application is expanding. Gold is increasingly used in the creation of electronic equipment, in medicine, as a reflector of infrared rays, in the photo and film industry, etc.
Platinum
This noble metal began to be used only in the 19th century. Russia (Ural) has become the main supplier of metal on the world market. In 1915, it accounted for 95% of total number platinum mined in the world. As a chemical and heat-resistant element, platinum is used for the manufacture of chemical glassware, spirals for electric furnaces, and parts of radio equipment. In the future, it is expected to be widely used as catalysts for burning hydrogen fuel in new generation cars.
Rare metals
Rare metals include metals that rarely form their own minerals and deposits. These are primarily beryllium, lithium, niobium, tantalum and others. Meaning rare metals increases every year. Zirconium is used in heat-resistant coatings to make fire-resistant materials. The demand for beryllium is constantly growing, since it is 1.5 times lighter than aluminum, but stronger than steel and harder than glass. It is widely used in the creation of nuclear, aerospace and radio-electronic equipment. Niobium is used for the manufacture of heat-resistant steels, tantalum and niobium as superconducting elements - electronic subminiature and high-speed technology.
The Chelyabinsk region is extremely rich in a variety of non-metallic minerals.
Granite
One can say about the center of Chelyabinsk that it stands on a granite island. Underneath it is pink and hazel grouse granite – speckled gray. It was previously mined in quarries located in the city forest. They laid granite foundations, covered the facades of buildings, and built houses that can still be seen in the city center. The Theater for Young Spectators, which is located on Revolution Square, is lined with local granite. Now it is prohibited to blast granite within the city.
Limestone, marble
Rich limestone deposits in the Chelyabinsk region prove that once upon a time (about 200 million years ago) there was a sea on the site of our region. It stretched for several thousand kilometers from north to south, captured the modern Caspian Sea and reached with its tongues almost to Kharkov. In the Great Perm (as it was called), everything that fell into its depths was processed, including the shells of ancient sea animals. Over millions of years, strata of limestone were formed from them. When the sea receded, limestone deposits came to the surface.
Limestone deposits are developed near the city of Miass (Turgoyak deposit), near the city of Magnitogorsk (Agapovskoye deposit), near the city of Yemanzhelinsk (Pervomaiskoye deposit) - about 20 deposits in total.
The Chelyabinsk region is surprisingly rich in facing rocks - marble. Snow-white marble is mined in Balandino and Koelga. It is used as a facing material in the construction of monuments, palaces, theaters, and subways.
The walls of the Chelyabinsk Drama Theater are decorated with local marble. The Palace of Congresses in Moscow, the stations of the Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, Tashkent metro, and the capital's Rossiya Hotel are lined with Koelga marble.
Koelgi marble is one of the most durable and beautiful in the world. It was used to restore the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.
Magnesite
At the turn of the century, near the city of Satka, one of the world's largest deposits of magnesite was discovered, from which exceptionally resistant refractory materials for metallurgy are obtained.
The Satka plant produces bricks that are used for laying blast furnaces. Beautiful magnesite slabs are the best facing material compared to marble.
Graphite
Graphite is mined at the Taiginskoye deposit, discovered in 1933 by Z.I. Kravtsova. The deposit is one of the few in Russia that produces high-quality graphite for nuclear energy. Graphite is used in electrical engineering, in rocketry, in the production of paints and pencils.
Talc and asbestos
Deposits located near the city of Miass, where there is a talc processing plant, are being developed. It is sent to all corners of our country and abroad. Talc and asbestos are widely used in paper, textile, rubber, leather, perfume and other industries. Large scales and fibers of talc and asbestos are used to make fire-resistant fabrics and thermal insulation.
Combustible minerals
Combustible minerals are represented by hard and brown coal. Coal is found in the southeast of the region - in the Bredinsky and Varna regions. The study of deposits here began in 1878, and work on coal mining began in 1916, especially intensively in the period from 1941 to 1945. However, in 1959, work was stopped due to the complexity of mining the deposits.
