This is one of the most promising territories where mining of the precious metal is possible. Geologists have already looked for gold here. The work was carried out at the expense of the federal budget. Most of the identified deposits turned out to be poor, and they were classified as off-balance (that is, the extraction of mineral resources was considered inappropriate).
But the Lower Datulankol deposit, as it turned out, is of industrial interest. Gold reserves in it are estimated at 23 tons with a content of 2.1 grams per ton. But when the boundaries of the federal Dautsky nature reserve were changed, this object fell into a specially protected area. Therefore, gold cannot be extracted here.
However, there are other promising areas in the republic. For example, the Birch gold ore occurrence, located on the border of Karachay-Cherkessia and Krasnodar region. It is located on the watershed from which the Golden Key River, a tributary of the Beskes River, and the Khatsavita River flow. Recent studies have shown that there is a thick layer of gold deposits here.
This object remains poorly studied, so it will be included in the licensing program on the basis of entrepreneurial risk, Rosnedra reported.
It is not known exactly how much gold is contained in the depths of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic. Experts are still arguing about the size of natural storehouses. A few years ago the figure was 500 tons. However, later experts came to the conclusion that gold reserves in the republic are much more modest.
The development of gold-bearing areas in the republic is not currently underway, although a license for their development has been issued to the subsoil user, - Yuri Karnaukh, head of the subsoil use department for the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, told the RG correspondent. - Gold and silver mining in the republic is carried out only in one place: at the copper deposit in the Urup region. But this is not a direct extraction of precious metals, but an associated extraction from copper pyrite ores. The work is being carried out in the mines of the local mining and processing plant. One ton of copper ore from the Urup deposit contains 2.4 grams of gold and 37 grams of silver.
Mining has been carried out since 1968. Currently, 450 kilograms of gold and 7.7 tons of silver are extracted from the subsoil along with ore per year. However, only 55 percent of the precious metals are recovered during beneficiation. The rest is thrown into the dump. Technologies for the extraction of solid minerals are constantly being improved. Experts do not rule out that in the near future there will be a way to cost-effectively recycle industrial waste. If such a method is found, the Urupsky site will turn into a technogenic deposit.
Placer gold was mined on many mountain rivers of the North Caucasus in the 30-40s of the last century. Mining was carried out by prospectors using, as they said then, muscular strength. The richest in gold were the small mountain rivers of Karachay-Cherkessia: Beskes, Rozhkao, Vlasenchikha, Kizilchuk, Gilyach and some others. A nugget weighing almost a kilogram was found on the Vlasenchikha River. This is a record find that has not yet been surpassed.
In total, from 1933 to 1950, 1286 kilograms of gold were extracted in the North Caucasus, of which 832 kilograms were extracted in Karachay-Cherkessia. In 1950, the country's leadership decided to stop artisanal gold mining, since accounting in artels was poorly maintained and half of the gold was stolen. Purchasing prices were reduced fourfold, which made non-industrial (artisanal) mining unprofitable. In 1952, the last mine in the village of Rozhkao closed.
The steep mountainous terrain of the Caucasus is unfavorable for the formation of placers. Therefore, small volumes of placer gold do not necessarily indicate the insignificance of the primary sources of gold in the placers, noted Yuri Karnaukh. - Primary deposits of ore gold can be large, but when they are washed away by rivers, the gold ends up in steep watercourses and is carried away without forming accumulations called placers. At the same time, gold particles quickly wear out, because gold is a soft metal.
Indigenous sources of so-called ore gold with reserves that would allow industrial production to be established have not been found in the Caucasus. For investors, ore was of interest only if the yellow metal content in it exceeded five grams per ton. There are no such areas in the North Caucasus Federal District. However, nowadays, areas with a small content of useful components can also be of practical interest. Including the only deposit of indigenous gold in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, Lesnoye.
A quarter of a century ago, a technological revolution took place in gold mining, thanks to which it became possible to make a profit when developing even poor deposits, said Yuri Karnaukh. - A cheap method of extracting gold from ore was developed - the heap leaching method. The ore is crushed into crushed stone, laid out in the form of long heaps, reminiscent of railway embankments, and irrigated for a long time (for months) with solutions of special solvents or solutions of special bacteria circulating in a circle. Gold goes into solution, from which it is not difficult to extract. Since the technology is low-cost, it has become possible to process fairly poor ores, with a gold content of only 1-2 grams per ton.
