Good afternoon, my reader. Today I will tell you about what the largest mineral deposits exist in the world and separately in our country. First, let me remind you what minerals are.

Minerals throughout the world are considered to be organic and mineral formations located in the earth's crust, the composition and properties of which can be effectively used in the national economy.

One of the types of natural resources is mineral resources - rocks and minerals used in the mineral resource base of the world economy.

Today world economy uses over 200 types of ore, fuel, energy and mineral resources.

In the distant past, our Earth has experienced numerous natural disasters, one of which was volcanic eruptions. Hot magma from the crater of the volcano spread over the surface of our planet and then cooled, flowing into deep crevices, where it crystallized over time.

Magmatic activity was most evident in areas of seismically active zones, where over a long period of time the development of the earth's crust formed useful resources, which are distributed relatively evenly throughout the planet. The main continents for the distribution of raw materials are South and North America, Eurasia and Africa, Asia and Australia.

As is known, different metals have different melting temperatures, and the composition and location of ore accumulations depend on the temperature.

The location of these deposits had its own certain patterns, depending on geological features and weather factors:

1. the time of the appearance of the earth,
2. structure of the earth's crust,
3. type and terrain,
4. shape, size and geological structure of the territory,
5. climatic conditions,
6. atmospheric phenomena,
7. water balance.

Mineral resource areas are characterized by a closed area of ​​concentration of local mineral deposits and are called basins. They are characterized by common rock formations and a single process of sediment accumulation in the tectonic structure.

Large accumulations of minerals of industrial importance are called deposits, and closely located, closed groups of them are called basins.

Types of resources on our planet

The main resources on our planet are found on all continents - South and North America, Africa and Eurasia, Australia and Asia; they are not evenly distributed and therefore their selection is different in different territories.

World industry annually requires more and more raw materials and energy, so geologists do not stop their search for new deposits for a minute, and scientists and industry experts are developing modern technologies extraction and processing of extracted raw materials.

This raw material is already mined not only, but also at the bottom of the seas and coastal oceans, in hard-to-reach areas of the earth and even in permafrost conditions.

The presence of proven reserves over time required specialists in this industry to record and classify them, so all minerals were divided according to physical properties into: solid, liquid and gaseous.

Examples of solid minerals include marble and granite, coal and peat, as well as ores of various metals. Accordingly, liquid - mineral water and oil. As well as gaseous ones - methane and helium, as well as various gases.

According to their origin, all fossils were divided into sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic.

Igneous fossils are classified as places that are superficial or close to the surface of the outcrop of the crystalline foundation of platforms during the period of activity of tectonic processes.

Sedimentary fossils are formed over many centuries and millennia from the remains of ancient plants and animals, and are used primarily as fuel.

Fuel minerals form the largest oil, gas and coal basins. Metamorphic fossils are formed by alteration of sedimentary and igneous rocks due to changes in physicochemical conditions.
By area of ​​use: combustible, ore and non-metallic, where precious and ornamental stones were designated as a separate group.

Fossil fuels are natural gas and oil, coal and peat. Ore minerals are rocks containing metal components. Non-metallic minerals are rocks of substances that do not contain metals - limestone and clay, sulfur and sand, various salts and apatites.

Availability of general mineral reserves

For industrial development, not all explored mineral deposits could be extracted by humanity due to their unfavorable and inaccessible conditions, therefore, in the world ranking for the extraction of reserves of natural raw materials, each country is retaining its specific place.

Every year, mining engineers and geologists continue to identify new reserves of underground wealth, which is why the leading positions of individual states change from year to year.

So it is believed that Russia is the richest country in the world in terms of production volumes natural resources, namely 1/3 of the world's reserves natural gas is located right here.

The largest gas fields in Russia are Urengoyskoye and Yamburgskoye, which is why our country ranks first in the world ranking for this raw material. Russia is in second place in terms of tungsten reserves and production.

Our largest coal basins are located not only in the Urals, but also in Eastern Siberia, the Far East and Central Russia Therefore, Russia is in third place in the world ranking for coal. In fourth place - in gold, in seventh - in oil.

The main gas and oil fields on the continents are located in the foothills and depressions, but the world's largest deposits of this raw material are located on the seabed of the continental shelf. So in Africa and Australia, large reserves of oil and gas were found in the shelf zone of the mainland coast.