The main reserves of brown coal are concentrated in the Chelyabinsk brown coal basin (CLB). Coal in the Southern Urals was discovered in 1831 by I.I. Redikortsev on the Miass River, near the village of Balandino. More than 75 years passed before the extraction of this valuable raw material began, but already east of Chelyabinsk, near the village of Tugaikul. The mining town of Kopeysk is now located here. It took geologists another quarter of a century to understand how, at what depths and areas coal occurs. In the 30s, the Chelyabinsk lignite basin was marked on geological maps, the reserves of which in 1935 amounted to 1800 million tons. The basin is conventionally divided into seven coal-bearing regions: Sugoyaksky, Kozyrevsky, Kopeysky, Korkinsky, Emanzhelinsky and Kichiginsky. The thickest seams (up to 200 meters) are mined by the Korkinsky section. Open-pit mining is also carried out in Kopeisk. In addition to the two quarries, four more mines produce coal. The remaining coal reserves in the basin at the end of the twentieth century were 523 million tons.
Coal mining enterprises have a significant negative impact on the state of environment: busy under the dumps large areas fertile soils, dumps have the ability to spontaneously combust, are strong sources of dust, and pollute surface and underground waters.
Precious and semi-precious stones
In the Urals, mines are called surface mine workings, from which minerals, and primarily precious and semi-precious stones, have been mined since the end of the 18th century.
Great variety precious stones Gems are distinguished by the Ilmensky and Cherry Mountains, Kochkarsky mines (Plastovsky district). Here you can find topaz, beryl and its varieties - aquamarine, emerald; corundum and its varieties - sapphire, ruby; quartz and its varieties - rock crystal, amethyst, tourmaline and others. Mineral mines: in the Cherry Mountains - Kurochkin Log and in the Plastovsky district - Zhukovskaya are declared natural monuments.
The sky-blue cherry mineral was found for the first time in Kurochkino Log. The Zhukovskaya mine became famous thanks to the finds of pink topaz and rare jewelry stone eucalase, which has an attractive soft blue color, bright glass luster and transparency. Fragments of rock crystal, amethyst, blue and red corundum and other gems were found in the Zhukovskaya mine. The mineral composition of the mine and adjacent areas of the Sanarki River is similar to the mineral composition of diamond-bearing placers in Brazil, which was noted by N.I. Koksharov called this region of the Southern Urals “Russian Brazil”.
Numerous jasper deposits are confined to the greenstone belt. They are found in the Miass region and stretch south for over 500 kilometers, forming a strip 40-50 kilometers wide. In the upper reaches of the Miass River, brick, blood-red, black, gray-yellow jasper was mined, but still the largest deposits of picturesque jasper are located in the territories of Bashkortostan and the Orenburg region.
Quartz
The Chelyabinsk region is rich in quartz raw materials. Chemically resistant quartz glass and dishes are made from quartz.
Quartz crystals have the ability to transmit ultraviolet and infrared rays, which is used in microscopes and other optical instruments. Plates cut from quartz single crystal are good resonators and are widely used in radio engineering.
PRACTICAL PART
On December 9, 2004, I went on an excursion to the Yuzhnouralsk plant for growing quartz crystals.
In nature, quartz occurs in the form of sand or milky white blocks, it Not correct form, has many impurities. Quartz is widely used in radio engineering, so there is a need to grow artificial quartz crystals. Artificially you can obtain a large crystal of the correct shape, without impurities.
On October 29, 1962, the first autoclave was launched at the enterprise, and this day is officially considered the plant’s birthday. There are only three such enterprises in our country: in the city of Gus-Khrustalny, in the city of Alexandrov and here in Yuzhnouralsk.
