Golden land. How precious metals are mined in Kamchatka. Mineral resources of the Kamchatka Territory
In 1923, a map of the mineral resources of Kamchatka was compiled, on which the following minerals and the number of manifestations were identified: used: mineral springs; examined: copper (Commanders), coal, graphite, mineral springs; known from unverified data: iron, silver-lead-zinc, mercury, molybdenum, copper, coal, oil, sulfur, mineral springs. In addition, there was information about kaolin, gypsum, amber, precious and ornamental stones. Of course, this was only information about minerals, often even unverified. Neither the exact location, nor the quality, nor their parameters have been studied.
The region has the richest reserves of mineral resources: gas, coal, native sulfur, thermal waters, native and alluvial gold and silver, nickel, copper, platinum, tin, lead, zinc.
When conducting a sheet-by-sheet geological survey in 1962 in the territory to the west of the city of Yelizovo, the weight content of gold in concentrates was found - up to 22 g per cubic meter. The favorable geographic and economic position of the placer, a good transport network, proximity to the city - all this made it possible to quickly begin the development of the deposit. Already in 1964, the first 36 kg of gold were obtained at the mine, and the weight of individual nuggets reached more than 200 g. Then the placers of the Goltsovka, Kameshkova, Kapitanskaya rivers, the Iudumich stream and others were discovered. In the north, in the Penzhinsky district.
More than 400 gold-ore manifestations and mineralization points are known, for example, the Ametistovoe, Baranievskoe, Zolotoe, Kungurtsevskoe and Kumroch deposits, but most of those on the peninsula remain unestimated. In the future, there is the possibility of creating large gold mining enterprises that will play a significant role in Russia's gold mining. So far, for all the years of operation of the deposits, about 11 tons of gold have been mined, with an estimated total reserve of more than 200 tons.
The predicted gold reserves on the peninsula are estimated at 800 tons, while the potential of Kamchatka has not yet been fully explored. So far, most of these deposits remain untouched.
As geological exploration shows, the gold deposits of Kamchatka are classified as large - they contain from 30 to 70 tons of metal. The ratio of conversion of predicted resources into confirmed ones is almost one to one, and the gold content per ton of ore is a record. For example, at the Aginsky field, it reaches 38 grams. For comparison: the average gold content per ton of ore at Sukhoi Log in Siberia is 2.7 grams. The resource base of the Gold of Kamchatka is 380 tons of gold. The main objects of work are the Baranyevskoye and Kymroch deposits, as well as a group of deposits in the area of the Aginsky GOK.
Platinum was sought in Kamchatka as early as the 1950s. However, to no avail. When interest in the search for her completely faded, it turned out that there really was a prospect. In 1990, loose sediments were found during the schlich sampling of the Levtyrinyvayam River. The content of platinum reached 1.22 g per cubic meter. During 1991-1992, exploration work revealed a productive formation up to two meters thick with a platinum content of up to 8 g per cubic meter. In 1994, 662 kg /21.3 thousand ounces/ of platinum were mined simultaneously with exploration. In total, about 20 tons / 643 thousand ounces / of the precious metal were mined from two placers during these years.
In accordance with the projects of subsoil user companies, by 2018 the production of ore gold on the peninsula will reach 18 tons, platinum - 3 tons per year and will be maintained at this level until 2025, as well as in subsequent years.
The region has large predictable and significant explored reserves of ore and valuable non-metallic minerals. The balance reserves of the main minerals are estimated at 15 billion dollars. The annual absolute rent in the mining industry of Kamchatka can be from 30 to 50 million dollars. The same potential absolute rent is estimated at the huge reserves of ecologically clean fresh and various mineral underground waters of the peninsula.
There is a deposit of mercury ores (Strait of Okhotsk), in Korf coal and non-metallic minerals are mined - perlite, zeolites, gravel, ASG, clay, etc.
The area is rich in various building materials. There are 64 deposits of volcanic slag and pumice on the balance sheet. A comprehensive geological and economic assessment of mineral resources shows that the potential of the peninsula, excluding water and fuel and energy resources, sulfur, local minerals in world prices, is estimated at more than $20 billion.
The total forecast resources of non-ferrous metals for five sites in the Kamchatka Territory are: 1295 thousand tons of nickel, cobalt - 31.6 thousand tons, copper - 3053 thousand tons. And if we talk about the hydrocarbon potential of the land of Kamchatka, then it is estimated at 1.4 billion tons in oil equivalent.
Onshore gas reserves in Kamchatka are relatively small: at the end of the 1980s, four gas condensate fields were discovered here with total proven C1 category reserves of about 16 billion cubic meters. m - Kshukskoe, Nizhne-Kvakchikskoe, Sredne-Kunzhinskoe and Severo-Kolpakovskoe.
The Western Kamchatka shelf has significant gas resources. By 2020, the total offshore gas reserves may amount to about 10 trillion cubic meters. cubic meters
Kamchatka today is one of the few large regions in the country, and throughout the world, where the primary natural structure of landscapes and ecosystems has been preserved to a high degree. At the same time, the development of mineral resources in the region (primarily gold) is gaining momentum. As before, without any attempt at a comprehensive study of the problem, stakes are being placed on the large-scale development of hydrocarbons and minerals in Kamchatka and the Kamchatka shelf in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea.