But such ores, as it turned out, exist in Karachay-Cherkessia. The first such object was the Lesnoye ore occurrence. Experts estimated its predicted resources at 20 tons with an average content of 1.6 grams per ton. It is worth noting that gold deposits with reserves of more than five tons are classified as large. A license was issued for the study and further development of this manifestation. The subsoil user retested previously completed workings. The gold content was determined by a more reliable method than before - by assay. As a result, the inferred gold resources were increased and are now estimated at 30 tons. However, the investor had difficulties attracting financial resources to continue studying and developing the field. Work was suspended.
If exploration of the deposit is not started in 2013, the license may be terminated early, Rosnedra reported.
Geologists hope for luck. This is the specificity of their profession. And if you're lucky, Karachay-Cherkessia will become a new gold-bearing province. There are prerequisites for this,” Yuri Karnaukh emphasized.
In the North Caucasus federal district In addition to Karachay-Cherkessia, gold deposits have been found in North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria and Dagestan. In Kabardino-Balkaria, gold and silver are sought at the Kardan-Kuspartinsky ore cluster, between the Musht and Malka rivers. There is no active mining anywhere. It is possible that only small cooperatives operate, but they prefer not to report their activities.
Gold is also found in the Rostov region and Adygea. On the territory of the Krasnodar Territory, the possibilities of associated mining of fine and fine gold during the development of deposits of sand and gravel mixtures have been identified. But these resources are extremely insignificant.
Geological exploration work in the gold mining areas of southern Russia has been carried out for many years. The search for the precious metal is carried out in potential gold-bearing areas in Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachay-Cherkessia and North Ossetia.
By the way
According to the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, in Karachay-Cherkessia three mineral deposits are considered strategically important. These are Urupskoye (copper and gold mining), Pskentskoye (uranium) and Khudesskoye (cobalt).
The territory of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic extends from the Kuban Plain in the north to the mountain glaciers of the Main Caucasus Range in the south. The absolute elevations of the earth's surface increase in this direction from 400 to 4000 m. The highest point is the peak of Elbrus (5642 m). Following the change in altitude, the terrain also changes from the flat terraced valleys of the low-mountain (Pasture and Skalisty ridges) and mountain (Advanced and Main) rivers Caucasian ridges) zones. From east to west, the terrain is crossed by the rivers Kuban, Teberda, Bolshoy and Maly Zelenchuk, Urup and Bol. Laba, which are the sources of the Azov-Kuban water basin. In the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, the Kuma and Podkumok rivers also originate, which are part of the Terek-Kuma basin.The Kti-Teberda tungsten deposit was explored in 1987, but is not being developed due to the low content of tungsten trioxide in the ores (average 0.366%) and the unfavorable conditions for tungsten on the world market. Tungsten trioxide reserves amount to 89 thousand tons. Kti-Teberdinskoye field in 2011 was included in the List of licensing objects, but there were no applicants for a license. Due to rising prices for tungsten, some companies have shown interest in this facility. Materials are being prepared to include this deposit in the List of licensing objects for 2015.
There are a number of occurrences of tungsten with ore quality similar to the Kti-Teberda ores, which will merit study only if the explored object is involved in exploitation.
In addition to associated gold mined from copper pyrite ores, occurrences of ore gold with contents of 1-2 g/t have been identified on the territory of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic, quite suitable for development using the heap leaching method. At the Lesnoye occurrence of ore gold, an audit retest was carried out, as a result of which the predicted resources of the occurrence increased by 1.5 times, but the subsoil user did not approve the reserves, did not comply with the conditions for subsoil use, and in 2014 the Lesnoye occurrence transferred to the unallocated fund. The Berezovye occurrence of ore gold, located on the border with the Krasnodar Territory, was included in the licensing program for 2011, however, the auction for the Berezovoye occurrence of ore gold did not take place due to the lack of applications for participation in the auction. A license was obtained for the geological study of placer gold in the Kyafaro-Urupskaya area, where field work is currently being carried out.
Materials are being prepared to include the Krasnogorsk refractory clay deposit in the List of licensing objects for 2015.
Within the Bedensky serpentinite massif, a number of areas have been studied by subsoil users for various types Applications: as a facing stone, as a raw material for construction and decorative crushed stone grade 1200, as a raw material for the production of sorbents for water purification, forsterite refractories, tribological lubricants. A project for the development of the Levoberezhnoye field has been drawn up and a project for the development of the Medvezhye field is being drawn up. The Tamskoye field is being developed.