In nature, quartz grows slowly and cyclically. To grow it in artificial conditions, it is necessary to create certain conditions - high temperature and high pressure. This is possible in special autoclaves. Raw materials are purchased from geologists and washed. Under the influence of temperature and pressure, pieces of the charge melt and crystallize on the seed plates. After checking for quality and sorting, the crystals are sent mainly abroad (to Japan and Korea). They are used for chips in televisions, computers, in the production of printers, faxes, cell phones, in cellular communication lines. In addition to white transparent crystals, the plant grows blue quartz - perunite (found in nature), green quartz, purple quartz - amethyst, yellow quartz - citrine. These types of quartz do not occur in nature. They are also sent overseas for the jewelry industry. The share of exports is 95% of total production. The plant produces 500 tons of quartz per year, which is 25% of world quartz production.
CONCLUSION
The description of the mineral resources of the Chelyabinsk region convinces us that the Urals remain the richest storehouse of the earth's subsoil. However, newly discovered deposits lie at certain depths, and their development will inevitably lead to even greater disruption of the upper layers of the lithosphere and environmental pollution.
Any method of mining has a significant impact on the natural environment. Particularly influenced top part lithosphere.
Subsidence occurs earth's surface over spent mine fields.
Gully formation processes are intensifying in neighboring areas.
Within a radius of several hundred meters, and sometimes kilometers, soil contamination with heavy metals occurs during transportation, wind and water distribution. Ultimately, a wasteland is created around the mine workings, where vegetation cannot survive. For example, the development of magnesites in Satka led to the death of pine forests.
The impact of mining on the hydrosphere.
Water pumped out from mine workings often contains admixtures of clay, sand, acids, and salts, which, when released into rivers, streams, and swamps, cause pollution. A similar thing happened in Karabash, where the ore extracted from the mine, after crushing and enrichment, was dumped into the Sak-Elgu River and Atkus Creek. The consequences of this discharge are still felt today, decades later.
When alluvial gold deposits are mined using dredges, floodplain vegetation and, consequently, bird nesting sites are almost completely destroyed. The process of restoration of nature is slow here.
In rock dumps there is an intensive process of destruction of minerals. There are such dumps in the region in the areas of Karabash, Magnitogorsk, Satka, and Bakal. Precipitation, seeping through them and coming to the surface, they represent a weak solution of sulfuric acid. The polluted water then ends up in rivers, which increases the content of harmful substances in the water.
Impact of mining on the atmosphere.
The operation of large mine workings is accompanied by emissions of dust and gases into the atmosphere.
Coal mine dumps (heap waste heaps) have a great influence on the atmosphere. Fire dumps often occur. The waste heaps burn for months and sometimes years, releasing sulfurous and carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide. Burning waste heaps greatly pollute the atmosphere.
Therefore, South Urals residents need to change their attitude towards mineral resources. More intensive use of secondary raw materials, improvement of mining and metallurgical processing technology will be required.
APPLICATION
The most “mineral” place in the region is Ilmen, where more than 260 minerals and 70 rocks were discovered. About 20 minerals were discovered here for the first time in the world. More than 120 minerals have been found in the Cherry Mountains (near Kasli). In the craters of volcanoes in Zyuratkul national park(area 1 square meter) more than 70 minerals were found. The Borisov hills near Plast are rich in minerals, especially gems. Real boxes of valuable minerals are the Akhmatovskaya and Nikolae-Maximilyanovskaya mines near Tagan Aya.
The deepest underground mines in the region are the “gold” mines in Plast and Leninsky (Miass Valley). They went up to a kilometer deep. One of the deepest in the world - more than 400 meters - is the Korkinsky coal mine.
The most ancient mines in the region are Tash-Kazgan and Nikolskoye in the upper reaches of the Uya. Ore was mined here for several centuries during the Bronze Age (3.5 millennia ago).
The oldest operating mines are the Bakal mines, which are more than two centuries old.
The largest in Russia is the Satkinskoye magnesite deposit. There are only three such deposits on the planet.
THIS IS INTERESTING!
Our region produces:
- Zinc – 16.7% of production in the Russian Federation.
- Copper – 15%.
- Nickel – 4.2%.
- Bauxite – 8.8%.
Stocks:
- Graphite – 25% of the reserves of the Russian Federation.
