Stavropol Territory: minerals. Natural resources

The main territory of the Stavropol Territory is located on the same elevation. In the east it merges smoothly with the Terek-Kum lowland. In the north it also neatly passes into the Kumo-Manych depression. The south-western part of the region is the foothills of the Greater Caucasus. Its laccolith mountains form an almost separate territory - the area of the Caucasian Mineral Waters. What is mined in the Stavropol Territory? What kinds of minerals are present here? About this below.

Brief description of mineral resources

Minerals in the Stavropol Territory are stored in three hundred deposits. According to the estimated value of underground deposits, 42 percent is for construction materials. Fossil, containing hydrocarbons, are estimated at 38%. The tenth part is given to water resources. The remaining 10 percent is for the remaining mineral resources - titanium-zirconium placers, sands for glass production, mineral and thermal springs. Separately, it is necessary to single out small deposits of polymetals, one of the products of which is uranium.

But the question is not only what minerals are rich in the Stavropol Territory. In addition to mineral resources, it is necessary to allocate water and vegetal resources of nature. They are not deprived of the edge either.

Water resources

On the territory of the Stavropol region there are more than two hundred rivers, large and small. There are also thirty-eight lakes, mostly salty and bitter-salty. The uneven distribution of water resources along the territory of the region served as the basis for the largest water management complex in Russia for the transfer of sewage from the Kuban and Terek rivers. This center provides 80% of the Stavropol water supply. Forecasts of experts are reduced to the fact that the near future will bring us a shortage of fresh groundwater. Stavropol Territory is not threatened, because now only a tenth of the reserves are used. In the Malkinskoye field there is enough water to meet the needs of all the Caucasian Mineral Waters.

If we talk about what minerals are in the Stavropol Territory, we can note its uniqueness in the fact that in a relatively small area there are more than forty kinds of mineral waters. Here they are dining rooms, medical-dining rooms and treatment rooms. Recently, the list has expanded due to radon, iodide-bromine, ferruginous, silicic and bitter-saline waters. There are also Tambukan deposits of medicinal mud. Today, only one-fifth of hydromineral resources are used, but this is enough for an annual supply of the necessary resources to one and a half million vacationers.

Vegetable and animal resources

Plant genetic stock includes more than two thousand species, which is one of the highest rates in Russia. A peculiar relief contributed to the fact that here there are both endemic (growing only here) and relict specimens. To preserve this diversity, mainly from human influence, botanical and complex nature reserves are created. The Stavropol Territory is one of the smallest in the territory of Russia. Forests occupy only one and a half percent of the territory of the region. They are divided into mountainous and lowland. The animal world is also diverse and is represented by amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals in the number of more than four hundred species.

Above we have described what water, plant and animal resources the Stavropol Territory possesses. We consider the minerals further.

Minerals used in construction

Speaking specifically about Stavropol, the main minerals coming from the regional center are mined in Pelagiada. It is about building sands, stones and gravel. This quarry has been developed for seventy years. Practically in every city of the region there are houses built of materials extracted from this deposit. Sand-gravel mixtures are rich in the valleys of the Kuban and Malki rivers, Kochubeevsky district. The reserves of almost two hundred deposits of construction materials - sand and gravel mixtures, construction sand, stones, expanded clay - are estimated at eight hundred million cubic meters. Existing volumes would allow producing building materials for more than thirty years.

But if we evaluate the Stavropol Territory, the minerals of the construction type are extracted every year at an accelerated rate. Although it should be noted that in a significant part of the deposits, additional exploration and the increment of reserves are possible.

Oil production of the Stavropol Territory

The region belongs to the oldest oil producing centers of the country. If the neighboring Krasnodar lands are Russia's oldest oil producing site, Stavropol has also lagged behind. Minerals rich in hydrocarbons began to be mined here in the same nineteenth century. Almost fifty deposits have been explored today. Their reserves are estimated at over eighty million tons.

The most famous oil deposit in the Stavropol Territory is Praskoveiskoye. But, unfortunately, seventy percent of the deposits are hard to recover. To develop them is considered unprofitable. And the main deposits are produced by almost two thirds. Today's production is significantly inferior to that which was still half a century ago. At the current rate of extraction, the profitability of resources will last no more than ten years.

Natural gas

In addition to oil, the Stavropol Territory is also rich in gas deposits. Minerals of this type are stored in seventeen deposits. The reserves of natural gas are estimated at almost fifty million cubic meters. The most famous deposits of blue fuel in the Stavropol Territory include the North-Stavropol-Pelagiada and Sengileevskoye. Gas condensate is found mainly in Mirnensky and Rashevatskoye fields. The production of natural gas over the past twenty years has decreased from five hundred to three hundred million cubic meters. The depreciation of the well stock and their 70% production does not allow to expect an increase in output in the near future.

Titanium-zirconium sands

Such minerals in the Stavropol Territory as titanium-zirconium sands are almost unique. Over ninety percent of this material in Russia is imported. Simultaneously, the Stavropol region is rich in raw materials. Especially Beshpagir stands out, where the width of the sand layer reaches five meters, and they themselves lie at twenty meters deep.

Quartz sand

You can also note the quartz sand, which is rich in the Stavropol Territory. Mineral resources of this kind are mined in the Blagodansky and Spassky deposits. Excellent sand quality - practically free of impurities with a high silica content - allows us to make medical and optical devices, mirror devices, in addition to standard glass containers and sheet materials. This sand is also used for the production of crystal and artistic casting. In the development is the production of window panes based on this deposit.