09/23/2010 | Information on the role of the mining complex in the socio-economic development of the Kamchatka Territory (based on the results of work for 6 months of 2010)
The mining and processing industry in the Kamchatka Territory is currently going through the first stage of its development. Determining factors this stage are:
1. Formation of the mineral resource base of future production.
2. Capital investments in the development of mining, processing and related industries.
3. Development of territorial schemes for the development of industrial, transport and energy facilities.
4. Training of personnel potential of the industry.
The largest subsoil users operating in the Kamchatka Territory are: Koryakgeoldobycha CJSC - mining of alluvial platinum in the Olyutorsky municipal district at the Levtyrinvayam deposit, Zoloto Kamchatki OJSC - gold mining (Aginskoye deposit), geological exploration at the facilities of the Central Kamchatka ore region, Kumrochsky ore field in the Ust-Kamchatsky region, construction of a mining and processing enterprise at the Amethyst deposit in the Penzhinsky municipal region, CJSC "Alarming glow" - completion of the construction of the Asachinsky mining and processing plant, geological exploration in the Elizovsky municipal region, CJSC NPK "Geotechnology" - mining copper-nickel ores at the Shanuch deposit in the Bystrinsky municipal district, geological exploration, Siberian Mining and Metallurgical Alliance OJSC - exploration work at the Ozernovsky ore field in the Karaginsky municipal district, Kamchatgazprom OJSC - gas production, geological exploration s, OJSC "Geoterm" - extraction of a steam-water mixture at the Mutnovsky field, State Unitary Enterprise "Kamchatskburgeothermia" - extraction of thermal and thermal water in the Elizovsky, Bystrinsky, Ust-Bolsheretsky municipal districts, OJSC "Kamchatskstroymaterialy" - extraction of building materials.
The economic performance of the mining industry for 6 months of 2010 is characterized by positive dynamics compared to the same period last year, except for the amount of taxes paid. The decrease in the half-year results in 2010 is due to the untimely sale of marketable products by type of raw material - precious metals and the debt admitted by CJSC "Kamgold" for the payment of taxes to all levels of the budget in the amount of 42.2 million rubles. Tax debt, according to the taxpayer, was liquidated during July 2010. The volume of production of marketable products as a whole amounted to 136.6% compared to the same period last year. More natural gas, copper-nickel concentrate, raw materials for the production of building materials have been produced in the region. The volume of extraction of precious metals increased by 92 kg. At the end of the year, it is possible to increase the volume of alluvial gold production due to the work of artisanal artels in the north of the peninsula.
Revenues to the consolidated budget of the Kamchatka Territory for the 1st half of 2010 from payments on the extraction tax of common minerals amounted to (according to the Ministry of Finance of the Kamchatka Territory) 6.642 million rubles, on the tax on the extraction of minerals (except for common minerals) amounted to 43.305 million rub.
The 2.4-fold increase in receipts of payments for the extraction tax on common minerals compared to the same period in 2009 (RUB 2.751 million) is primarily due to the increased volumes construction work(primarily at the facilities of OOO Gazprom invest Vostok), reconstruction and repair of highways.
The volume of capital investments in the construction of new subsoil use facilities in the first half of 2010 increased by 20% compared to the same period last year (up to 450 million rubles), which is associated with the start of construction of infrastructure facilities at the Ametistovoye deposit in the Penzhinsky municipal district and the intensification of work to complete construction at Asachinsky field in the Elizovsky municipal district.
The increase in the mineral resource base of future production is due to the active increase in investment in exploration work. During the first half of 2010, the total investment in exploration work in the region more than doubled and amounted to 970,045.6 thousand rubles, including 23,169 thousand rubles from the federal budget. For the same period in 2009, the volume of appropriations for exploration work amounted to about 480,000 thousand rubles, including 24,400 thousand rubles from the federal budget.
Conducting exploration work at subsoil use facilities will allow this year to increase the reserves of copper-nickel ores at the Shanuch deposit, located in the Bystrinsky municipal district, by 1.5 million tons, prepare materials for entering the state balance of mineral reserves in 2011. The resources of the Baranyevskoye gold deposit , located in the Bystrinsky municipal district, to significantly increase gold reserves within the Kumroch ore field, located in the Ust-Kamchatsky municipal district. Active work continues on the exploration of large-volume reserves of copper and gold ores within the Maletoivayamskaya area, located in the Olyutorsky and Karaginsky municipal districts, where the first positive results were obtained in the first half of the year, indicating confirmation of the forecast for the discovery of an object with reserves of hundreds of tons of gold. A significant intensification of exploration work within the Ozernovsky ore field and the Tymlatskaya prospective area, located in the Karaginsky municipal district, allows us to expect a significant increase (up to 40–60 tons at each site) in the balance reserves of gold at these sites in the coming years and the start of designing mining and processing productions.
In the near future, we should expect the intensification of work on conducting exploratory drilling within the Kolpakovskoye oil and gas trough in the Sobolevsky municipal district in accordance with the license for the right to use the subsoil of Kamchatgazprom OJSC, which will increase the industrial reserves of natural gas and ensure a reliable mineral resource base of the constructed gas pipeline.
The immediate prospects for the development of the mining industry are as follows: before 2015, 6 mines should be built in the Kamchatka Territory and start mining gold and silver: Asachinsky (2011), Baranevsky (2014), Ametistovy (2012), Kumroch (2015 G.), Rodnikovy (2015), Ozernovsky (2015). Gold mining will amount to 16 tons per year, subject to the implementation of projects and the preservation of the emerging positive macroeconomic trends, which consist in maintaining consistently high prices for mineral resources, activating the bank lending sector for large projects with a significant payback period.
The Shanuch Nickel Mine, which operates in the pilot operation mode, should switch to the commercial development mode from 2014. By 2017, at the Kvinumskaya area, located at the junction of the Ust-Bolsheretsky, Elizovsky and Sobolevsky municipal districts, the balance reserves of nickel will be prepared and the second nickel mine in the Kamchatka Territory will be built. The total production of nickel at the two enterprises will reach 15-20 thousand tons per year (in 2009 the enterprise produced about 8 thousand tons of nickel).