- Talc – 20%.
- Quartzite – 30%.
- Magnesite – 21%.
The subsoil of the Southern Urals has been used for a long period of time:
The iron ores of the Bakal deposit have been mined for 240 years.
Gold-arsenic ores of the Kochkar deposit are about 160 years old.
Gold placers in the Miass River valley have been mined for 170-175 years.
The copper ores of Karabash have been intensively mined for 80 years.
Nickel ores have been mined near Upper Ufaley for more than 90 years. Bauxite has been mined in the Satka region for about 50 years.
LITERATURE
- Levit A.M. Southern Urals: Geography, ecology, environmental management. Tutorial. – Chelyabinsk, South-Ural. book publishing house, South-Ural. ed.-trading house, 2001.
- Nature of the Chelyabinsk region. – Chelyabinsk, ChSPU Publishing House, 2000.
- Know your land ( Quick reference). // Ural crossroads. – 2001. -№1.
- Atlas of the Chelyabinsk region. Roscartography, 2000.
- Grigorieva E.V. Nature of the Southern Urals: A textbook for students of secondary schools, gymnasiums, lyceums, and colleges. – Chelyabinsk, South-Ural. book publishing house, 2001.
The subsoil of the Chelyabinsk region (especially its mountainous part) is rich in various minerals. The Ural Mountains are very ancient and heavily destroyed. Essentially, these are only the preserved foundations of former mountains. Everything that was once hidden at great depths is now almost on the surface. A significant share of the mineral resources of the Urals is concentrated within the Chelyabinsk region. There are ores of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, coal, chemical raw materials, various building materials and semi-precious stones. More than 300 industrial deposits have been explored.
More than 20 deposits contain iron ore. First of all, this is the Magnitogorsk deposit, on the basis of which the country's largest Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works began operating. This deposit has been known since 1747. The total ore reserves amounted to approximately 200 million tons, the iron content in the ores was 50-54%.
The Bakal iron ore region has been providing metallurgy to the Urals for more than 200 years. More than 20 ore deposits have been explored in the Shuida, Bulandikha and Irkuskan ridges. There are two types of ores here: the richest brown iron ores, which contain an average of 48% iron, lie close to the surface. Deeper - poorer ores: siderites with iron content up to 32%. The total ore reserves in the Bakal region are up to 600 million tons.
As a result of intensive exploitation, many ore deposits in the Southern Urals are becoming scarce. So, at present, the ores of Mount Magnitnaya are almost completely exhausted. The Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works uses imported raw materials.
Among other deposits, the Kusa group of titanomagnetite ores should be noted. These ores contain 50-57% iron, as well as titanium, chromium and vanadium. Some of these deposits, for example Magnitnoye, have also already been mined, but the reserves of titanium-magnetites are still significant. The development of a large field near Medvedevka is being prepared. From explored to last years The most significant is the Techenskoye field in the north-east of the region.
Copper ores on the territory of the region in its mining part and the eastern foothills were mined everywhere from ancient times. In the 18th century, most of the factories were located in the ancient “Chud” mines.
All the ancient mines were developed in the last century, the last, long-known deposit near Karabash - quite recently.
IN last decades Chelyabinsk geologists discovered large deposits copper ore in the Verkhneuralsk region. The “capital” of its production is the village of Mezhozerny. More than 10 birthplaces have been explored.
Nickel and cobalt deposits are concentrated in the Upper Ufaley region and were discovered in the south of the region.
Aluminum ores are represented by bauxite deposits in the area of Suleya station (Mezhevoy Log village). The South Ural bauxite mines operate here.
Gold deposits are associated with both bedrock (ore gold) and river sediments (placer gold). Among the first is the Kochkarskoye field (Plast), which has been developed since 1860.
Alluvial gold mining in the region is carried out in the Miass gold-bearing region. Quite large nuggets of gold were found here. Thus, in 1842, a nugget weighing about 36 kg was discovered, which was the largest found in the country. In 1936, two nuggets weighing 14.4 and 9.5 kg were found.