IN Latin America There are huge reserves of non-ferrous and rare metals, so this country ranks first in the world for this natural raw material. North America has the largest coal basins, so these natural resources in terms of their reserves have brought this country to first place in the world.
The Chinese platform, where fossil fuels such as oil and gas have been used for lighting and heating human homes since the 4th century BC, can be considered very promising in terms of oil reserves.

Overseas Asia is home to some of the world's richest mineral resource diversity, influenced by volcanic and seismic landforms, as well as the activity of permafrost, glaciers, wind and flowing waters.

Asia is famous all over the world for its reserves of precious and semi-precious stones, so this continent is very rich in a variety of minerals.

The tectonic structure in the history of the geological development of such a continent as Eurasia determined the diversity of the terrain, which is why it has the richest oil reserves in the world compared to other countries.

Large reserves of ore minerals in Eurasia are associated with the foundation of Mesozoic folding platforms.

In search of fuel and other raw materials, humanity is moving more and more confidently in, where black gold and natural gas are mined at continental depths of over 3000 meters, because the bottom of this area of ​​​​our planet has been little studied and definitely contains innumerable reserves of precious natural raw materials.

And that's all for today. I hope you liked my article about the largest mineral deposits in Russia and the world, and you learned a lot of useful things from it. Maybe you also had to engage in amateur mining of some of them, write about it in your comments, I will be interested in reading about it. Let me say goodbye to you and see you again.

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Mineral deposit called the natural accumulation of minerals in the earth’s crust (Fig. 1.1).

By technological features Underground mining of deposits in them is divided into groups: ore, seam and placer.

Rice. 1.1.

Ore deposits include not only metal ore deposits, but also nonmetallic deposits similar to them in genetic characteristics, while coal and shale deposits are classified as strata deposits.

Minerals called a natural mineral substance, which, at a given level of technology and technology, is economically feasible to extract from the bowels of the earth for use.

The deposit is considered industrial, if its development is economically feasible. Otherwise it is called non-industrial.

According to their physical state, minerals are: hard(coal, ores, chemical and construction raw materials, etc.), liquid(oil, mineral waters) and gaseous(gases).

Among solid minerals, the following groups are distinguished according to their purpose and nature of use:

• flammable(coal, oil shale, peat);
• metal(iron, copper, gold ores, etc.);
• non-metallic(sulfur, salt, apatite, refractories, fluxes, etc.).

Minerals are divided into ore and non-ore.

Rocks that do not contain a useful mineral or contain in quantities insufficient for economically acceptable processing are called empty rock.

The metal is found in ore most often in the form of chemical compounds - ore minerals, for example lead - in the form of galena (PbS); tin in the form of cassiterite (Sn0 2), zinc in the form of sphalerite (ZnS), etc.

Based on technological process mining is divided into groups of deposits: oil and gas, peat, coal and oil shale, ore, non-metallic and placer.

Deposits are characterized primarily by the shape of ore bodies: layers, sheet-like deposits, stocks, lenses, veins, etc. The thickness of ore bodies ranges from a few centimeters (rare metals and gold) to tens and hundreds of meters (iron, copper, apatite). The dip angle of the deposits ranges from horizontal and flat (0-25°) to steep (45-90°). The length of the deposits reaches tens of kilometers (phosphorites), the depth of distribution of ore bodies is kilometers.

A typical example of a metal deposit with a complex structure is the Talnakh deposit (Taimyr). The defining structural element is the Norilsk-Kharaelakh deep fault with its supporting faults. The western flank of the field is broken by a large number of tectonic faults, among which subparallel faults with a steep dip predominate. The eastern flank of the deposit is disrupted by tectonic faults along the western flank of the deposit.

Sulfide mineralization is spatially and genetically related to the large Talnakh differentiated gabbro-dolerite intrusion and is represented by the following types of ores:

• solid;
• disseminated and vein-disseminated in intrusion rocks;
• disseminated and vein-disseminated in rocks hosting the intrusion.

The mineral composition of rich ores is predominantly chalcopyrite-pyrrhotite, with areas of talnakhite-cubanite ores. Solid sulfide ores have high chemical activity towards oxygen, due to the presence of easily oxidized sulfide minerals in the ore. Disseminated ores are associated with picrite, taxite, troctolite and contact gabbro-dolerites.

Based on the degree of fracturing, the ore is divided into:

• slightly fractured - 0.2 m (average size of an elementary block);
• medium-fractured - 0.1-0.2 m;
• highly fractured - 0.05-0.1 m;
• crushed - 0.05 m.

The strength properties of ores vary widely: from 6 to 14-16 on the prof. scale. MM. Protodyakonov. The total thickness of ore bodies reaches 100 m or more, the localization depth is 400-600 m.