Total in the period 2010–2025 in the Kamchatka Territory, while maintaining the current level of prices for mineral raw materials, 238 tons of gold, 44 tons of platinum, 94 thousand tons of nickel, 17 billion m 3 of gas, 6.6 million tons of oil on land and 326.5 million tons of hydrocarbons in oil equivalent on the shelf. The economic performance of the mining industry will allow us to assume an increase in tax revenues to the budget of the Kamchatka Territory from the tax on the extraction of minerals up to 3,052 million rubles a year in 2025. The volume of the gross regional product of the industry in the structure of the economy of the Kamchatka Territory can be more than 12%, without taking into account the indicators of the implementation of shelf development projects. Currently, this figure does not exceed 4.2%.
The total investment in additional exploration, the creation of mining and transport infrastructure for the mining industry in the period up to 2025 is estimated at 33 billion rubles. in 2008 prices, excluding the costs of offshore projects.
One of the tasks of managing the mineral resource complex is the creation of a multi-sectoral system of nature management that promptly responds to changes in market conditions of functioning. Taking into account the development trend of the world market of natural raw materials, it is necessary to develop the extraction and use of:
precious metals,
hydrocarbon raw materials,
non-ferrous metals,
Balneological resources.
These four directions will significantly enhance the potential of the region. In order to meet the regional needs and demand of the Far Eastern regions of the Russian Federation, in addition to the above-mentioned industries, it is promising full-scale development of underground resources. drinking water, building materials, hard coal.
The volume of investments in the development of the industry will increase as the commercial exploitation of deposits is launched. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the amount of appropriations allocated for the creation necessary conditions for the development of industry - primarily infrastructure facilities. The implementation of projects for the development of deposits of non-ferrous metals, large-volume gold deposits is impossible without the creation of new energy capacities, roads, terminals for receiving and processing cargo. A significant economic effect for the development of the industry can come from the joint work of state authorities and subsoil users to create the necessary initial conditions for the development of new territories. The mechanism of such work is fundraising investment fund of the Russian Federation to the formation of industrial clusters in areas of concentration of deposits - the Central Kamchatka ore region and the North Kamchatka ore region. Such work has been started jointly with CJSC NPK "Geotechnology" and OJSC "Zoloto Kamchatka". As a result of the implementation of the projects, it will be possible to build a gas pipeline from the village. Krutogorovo through the Shanuch deposit to the village. Milkovo. In this case, construction is also an important social project.
The work of industrial enterprises for the development of mineral resources in the region faces a number of unresolved issues in ensuring the process of construction and operation of enterprises. First of all, this is the insufficient capacity of construction organizations, the absence of a number of specialized areas of construction activity, for example, the installation of technological equipment.
Another task, the solution of which is impossible without the support of the state authorities of the region, is the problem of staffing the industry. Enterprises are experiencing an acute shortage of specialists in the field of geological exploration, construction, mining, technological processing of ores, providing production both among the engineering and technical level and workers. For some specialties, it is possible to open departments for training specialists directly in the Kamchatka Territory. Collaboration with interested enterprises will help create the necessary training base and attract teaching staff.
Important for the rhythmic work of the industry is the improvement of the necessary supply chain. The technology of processing mineral raw materials is based on the need to use a number of specific components - explosives, chemicals, special equipment. A serious obstacle to the provision of these materials is the unwillingness of transport organizations to ensure the delivery of such materials to the peninsula due to the lack of the necessary licenses, permits, special transport, storage facilities.
The experience of developing mineral resources in the current economic conditions has shown the need to intensify work to attract additional investment in the industry and develop new approaches to the implementation of management policy.
The main objects of subsoil use, primarily in terms of liquid types of mineral raw materials - deposits of precious metals, nickel, hydrocarbons, thermal mineral waters, explored and evaluated in previous periods, are in the distributed subsoil fund.
In accordance with initial conditions use of the subsoil in the main gold deposits, which were granted for use at the end of the last and the beginning of this decade, by now in the Kamchatka Territory, gold mining should be carried out at eight sites - Aginsky, Ametistovoe, Asachinsky, Rodnikovo, Mutnovsky, Baranevsky, Zolotoe, Kumrochsky deposits. Over the past period, several changes have been made to license agreements related to the postponement of terms and stages of work, a decrease in investment in exploration and capital construction. As a result, the region did not receive about 45 tons of gold, about 1.5 billion rubles of taxes to the regional budget only on the tax on the extraction of minerals. Under these conditions, it is impossible to achieve the planned indicators for the development of the industry.
The reasons are both external factors - changes in the price of mineral raw materials on world markets, bank lending conditions, and internal factors - the extreme underdevelopment of the infrastructure of the Kamchatka Territory, the remoteness of the territory, difficult natural and climatic conditions, the lack of a local labor market, and the lack of construction capacities. To develop fields located in remote and hard-to-reach conditions, enterprises need to design and build a road network, energy and social infrastructure facilities. In this regard, the volume of investments increases significantly, which leads to a deterioration in the economic performance of enterprises and reduces the performance of mineral raw materials.
The main directions of the policy of the state authorities of the Kamchatka Territory in order to develop the economic potential of the enterprises of the industry in the short term should be:
1. Attraction of public funds to create the necessary energy and transport infrastructure within the framework of state programs or using the mechanism of public-private partnership.
2. Provision of real state support to the backbone enterprises of the industry, including the establishment of preferential tariffs for the electricity produced in isolated energy centers.