The largest nugget in Russia was found in the Chelyabinsk region, not far from Miass, at the Tsarsko-Alexandrovsky mine. In 1842 he was found at depth three meters 17-year-old orphan Nikifor Syutkin. The weight of the “big triangle” (as it was called) is 36.016 kilograms. Now he is in Moscow, in the Diamond Fund of Russia.
By the way, a piece of gold weighing 2-2.5 tons was once found in Afghanistan (data vary), and in Australia - more than 270 kilograms. However, all these nuggets were melted down into coins and jewelry. But our “big triangle” remains and is considered the largest on the planet. A plaster cast of the nugget is kept in the Zlatoust Museum.
They say that Nikifor Syutkin was given 4,390 rubles in banknotes for the find (at that time it would have been enough to buy several settlements together with people), he received “freedom”. But I drank all the money.
Mineral resources related to chemical raw materials in the region include talc, phosphorites, sulfur pyrites, and salts. The largest talc deposits are located in the area of Miass (Krasnaya Polyana) and Syrostan. Phosphorite deposits are located in the vicinity of Asha. Salt lies at the bottom of some lakes located in the east of the region.
The country's largest magnesite deposit is located in the area of Satka, its reserves are huge. Another powerful deposit has been explored in Lately in the upper reaches of Aya - Semibratsky. Magnesite serves as an excellent raw material for the production of refractory bricks used for lining open-hearth and blast furnaces, magnesite powder and magnesite-chromite products.
Large reserves of refractory clays have been explored near the village. Berlin in the Troitsk area.
Cement raw materials are represented by marls, clays and limestones. Their largest deposits have been explored in the area of Yemanzhelinsk, Magnitogorsk (Agapovka), Katav-Ivanovsk. Cement factories operate on the basis of these deposits.
Antique sticker on a barrel of cement of the Beloselsky-Belozersky princes
The Chelyabinsk region is rich in high-quality marble, the largest deposits of which are Koelginskoye, Balandinskoye and Ufaleyskoye. Explored marble reserves amount to more than 10 million cubic meters.
Fluxes and dolomites are important metallurgical raw materials. Their explored reserves in the region exceed 1.5 billion tons. The largest deposits are Turgoyakskoye, Atlyanskoye, Agapovskoye, Lisyegorskoye.
Molding sands are mined in the Kichiginskoye and Buskolskoye deposits. More than 140 deposits of brick clay have been explored. Kaolin (white clay) is a raw material for the porcelain and earthenware industry. The total reserves of kaolin in the region are more than 30 million tons. Kaolin is mined at the Kyshtymskoye and Eleninskoye deposits.
More than 50 graphite deposits have been identified in the region. The largest is Taiginskoye, 12 km south of Kyshtym.
Precious and semi-precious stones are found in three places - in the Ilmensky, Cherry Mountains and near Plast. The Ilmen Mountains are real mineralogical museums. Amazonite, hyacinth, amethyst, opal, topaz, garnet, malachite, corundum, jasper, sapphire, ruby, sun, moon and Arabic stone, etc. are found here.
Topaz and other precious and semi-precious stones are found in the Kochkar geological region. The Erofeevskoe glass sand deposit has been explored (reserves more than 17 million tons).
Brown coals of the Chelyabinsk basin extend from the north (from Lake Tishki) to the south for 170 km at maximum width 14 km. Coal reserves amount to more than 700 million tons. Coal in the Southern Urals was discovered in 1831 by I.I. Redikortsev. Its mining began in 1907. The main consumer of coal now is thermal power plants. Stone coals were also identified in the Poltavo-Bredinsky deposit.
Rich deposits of peat have accumulated in the swamps of the region, however, it has not yet been developed. More than 60 deposits of building stone (more than 1 billion cubic meters) and more than 20 deposits of building sand (about 150 billion cubic meters) have been explored. Such valuable minerals as rare earth crystal and piezoquartz are mined in the region.
Based on materials from: http://www.uralgeo.net
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