The deposits in the part of the deposit developed by the Taimyrsky mine are located in the central part of the Oktyabrsky deposit. The ore bodies plunge to the east-northeast at an angle of 15-20° and extend in the meridional direction for 850 m at their greatest width (500 m). The thickness of the ore bodies is 17-33 m, the development depth is 1200-1700 m.

The main structural element separating the mine fields of the deposit is a mountain fault, which has a submeridional strike, a steep (70-85°) eastern dip with a displacement amplitude of 40-80 m.

The most common combinations of violations are:

• codirectional faults;
• multidirectional discharges (the block is raised or lowered);
• co-directional fault and reverse fault;
• multidirectional reverse and normal faults.

All this determines the block structure of the deposit. Tectonic block parameters:

• strike length 30-120 m;
• block width across strike - 8-60 m;
• the angle of incidence of tectonic disturbances is 50-85°;
• displacement amplitude along the tectonic fault is 2-40 m.

Near a tectonic disturbance, the fracturing of ores and rocks increases, forming zones of increased associated fracturing 0.5-0.8 m wide. The zones are in most cases asymmetrical: the width in the hanging side is 2-6 times greater than in the lying side. For solid ores, these dependencies are less typical, since in them the tectonic disturbance most often represents a smoothed plane along which the wings of the disturbance are tightly closed.

Within the deposits there are extended areas with inclusions of weak rock layers - xenoliths. Zones of heavily damaged ores and rocks reach 40-50% of the ore deposit area.

With a variety of conditions for the occurrence of ore bodies, a common property of deposits of the type under consideration is the intense disruption of the massif by discontinuous structures from large faults to microcracks.

Minerals are valuable formations located inside and partially above the earth’s crust, their physical and Chemical properties, as well as the composition are valued for their ability to be used in various fields human life activity. Fossils can be either solid, liquid or gaseous.

Accumulations of fossil resources are called deposits - in these zones they are presented in large quantities in the form of placers, veins, layers, stocks. Russian PIs are a colossal set of valuable metals, ores, combustible materials and others. Many of them are concentrated in greater numbers on the territory of the Russian Federation than anywhere else.

general information

Russia, having the largest territory in comparison with other countries, occupies a leading position in the extraction of essential minerals. The total number of deposits is more than 200,000, and this number is constantly increasing as methods for searching for new deposits are improved. The value of the estimated resources is over 30 trillion. dollars. The amount of natural gas and coal beats the records of most other countries: they represent 32% and 30%, respectively, of the total world reserves.

Relationship between relief and mineral resources of the Russian Federation

The territory of Russia is extremely complex and diverse due to its large extent from west to east and from south to north. Huge territories unite different terrains, rich in a full range of PIs:

• in the European and central region;
• mountains in the south, east and northeast, as well as the unique Ural range that crosses the country;
• northern slope with waters flowing into the seas of the Arctic Ocean.

Natural gas is one of the non-renewable minerals. According to one of the most popular theories, they are formed during a long process of anaerobic decomposition of living organisms in the soil under the influence of high temperature and pressure. The extracted raw materials contain methane, butane, ethane, propane and other compounds. Natural gas is odorless and colorless. In Russia, mining and processing of this mineral began about 200 years ago. At first, gas was considered a by-product of oil production (both types of fuel usually occur next to each other). However, subsequently they began to extract these minerals separately.

Gas fields

The Russian Federation has the largest gas reserves in the world. The United States is considered to have the second largest reserves of this mineral. Following it are some countries from the post-Soviet space (Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan) and states located in the Persian Gulf. Natural gas is produced all over the world. Moreover, the development of blue fuel deposits is not limited to land areas. It is actively mined from the seabed. In Russia, gas fields are mainly located behind the Ural Mountains. They are also found in the North Caucasus and the Black Sea. The largest reserves of blue fuel were found in the following deposits:

• Urengoyskoe. It is located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. This field is the second in the world in terms of natural gas reserves.
• Nakhodkinskoe. This deposit also belongs to the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Its development began in 2004. It is estimated that its gas reserves reach 275 billion cubic meters.
• Angaro - Lenskoye. Located in the Irkutsk region. Exploration data indicates that about 1.4 trillion cubic meters have accumulated in the field. gas
• Kovyktinskoe. Located near Irkutsk. It is one of the most difficult deposits in terms of production, since part of the territory is covered with a layer of permafrost. By preliminary estimates, about 2 trillion cubic meters lie here. gas and approximately 120 million tons of liquid condensate.
• Shtokman. Another deposit that belongs to the largest category. It is located approximately 600 km from Murmansk and includes about 3.8 trillion cubic meters. gas Due to the great depth of mineral deposits, mining at this deposit is not yet underway.