3. Development and implementation educational programs in the Kamchatka Territory to train specialists for newly developing sectors of the economy.
In order to increase the efficiency of reproduction and use of the mineral resource base in the near future, the state authorities of the Russian Federation should solve the following tasks:
1. Tougher requirements for subsoil users to unconditionally comply with the terms of license agreements.
2. Orientation state program reproduction of the mineral resource base to increase the degree of geological knowledge of subsoil use objects before the stage of their provision for use.
3. Reducing the rates of one-time (starting) payments for the use of subsoil during auctions in order to redistribute the financial resources of enterprises for work on geological study and exploration of mineral deposits.
4. Establishment tax breaks for subsoil use facilities located in hard-to-reach and remote areas.
Information source: www.kamchatka.gov.ru
Kamchatka is rich in minerals. There is coal, precious metals, gemstones, amber. Mined, while in small volumes, gas, coal, gold.
The resource potential of the Kamchatka region within the administrative boundaries of 2006 was estimated by FSUE "VIEMS" (2004) at $ 32.7 billion, including $ 11.7 billion for ore minerals. Deposits of energy raw materials (gas and gas condensate, coal, steam hydrotherms), not being objects of general national importance, are also very significant and are able to meet the energy needs of the region.
Ore gold is localized in three gold ore regions: Central Kamchatsky, South Kamchatsky and East Kamchatsky --- located on the territory of four administrative districts - Bystrinsky, Elizovsky, Ust-Kamchatsky and Ust-Bolsheretsky. Explored deposits with a balance reserve are located in Bystrinsky (Aginskoye, Baranievskoye, Zolotoe) and Elizovsky (Rodnikovoe, Asachinskoye, Mutnovskoye) districts. Easily enriched ores of these deposits contain industrial amounts of silver.
Deposits of non-ferrous metals are also located mainly in the Bystrinsky and Elizovsky districts. About 30 ore occurrences and mineralization points have been identified in the central and southern regions of the peninsula. The largest are located within the Khim-Kirganik ore zone (Shanuch deposit) and the Dukuk ore cluster near the Dukuk, Kuvalorog and Kvinum groups of ore occurrences. Ores of the Shanuch deposit with the largest reserves due to high grades useful components are a natural concentrate that does not require pre-enrichment.
The immediate prospects for the development of the mining and ore potential are associated with the development of gas condensate fields in the Kamchatka region and the commissioning of the Aginsky field. The commissioning of the Aginskoye deposit will bring additional tax revenue of at least $24 million, the commissioning of the Baranyevskoye, Rodnikovoye, Zolotoe deposits - another $37.5 million per year, the Shanuchskoye deposit - $11.2 million. Thus, tax revenues by 2010 will increase by $ 72.7 million, which is 40% of the total income of the Kamchatka region. At the same time, up to 7 thousand jobs will be created in the mining industry.
The potential of mineral resources (MSR) of the Koryak Autonomous Okrug ( northern regions district and the Asian part within the former borders of the Kamchatka region) is estimated at $ 25 billion. Coal, placer deposits of platinum and gold are mined in the district. In general, the mining industry provides 25% of domestic revenues to the budget revenues.
In the future, it is planned to involve in the operation of gold deposits, primarily Ametistovoe, to increase coal production in order to fully satisfy the district's settlements with local fuel resources. In this regard, there are prospects for building up hard (Gorelovskoye, Khairyuzovskoye, Tigilskoye) and brown (Palanskoye) coal deposits. Prospecting and appraisal work is underway at the Podyomny site of the Tigilskoye coal deposit. In general, the balance reserves of coal deposits in the district are 16.98 million tons. The cost of local hard coal compared to imported coal is 1.5-2 times less.
As of July 1, 2006, 275 licenses are in force in the territory controlled by the Administration of Rosprirodnadzor for the Kamchatka Region and the Koryak Autonomous Okrug.
FUEL MINERALS
The accumulation of hydrocarbons in Kamchatka has been going on for millions of years. It is possible to single out the Early and Late Cretaceous, Early and Late Paleogene, Miocene and Pliocene-Quaternary epochs of hydrocarbon gas generation. In terms of geological development, Kamchatka has many common features with about. Sakhalin, which is a large oil-bearing region of the country, therefore, may also be promising for gas and oil production.
Natural resources on the Western Kamchatka shelf amount to 1,753 million tons of reference fuel. According to other data, they exceed 3.5-4.6 billion tons, and in the zone of the highest concentration of resources - about 2 billion tons. The promising oil and gas bearing area reaches 70 thousand square meters. km.
In addition to the shelf, it is assumed that there will be oil and gas in the Voyampolsky licensed area in the basins of the Tigil, Amanina and Voyampolka rivers. It can be summarized that the promising territories for oil and gas are 111 thousand square kilometers. The total gas reserves are estimated at 15-20 billion cubic meters, of which 7 billion cubic meters are protected by projects.
The most promising manifestations of hydrocarbons (oil, gas) are located in Western Kamchatka within the Kolpakovsky oil and gas region on an area of about 10 thousand square meters. km. Four gas condensate fields (Kshukskoye, Nizhne-Kvakchikskoye, Sredne-Kunzhikskoye and Severo-Kolpakovskoye) with total gas reserves of about 16 billion cubic meters have been prepared for operation here. m and 0.52 million tons of condensate.
