What are ores? The deposit of iron ores. Ores of Russia

In addition to the well-known oil and gas, there are other equally important minerals. These include ores, which are extracted for the production of ferrous and non-ferrous metals by processing. The presence of ore deposits is the wealth of any country.

What are ores?

Each of the natural sciences answers this question in its own way. Mineralogy defines ore as a set of minerals, the study of which is necessary to improve the extraction of the most valuable of them, and chemistry studies the elemental composition of the ore in order to reveal the qualitative and quantitative content of valuable metals in it.

Geology is considering the question: "what are ores?" From the point of view of the expediency of their industrial use, since this science is engaged in studying the structure and processes occurring in the bowels of the planet, the conditions for the formation of rocks and minerals, and the exploration of new mineral deposits. They represent areas on the surface of the Earth, on which, owing to geological processes, a sufficient number of mineral formations have been accumulated for industrial use.

Formation of ores

Thus, the most complete answer to the question "what is ore?" Is as follows. Ore is a rock with an industrial content of metals in it. Only in this case it has value. Metal ores are formed when magma cools, which contains their compounds. At the same time, they crystallize, being distributed according to the size of their atomic weight. The heaviest settle on the bottom of the magma and separate into a separate layer. Other minerals form rocks, and the hydrothermal liquid remaining from the magma spreads through the voids. The elements contained in it, solidifying, form veins. Rocks, collapsing under the influence of natural forces, are deposited on the bottom of water bodies, forming sedimentary deposits. Depending on the composition of rocks, various ores of metals are formed.

Iron Ore

The types of these minerals vary considerably. What are ores, in particular, iron? If the ore contains enough metal for industrial processing, it is called iron. They differ in origin, chemical composition, as well as in the content of metals and impurities that may be useful. Typically, these are associated non-ferrous metals, for example, chromium or nickel, but there are also harmful - sulfur or phosphorus.

The chemical composition of iron ores is represented by its various oxides, hydroxides or carbonate salts of iron oxide. The developed ores include red, brown and magnetic iron ore, as well as iron shine - they are considered the richest and contain more than 50% metal. The poor include those in which the useful composition is less - 25%.

Composition of iron ore

Magnetic iron ore is an oxide of iron. It contains more than 70% pure metal, but in deposits it is found together with sulfur pyrite, and sometimes with zinc blende and other formations. Magnetic iron ore is considered to be the best of the used ores. Iron shine also contains up to 70% iron. Red iron ore - iron oxide - one of the sources of extraction of pure metal. A brown analogues have up to 60% of the metal content and occur with impurities, sometimes harmful. They are an aqueous iron oxide and accompany almost all iron ores. They are also convenient for easy extraction, processing, but the metal obtained from this type of ore is of low quality.

According to the origin of the iron ore deposits, they are divided into three large groups.

1. Endogenous, or magmatogenic. Their formation is due to geochemical processes occurring in the depths of the earth's crust, magmatic phenomena.
2. Exogenous, or superficial, deposits were created as a result of processes occurring in the near-surface zone of the earth's crust, that is, at the bottom of lakes, rivers, oceans.
3. Metamorphogenic deposits formed at a sufficient depth from the surface of the earth under the influence of high pressure and the same temperatures.

Iron ore reserves in the country

Russia is rich in various deposits. The largest in the world is the Kursk magnetic anomaly containing almost 50% of all world reserves. In this region, a magnetic anomaly was noted already in the eighteenth century, but the development of deposits began only in the 30s of the last century. The reserves of ores in this basin are high in pure metal, they are measured in billions of tons, and extraction is conducted by an open or underground method.

The Bakchar iron ore deposit, which is one of the largest in the country and in the world, was discovered in the 60s of the last century. The ore reserves in it with a concentration of pure iron up to 60% are about 30 billion tons.

In the Krasnoyarsk Territory there is the Abagas deposit - with magnetite ores. It was still open in the 30s of the last century, but it was not until half a century that it was developed. In the North and South zones of the basin, mining is conducted in an open way, and the exact amount of reserves is 73 million tons.

Opened as long ago as 1856, the Abakan deposit of iron ore is still active. First, the development was conducted in an open way, and from the 60s of the XX century - by an underground method at a depth of up to 400 meters. The content of pure metal in the ore reaches 48%.

Nickel ores

What are nickel ores? Mineral formations, which are used for the industrial production of this metal, are called nickel ores. Copper-nickel sulphide minerals with a pure metal content of up to four percent and silicate nickel ores are found, a similar figure of up to 2.9%. The first type of deposits is usually magmatic type, and silicate ore are located in places of weathering crust.

The development of the nickel industry in Russia is associated with the development of their location in the Middle Urals in the middle of the XIX century. Almost 85% of sulphide deposits are concentrated in the Norilsk region. Deposits in Taimyr on the richness of reserves and the diversity of minerals - the largest and unique in the world, they contain 56 elements of the periodic table. The quality of nickel ores is not inferior to other countries, the advantage is that they also contain rare elements.

About ten percent of nickel resources in the sulfide deposits are concentrated on the Kola Peninsula, and silicate deposits are being developed in the Middle and Southern Urals.

The ores of Russia are characterized by the quantity and variety required for industrial use. However, at the same time, they are characterized by complex natural extraction conditions, uneven distribution on the territory of the country, a mismatch of the resource allocation region with population density.