All large and most small fields in the Russian Federation belong to Gazprom. The gas monopolist, which produces and processes more than 74% of all Russian fuel reserves, occupies a 20% share of the world market. In addition to its main tasks, Gazprom is also carrying out gasification of the country.

Gas exploration and production methods

Before the start of production, geological exploration of the territory where there may be deposits of blue fuel is carried out. They make it possible to determine approximate gas reserves and the prospects for field development. Area reconnaissance is carried out using one of the following methods:

• Gravitational. During which experts evaluate the gravity of rocks. The presence of gas is indicated by areas of lower density.
• Magnetic. It is based on the different magnetic permeability of rocks.
• Seismic. Such geological exploration involves the use of special equipment that sends waves of various lengths through the earth's layers and picks up the reflected echo.
• Geochemical. Groundwater is being studied to determine the level of concentration of certain chemical compounds in it.
• Drilling. It is considered the most accurate method of geological exploration. However, drilling is also the most expensive way to explore deposits.

There are several enough effective methods natural gas production. These include:

• One of the most basic areas is, of course, drilling. Natural gas fills many voids in the earth's rocks, connecting with each other through channels. When drilling a well, fuel begins to rise upward under natural pressure. To ensure uniform production, the well itself is created in the form of a “ladder”, and its walls are strengthened with casing pipes.
• Hydraulic fracturing. This method also involves drilling wells into which a large amount of water or air flow. This approach allows you to destroy the partitions formed in the rock, allowing all the gas to escape under pressure.
• Underwater mining. Underwater gas production is carried out from special platforms, the concrete base of which rests on the bottom. It is in the latter that the columns through which wells are drilled and tanks for temporary fuel storage are built. The gas is then sent through a pipeline to land, where it is processed in the traditional way.

The extracted gas contains a wide variety of impurities. Therefore, it is sent to a special station, which is usually built next to the field. It is necessary to process fossils because it is necessary to remove impurities and various inclusions such as sand and water from them.

Subsequently, the blue fuel is sent for storage. To do this, it is pre-cooled to a temperature of -160 degrees and filled with containers made of aluminum alloys or steel. Most gas storage facilities are built underground.

To transport gas to end consumers and for export deliveries, special main pipelines are used, through which gas is supplied to gas distribution stations, where pressure is reduced, but also an odorant (ethyl mercaptan) is added, a substance that gives the gas a characteristic odor and helps prevent unnoticed gas leakage.

Today, gas production is one of the most important industries in Russia. It forms a significant part of the country's budget.

There are many natural deposits of substances important for humans. These are resources that are exhaustible and should be conserved. Without their development and production, many aspects of people's lives would be extremely difficult.

Mineral resources and their properties are the object and subject of study of mining geology. The results obtained by her are further used for processing and production of many things.

Minerals and their properties

What exactly are minerals called? These are rocks or mineral structures that are of great economic importance and are widely used in industry.

Their diversity is great, so the properties for each species are specific. Several main variants of accumulations of the substances under consideration in nature can be distinguished:

• placers;
• strata;
• veins;
• rods;
• nests

If we talk about the general distribution of fossils, we can highlight:

• provinces;
• districts;
• swimming pools;
• Place of Birth.

Minerals and their properties depend on the specific type of raw material. This is what determines the area of ​​their use by humans, as well as the method of extraction and processing.

Types of minerals

There is more than one classification of the raw materials in question. So, if the basis is based on the characteristics of the state of aggregation, then such varieties are distinguished.

1. Solid mineral. Examples: marble, salts, granite, metal ores, non-metallic.
2. Liquid - underground mineral waters and oil.
3. Gas - natural gas, helium.

If the division into types is based on the use of minerals, then the classification takes the following form.

1. Flammable. Examples: oil, combustible coal, methane and others.
2. Ore or igneous. Examples: all metal-containing ore raw materials, as well as asbestos and graphite.
3. Nonmetallic. Examples: all raw materials that do not contain metals (clay, sand, chalk, gravel and others), as well as various salts.
4. Gemstones. Examples: precious and semi-precious, as well as (diamonds, sapphires, rubies, emeralds, jasper, chalcedony, opal, carnelian and others).