The list with promising (C 3) resources in the Kolpakovskiy district includes 11 structures (Skhumochskaya, Skhikiyskaya, Severo-Oblukovinskaya, Ust-Oblukovinskaya, etc.). Their total resources are estimated according to VNIGRI from 32.4 to 49.1 billion cubic meters. m of gas. In addition to the Kolpakovsky and Ichinsk oil and gas regions, the Central Kamchatka region has localized resources (Karakovskaya and Taiga structures - 16.1 billion cubic meters of gas). Of the other promising areas, Eastern Kamchatka is of the greatest practical interest, where it is possible to discover small and medium-sized hydrocarbon deposits.
Large reserves of coal are also assumed. The most coal-bearing are Omolonskaya, Penzhinsko-Markovskaya, West Kamchatskaya and East Kamchatskaya areas. In Eastern Kamchatka, these are the Korfskoye and Khailinskoye lignite deposits, in Western Kamchatka, the Krutogorovskoye, Tigilskoye, Podkagernoye, Gorelovskoye coal and Palanskoye lignite deposits.
The Korfi lignite deposit (settlement Medvezhka) is located on the coast of the bay of the same name. The thickness of the seams reaches 28 m, the explored reserves are
258.6 million tons, predicted resources - 1.1 billion tons. This deposit can fully meet the needs of the region in coal.
Palana deposit. At the Ugolnoye site, 13 seams of brown coal have been identified, the thickness of which ranges from 0.5 to 8.2 m. Coal reserves reach a depth of 10 m and amount to 323.7 thousand tons. The conditions allow open-cast mining.
In the Krutogorovskoye deposit, the coal seams come close to the surface, so their surface mining is possible. Coal-bearing deposits with a thickness of 150 m include 5 working layers, the upper layers are located 5-100 m from the day surface. The ash content of coals is 15-25%, the thermal conductivity is 7.2-7.6 thousand cal/kg of coal. Probable reserves for open-pit mining are estimated at 580-600 million tons, and in total - 35 billion tons.
Industrial development of coal is currently being carried out only at the Korf deposit (annual production is 40,000 tons) and Tigilskoye (2-3,000 tons are mined at several sites).
The Kamchatka Territory is exceptionally rich in peat, the deposits of which have been established along the western and eastern coasts, on about. Karaginsky, in the basins of the Bystraya and Paratun-ka rivers. More than 10 deposits are being developed. Peat is used mainly for local needs (peat compost mixture for fertilizers and bedding for livestock). In the future, peat can be mined for industrial processing, obtaining valuable chemical substances, gas, thermal insulation boards and other products.
ORE MINERAL RESOURCES
Metallic minerals are represented by numerous manifestations of ore and placer gold, platinum, nickel, copper, tin, lead, zinc, mercury, as mentioned above.
Recall that gold reserves have been explored and estimated at four large deposits - Aginsky, Ametistovoe, Asachinsky and Rodnikovsky, totaling 198 tons of gold and 655 tons of silver; for 42 placers of gold - a total of 7.3 tons, for 3 small deposits of mercury (Olyutorsky, Lyapgonaisky and Chempurinsky) - 2.1 thousand tons. There is a scattered deposit in the upper reaches of the river. Ozernaya (Eastern Kamchatka). Small deposits were found in the upper reaches of the river. Karaga, on the right bank in the middle reaches of the river. Tymlat, in the middle course of the river. Kichigi and others. The Kumroch ore field and the Mutnovskoye ore field, the Porozhistoe deposit are promising in terms of gold reserves. A large deposit, already located on the Asian side of the Kamchatka Territory, is Ametistovoe. Previously, in a artisanal way, gold was washed in the spurs of the Valaginsky ridge along the river. Right Shchapina (Dark spring, Ozernaya ravine), along Ipuin (the Levaya Shchapina river basin), in the south-west of Kamchatka (Kikhchik river), on the Kamenistom stream near Petropavlovsk, now - in the river basin. Penzhina and other places.
A total of 400 gold occurrences and mineralization points have been explored. They are grouped in 6 gold ore regions: Penzhinsky, Ichigin-Unneivayamsky (Ametistovoe), North Kamchatsky (Ozernovskoye ore field), Central Kamchatsky, South Kamchatsky and East Kamchatsky. All studied deposits belong to the gold-silver formation with an average gold grade of 10-43 g/t, which is a prerequisite for high profitability of future developments.
The ores of almost all deposits do not contain harmful impurities and are easily enriched. Modern technologies can provide extraction of 95-97% of gold and 80-95% of silver.
Along with gold and silver, platinum is one of the most valuable noble metals. Deposits of platinum have been discovered within the Seinav-Galmoenan platinum cluster, 60-90 km north of Korf. The criteria for the formation of placer deposits of platinoids in the mountain ranges of the Koryak-Kamchatka volcano-tectonic belt are revealed.
On the territory of the region there are numerous occurrences of ferrous metals ores various types, although there are no large deposits. There are placers of titanomagnetite sands containing titanomagnetite - magnetic iron ore and titanium with the inclusion of vanadium.
The Khalaktyrskoye deposit of titanomagnetite sands is located on the east coast, 10 km from the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The placer stretches along the coast for 32 km. The deposit was formed due to erosion and removal by rivers of loose tuffs, slags of the Avachinsky and Kozelsky volcanoes. From the sands, you can get a concentrate, in which the iron content reaches 40.5%, titanium dioxide - 46.9%. However, so far the sand of the Khalaktyrsky beach is used only for construction work.
Deposits and ore occurrences of non-ferrous metals (mercury, copper, lead, molybdenum, zinc, nickel, tungsten, tin) with estimated reserves are relatively few and can be an object of associated mining with gold and silver.
Copper. Available a large number of promising objects of copper-porphyry and copper-pyrite formations, as well as formations of orthoclase metasomatites. The Kirganikskoye and Sharomskoye deposits are known in the Milkovsky district, where the copper content in ores ranges from 3 to 10.32%. The ores together with copper contain gold, silver and molybdenum.
Mercury. Several previously explored deposits and more than 300 mercury occurrences are known. The main mercury-containing mineral is cinnabar. Of the most promising deposits are Chempurinskoye in the Sredinny Ridge, located at the latitude of the Keys, Lyapganaiskoye in the upper reaches of the river of the same name, and Olyutorskoye, the most studied.
Nickel. More than 100 nickel ore objects have been discovered. Along the right bank of the middle reaches of the river. Icha known complex sulfide. copper-nickel with cobalt, platinoids and gold Shanuchskoe ore occurrence, attributed to the peridotite-pyroxenite-norite formation (the composition of ores is close to Norilsk). It is located 85 km from the village. Krutogorovo. Sulfide copper-nickel ores contain 43.2 thousand tons of nickel, 1.42 thousand tons of cobalt, 6.6 thousand tons of copper with an average metal content of 4.96; 0.126% and 0.76% respectively. Ores contain 0.26 g/t of gold and 0.43 g/t of palladium as associated components. The total predicted estimate of the nickel reserves of this deposit is estimated at no less than 70 thousand tons of nickel.
Another promising object is the Dukuk-Kuvalorog-Kvinumskaya nickel-bearing zone with predicted nickel resources of about 550 thousand tons and PGM - 23 tons. The ores of the deposit have an increased content of gold and platinoids: nickel - 4.9%, cobalt - 0, 1%, copper - 1.6%, platinoids - 3.96 g/t, gold - 0.5 g/t.
In the West Kamchatka metallogenic zone, along with hard and brown coal, germanium is associated.
NON-METAL MINERALS
There are large deposits of native sulfur in Kamchatka. Exploration work revealed more than 200 manifestations of sulfur, including several significant ones.
The Vetrovskoye sulfur deposit is located in the Olyutorsky district (the nearest point is the village of Tilichiki). There are five lots in its area. The thickness of the deposit is from 2.5 to 20 m. The explored reserves are 106 thousand tons.
The Maletoivayamskoye sulfur deposit is located in the upper reaches of the river of the same name in the Olyutorsky district. The deposit combines several groups of sulfur manifestations. The sulfur content is high. Explored reserves - 106.4 thousand tons.
BUILDING MATERIALS AND TECHNICAL RAW MATERIALS
Among non-metallic minerals great importance have local building materials. Their deposits are developed mainly near settlements and along highways, although the deposits are located everywhere - we can assume that the region is provided with construction resources in abundance.
Building stones are traded on the Petrovskaya hill (Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky). Also known are the deposits of Primorskoye, Polovinka-1 and on the river. Alder (Yelizovsky district). The total reserves of raw materials on them amount to 17594 thousand cubic meters. m.
11 deposits of building sands with total reserves of over 19 million cubic meters have been explored. m. Of these, Tigiya, Ossor, Ust-Kamchatskoye, Khalaktyrskoye are being developed.
Sand and gravel can be mined from 20 or more deposits. The total reserves are 106 million cubic meters. m. While deposits are being developed that are close to settlements and construction sites. The largest of them are Bystrinskoye (Yelizovsky district), Nikolaevka-1, Avachinskoye, lake. middle,
The reserves of pumice and pumice sands in the region are truly of world importance. The predicted resources of pumice are estimated at more than 20 billion tons. Seven deposits have been explored in detail: Ilyinskoye, Zhupanovskoye, Avachinskoye, Kimitinskoye, Ozerkovskoye, Nalychevskoye.
Ignimbrites and baked tuffs are the building material of the future. They occupy vast areas around the lake. Kurilsky, Gorely volcano, Karymsko-Semyachik group of volcanoes.
More than 100 manifestations of perlite and obsidian are known. Only three deposits are well explored: Nachikinskoye, Yagodinskoye, Paratunskoye.
The Yagodinskoye deposit is located 30 km from the village. Nachiki. In addition to perlite, whose predicted resources are 1 million cubic meters. m, large reserves of zeolitic tuffs have been explored.
Siliceous-carbonate rocks are represented by layers of gray, light green and siliceous shales. The Lekhnovskoye deposit is known, located 70 km northeast of the city of Petropavlovsk. Talovskoye limestone deposit is located 70 km from the village. Kamenskoye. Its reserves are 16 million tons.
In various regions, 10 brick clay deposits have been explored, located near the settlements of Sharomskoye, Kirganikskoye and Paratunskoye, the latter two being actively developed.
Deposits of expanded clay raw materials are located in the Ust-Kamchatsky and Elizovsky regions.
Mineral paint deposits are known in the Milkovsky and Elizovsky districts: limonites and iron oxide mineral pigments. These are high-grade ores suitable for the manufacture of paints, red lead, and umber.
There are gems in Kamchatka. A placer of precious garnet (its variety is demantoid) has been explored and outlined. In nature, such deposits are extremely rare. A stock of jewelry chrysolite was found / there are stocks of chromidopsin. Ruby, sapphire, amethyst are found in placers. Quite often there are jasper, marble onyx, agate, obsidian. In the recent past, the association "Quartssamotsvet" produced ornamental stones and jewelry worth 160 thousand rubles. per year (at old prices).
In the ancient ruined buildings of volcanoes and their craters, hydrothermal zones, there are a small amount of gems - agate, chalcedony, rhodonite, garnet, jade, jasper, obsidian. Gems are used for jewelry, personal crafts and decorative cladding. Stocks of agate, carnelian, chalcedony have been explored in the central part of the Kinkil-sky cape on the western coast, and a rare bright green demantoid garnet is found in the Kuyul mountains (Penzhinsky district). In the Bystrinsky district, deposits of gray, bluish, wax volcanic glass, suitable for the manufacture of decorative and artistic products, have been discovered. Dark brown, spotted, striped obsidian can be found in the area of the Khangar volcano, blue - in the area of the Ichinsky volcano.