Judging by the diversity presented, it is obvious that minerals and their properties are a whole world that is being studied by a huge number of specialist geologists and miners.

Main deposits

Various minerals are distributed fairly evenly across the planet according to geological features. After all, a significant part of them is formed due to platform movements and tectonic eruptions. There are several main continents that are richest in almost all types of raw materials. This:

• North and South America.
• Eurasia.
• Africa.

All countries located in the designated territories widely use minerals and their properties. Export supplies go to the same areas that do not have their own raw materials.

In general, of course, it is difficult to determine overall plan mineral resource deposits. After all, everything depends on the specific type of raw material. Some of the most expensive are precious (containing noble metals) minerals. Gold, for example, is found everywhere except Europe (of the continents listed above plus Australia). It is highly valued, and its extraction is one of the most common phenomena in mining.

Eurasia is the richest in combustible resources. Mountain minerals (talc, barite, kaolin, limestone, quartzite, apatite, salt) are distributed almost everywhere in large quantities.

Mining

In order to extract minerals and prepare them for use, different methods are used.

1. Open path. The necessary raw materials are extracted directly from the quarries. Over time, this leads to the formation of vast ravines and is therefore not kind to nature.
2. The mine method is more correct, but expensive.
3. Fountain method of pumping out oil.
4. Pump method.
5. Geotechnological methods of ore processing.

The development of mineral deposits is an important and necessary process, but one that leads to very disastrous consequences. After all, resources are finite. Therefore in last years special emphasis is placed not on large volumes of extraction of mineral resources, but on their more correct and rational use person.

Ore (igneous) rocks

This group includes the most important and largest mineral resources in terms of production volumes. Ore is a formation of a mineral nature that contains a large amount of one or another desired metal (another component).

Places where such raw materials are extracted and processed are called mines. Igneous rocks can be classified into four groups:

• colored;
• noble;
• non-metallic components.

Let us give examples of some ore mineral resources.

1. Iron.
2. Nickel.
3. Argentite.
4. Cassiterite.
5. Beryl.
6. Bornite.
7. Chalcopyrite.
8. Uraninite.
9. Asbestos.
10. Graphite and others.

Gold is an ore mineral

There are also special minerals among the ores. Gold, for example. Its extraction has been relevant since ancient times, because it has always been highly valued by people. Today, gold is mined and laundered in almost every country that has at least small deposits of it.

In nature, gold occurs in the form of native particles. The largest ingot was found in Australia, weighing almost 70 kg. Often, due to the weathering of deposits and their erosion, placers in the form of sand grains of this precious metal are formed.

It is extracted from such mixtures by washing and sifting. In general, these are not very common and voluminous minerals. That is why gold is called a precious and noble metal.

The centers for the extraction of this ore mineral are:

• Russia.
• Canada.
• South Africa.
• Australia.

Fossil fuels

This group includes such mineral resources as:

• brown coal;
• oil;
• gas (methane, helium);
• coal.

The use of minerals of this kind is fuel and raw materials for the production of various chemical compounds and substances.

Coal is a mineral that lies at a relatively shallow depth in wide layers. Its quantity is limited in one specific deposit. Therefore, having exhausted one pool, people move on to another. In general, coal contains up to 97% pure carbon. It was formed historically as a result of the death and compaction of plant organic remains. These processes lasted millions of years, so now coal reserves great amount all over the planet.

Oil is another name for liquid gold, highlighting just how important a mineral resource it is. After all, this is the main source of high-quality combustible fuel, as well as its various components - the basis, raw material for chemical syntheses. The leaders in oil production are the following countries:

• Russia.
• Algeria;
• Mexico.
• Indonesia.
• Venezuela.
• Libya.

Which is a mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons, it is also an important industrial fuel. It is one of the cheapest raw materials, so it is used on a particularly large scale. The leading countries in production are Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Non-metallic or non-metallic types

This group includes minerals and rocks such as:

• clay;
• sand;
• pebbles;
• gravel;
• crushed stone;
• talc;
• kaolin;
• barite;
• graphite;
• diamonds;
• quartz;
• apatites;
• phosphorite and others.

All varieties can be combined into several groups according to their area of ​​use.

1. Mining chemical minerals.
2. Metallurgical raw materials.
3. Technical crystals.
4. Construction Materials.

Gemstone fossils are often included in this group. The areas of use of non-metallic minerals are multifaceted and extensive. This Agriculture(fertilizers), construction (materials), glass making, jewelry making, technology, general chemical production, paint production and so on.