Colored marbles of the Lekhovsky and granites of the Ahomten deposits have high decorative qualities.
On Bering Island, in Buyan Bay, there are pebbles of variegated jaspers, milky white matte chalcedony, and finely patterned agate.
In Kamchatka, amber is found that is inferior to Baltic amber, darker and more fragile. In the north, amber deposits have been identified in the vicinity of Pychginin Bay, north of Cape Bozhedomova and south of Cape Rebro. Amber is found in the surf zone of the bay, as it is washed out from the coastal deposits of the Kinkinskaya suite (there are also brown coals here). Amber is on the river. Empty, its left tributaries - the keys Coal and Tammaivayama 9 and 14 km from the mouth. Coal seams of small thickness also come to the surface here. Above Palana, 8 km along the left bank of the Fekleno spring, amber was also found. It occurs as inclusions in coal seams and bedrock conglomerates.
Kamchatka is a peninsula located in the northeast of Eurasia. This is the only place in Russia where volcanic eruptions occur. Under their influence, special effusive rocks are formed.
Relief
It largely depends on geological structure territory. So, the faults are extended along the peninsula, all the ridges and strips of lowlands are also located along the eastern coast. Mountains are, in addition, active or extinct volcanoes. They can be seen on the map of the peninsula called Kamchatka. The relief and minerals of this region are interconnected, since many mineral resources are concentrated in the area of volcanic activity.
Their slopes are scree in nature, landslides occur here. Active volcanoes are located in the eastern part of Kamchatka. The largest of them is Klyuchevskaya Sopka. Boiling lakes and hot springs are often found here. The famous Valley of Geysers is located in this area. There are mud volcanoes. In river valleys, among which there is the Kamchatka River, alluvial and deluvial deposits are present.
New unique minerals of Kamchatka were discovered on the Tolbachik volcano. A photo of one of them is presented above. It is the mineral tenorite.
At the beginning of the last century, there was a statement that Kamchatka, whose minerals are numerous, cannot be a significant region for the mining industry. Subsequently, this opinion was not confirmed. The new maps included such minerals as copper, coal, graphite, silver, molybdenum, lead, zinc, and oil. It also contained information about amber and various gems. Subsequently, the Korfi coal deposit was singled out among others. Its mining began in 1929. In the future, many more deposits of coal, oil, natural gas and other minerals were explored.
Geological structure
The eastern part of Kamchatka was formed by the interaction of two lithospheric plates: oceanic and continental. This is where one plate sinks under another. This is evidenced by a deep depression bordering the peninsula - the Kuril-Kamchatka deep-water trench. Volcanic activity is widespread here, earthquakes often occur. This territory is composed of such rocks as basalts, andesites, rhyolites.
The rest of the peninsula has more ancient origin. Its western half is composed of Cenozoic sedimentary strata. In the southern part of the peninsula there are granites, porphyries, syenites and other intrusive rocks. Fossils of ancient marine animals are found in Tertiary clays and sandstones, which indicates that the area was covered with water. There are also layers of coal with tree trunks, traces of leaves and fossilized resin - amber.
Minerals of Kamchatka
What else can be said on this subject? Mineral resources of the Kamchatka Peninsula are diverse and numerous. There is oil here natural gas. The most promising reserves of these hydrocarbons are in the Kolpakovskiy oil and gas region in the western part of Kamchatka. There are also reserves of hard and brown coal. In the eastern half of the peninsula, these are the Korfskoye and Khailinskoye brown coal deposits. In the west there are the following Carboniferous occurrences: Tigilskoye, Krutogorovskoye, Gorelovskoye, Podkagernoye. There are huge deposits of peat.
Kamchatka has reserves of both ore and alluvial gold. They are possessed by four large primary deposits: Ametistovoye, Aginskoye, Asachinskoye, Rodnikovskoye. Approximately 198 tons of gold lie here. There are also placers of this precious metal, there are 42 of them. Silver is present in these four deposits to a greater extent - 655 tons. And placers of platinum are open.
There are deposits of cobalt, copper and nickel in the Sredinny crystalline massif of the peninsula.
Kamchatka, whose minerals are associated, among other things, with volcanic activity, has the largest pumice deposit in the Far East region - Ilyinskoye.
Kamchatka also has significant reserves of native sulfur. The number of its manifestations found exceeds two hundred. The total reserves are 106 thousand tons.
Fields under development
The mining industry in Kamchatka is only developing. Recently, there has been a decrease in the amount of mined mineral raw materials. This is due to the fact that the deposits of precious metals are depleted. The Kshukskoye gas field is currently being developed. Several small occurrences of bituminous and brown coal are also being developed. The thermal waters are constantly used to generate electricity.
Practical application of mineral resources
For the fuel and energy complex, there are reserves of oil, gas, coal and brown. Peat is used in economic activity. In the future, it can be widely used in the processing and chemical industries.
Precious metals and minerals used in the jewelry industry are mined. This is, first of all, gold, silver, platinum. A placer of a rare variety of garnet - demantoid was found here.
There is also chrysolite used in jewelry. In addition, there are rubies, amethysts and sapphires. There are ornamental stones - jasper, marble onyx, obsidian, jade, agate. These gems are used for jewelry and other decorative purposes. There is also blue obsidian mined in the area of the Ichinsky volcano.
Kamchatka is provided with building materials. Minerals such as volcanic tuffs, mixtures of sand and gravel, building stone, cinders, brick clay, building sand, perlites and zeolites are in abundance here. Ignimbrites and caked tuffs are promising for construction. Perlites are used for water purification and are added to cement. In ecology, they are used to clean soil and water bodies from pollution by industrial waste.
Widely used The groundwater that have a unique composition. Among them there are both mineral and hydrothermal springs. They are used in the food industry and for heat and power needs.
Kamchatka, whose minerals are very diverse, is a promising area for the extraction of mineral raw materials.
The fact that there should be gold on a distant peninsula, people have long assumed. Back in the early thirties of the last century, the famous Soviet engineer Sergei Ovidenko in his book “The Main Wealth of the Kamchatka Region” pointed out the presence of precious metal in the basins of some rivers of the peninsula and near the village of Nachiki.
And then they forgot about Kamchatka gold for a long time - at that time Kolyma was "fevery", and many enterprises were mining the precious metal in those places. And only in 1964, geologists took a sample from a quartz vein in the upper reaches of the Aga River, which showed the richest gold content in the ore - 200 grams per ton. This is how the famous Aginskoye deposit appeared.
Precious labor
For more than 10 years, the Aginsk Mining and Processing Plant, which is part of the Gold of Kamchatka group of companies, one of the largest gold mining companies in Russia, has been operating in this place for more than 10 years. She was the first to start mining hard gold on the peninsula and today is the leading producer of this precious metal in the region. Along with the fishing industry, gold mining is becoming strategically important for the development of the economy of the entire region.Gold of Kamchatka owns nine licenses for the development of gold deposits with a total resource base of more than 375 tons of gold. All production is based on two enterprises: mining and processing plants "Aginskaya" and "Ametistovoye". Only last year they processed about 800 thousand tons of ore. 5.4 tons of gold were mined.
In Kamchatka, precious nuggets, unfortunately, do not roll underfoot. The process of gold mining from ore is very time-consuming and requires maximum professionalism from all employees of the enterprise:
Today, as shown in old films, gold is almost never mined by hand. Nowadays, the technology has advanced a lot, and the extraction of the precious metal is carried out by sorption leaching, says Chief enrichment plant Alexander Drozdov. - The ore material is crushed into small fractions using special mills, then the ore is passed through a system of sieves. After that, a complex chemical process of extracting gold from ore begins by sorption of precious metals. The next stage is electrolysis, obtaining a cathode deposit that contains gold. Then, by melting gold-bearing sediments, an alloy of gold and silver is obtained - DORE, which is subsequently sent to a refinery outside the peninsula to obtain pure gold.
The working process. Photo: Courtesy of the advertiser
The rest of the ore in the professional community is called "tailings", and all enterprises have special landfills for their storage. In general, the maximum environmental friendliness of production is one of the key priorities for Zoloto Kamchatka. The mills use the best available technologies to reduce the impact of production on the environment. The environmental service of the company consists of qualified specialists who continuously monitor compliance with all environmental standards. For example, at the beginning of June employee Dmitry Romanenko took third place in the regional competition "Ecologist of the Year".
A backlog for the future
All production of the gold mining company is based on three nodes: North, East and Central. The north node is the area of the Ametistovoye deposit. The activity of the mining and processing plant recently built there is designed for at least 15 years - in these places there is a very rich mineral resource base. Its additional exploration is a priority task at this production site.In the central node, gold mining is carried out at several deposits: Aginsky, Yuzhno-Aginsky, Zolotoe, Oganchinsky and Kungurtsevsky. Particular attention is paid here to the development of the Baranyevskoye field: the task is to provide logistics and build a road. It is planned that in next year the ore of the Baranyevskoye deposit will begin to replace the resources of the Aginskoye deposit, which is being retired from active mining.
At the east node full swing the study of the Kumroch deposit, which geologists consider a very promising object, is underway. We are talking about 100 tons of gold reserves in these places. Of course, without the development of infrastructure, it will be impossible to “get close” to them:
Currently, geological exploration and design and survey work is being carried out at Kumroch, and in the next three years the field will be prepared for development. In this place, it is planned to build an enterprise that will produce 3500-4500 kg of gold annually. This will increase the annual gross regional product of the Kamchatka Territory by 12 billion rubles, - shares his plans Director for Government Relations Yury Garashchenko. - Due to climatic and other natural features, the start of drilling operations at facilities with poorly developed infrastructure begins only now, during the favorable summer field season.
Lack of infrastructure complicates the process of gold mining. Photo: Courtesy of the advertiser
In general, the lack of infrastructure significantly complicates the process of gold mining in our region, so the construction of roads, the cost of electricity and fuel account for almost 35% of the cost of the final product. And yet, we look to the future with confidence - we are developing the transport infrastructure of the fields, Special attention we devote to geological exploration. Exploration in our company is carried out by true professionals who use modern and high-performance equipment at the facilities, - notes Alexey Golubenko, General Director of Gold of Kamchatka.
For the benefit of the region
For any region, the activity of such a large enterprise is a serious help for the local budget. The government of the Kamchatka Territory notes that in last years more and more private investments are coming to the region, and this has a significant impact on the regional economy and contributes to its development. These positive changes, of course, are the merit of the "Gold of Kamchatka". Thanks to his activities, last year gold production on the peninsula increased by more than 80%.In addition, the development of the mining industry is of great socio-economic importance in terms of increasing the level of employment of the population and improving the standard of living in a number of settlements. The company is engaged not only in gold mining, but also pursues a socially responsible policy, helping residents of remote Kamchatka villages, financing sports, environmental, cultural and educational events, and supporting regional social programs.