A license was issued for the extraction of hematite as an iron oxide pigment at the Biychesyn-Bermamyt deposit. The extraction of raw materials has begun, but due to limited demand it is carried out on a minuscule scale.
Additional exploration of the Marinskoye deposit of quartz-feldspathic raw materials was carried out. As a result of the work, 480 thousand tons of raw materials were put on the balance sheet as reserves of kaolin-quartz-sericite metasomatites over granite-porphyry, suitable for producing technical ceramics (porcelain stoneware, facade tiles and ceramic bricks). The thoroughly explored Kishkit deposit of feldspathic raw materials is being prepared for inclusion in the licensing program for 2015.
Nedra OJSC extracts cement raw materials (limestone, clay) at the Ust-Dzhegutinskoye deposit, produces coarse sludge and supplies it to Kavkazcement CJSC, meeting the cement plant’s need for raw materials.
A geological study is underway with the subsequent development of the Podskalny area of cement raw materials (in the area of the village of Kurdzhinovo). If a positive result is obtained, it is planned to build a cement plant with a capacity of 2 million tons per year.
CJSC Lizvestnyak, based on the Dzheganas limestone deposit, produces and supplies technological stone for the sugar industry to sugar factories in the Stavropol, Kuban and Karachay-Cherkess Republics. Limestones are of high quality (CaCO 3 content - 96.75%).
At the expense of the federal budget on the territory of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic in 2014, geochemical prospecting for non-ferrous metals within the Kardonik ore field was completed; the unacceptably deep occurrence of the roof of the Paleozoic foundation, established by drilling, made further searches for vein polymetallic mineralization in this territory irrational and prospecting work is being carried out for small-sized muscovite in Kuban -Koltyubinskaya Square.
Currently, at the expense of subsoil users' own funds, exploration work has been completed in the Dzhalginsky and Glubokoye areas for limestone for the production of microcalcite, and geological exploration work has begun to study basalts for the production of mineral fiber in the Karakent area.
The state of the mineral resource base of solid minerals on the territory of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic is reflected in table 5.2.1.
|
Table 5.2.1 Mineral resource base of solid minerals
| ||||||||||||||||
|
Karachaevo - Circassian Republics (as of 01/01/2015) |
||||||||||||||||
|
№ p/p |
Minerals |
Unit change |
Balance reserves |
Forecast resources |
Annual production from the depths
|
Mining losses |
||||||||||
|
Total |
incl. in the distributed fund |
Total |
incl. in the distributed fund |
|||||||||||||
|
Number of objects |
A+B+C 1 |
C 2 |
Number of objects |
A+B+C 1 |
C 2 |
P 1 |
R 2 |
R 3 |
P 1 |
R 2 |
||||||
|
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
14 |
15 |
16 |
|
|
1 |
coal |
million tons |
6 |
8,6 |
0,13 |
57,93 |
13,39 | |||||||||
|
2 |
tungsten (WO3) |
thousand tons |
1 |
89 |
20,9 |
250 | ||||||||||
|
3 |
mineral paints |
thousand tons |
1 |
1351 |
1 |
1351 |
0 | |||||||||
|
4 |
copper |
thousand tons |
6 |
785,7 |
232,1 |
4 |
743,8 |
231,4 |
700 |
7,6 |
1,7 |
|||||
|
5 |
zinc |
thousand tons |
6 |
446,8 |
89,2 |
4 |
352,3 |
88,3 |
4,8 |
1 |
||||||
|
6 |
ore gold |
kg |
4 |
1265 |
79907,3 |
3 |
0 |
79887,3 |
23 |
130 |
140 |
532,1 |
116,8 |
|||
|
7 |
placer gold |
kg |
1 |
128,4 |
1000 | |||||||||||
|
8 |
silver |
T |
6 |
30,2 |
1159,6 |
4 |
1159 |
9,0 |
1,9 |
|||||||
|
9 |
limestones for sugar. prom. |
thousand tons |
1 |
91242,7 |
157651 |
1 |
91242,7 |
157651 |
823,5 |
2,5 |
||||||
|
10 |
limestones for the production of microcalcite |
thousand tons |
2 |
19299,4 |
16703,5 |
2 |
19299,4 |
16703,5 | ||||||||
|
11 |
refractory clays |
thousand tons |
3 |
10686,9 |
72,3 |
17800 |
24300 | |||||||||
|
12 |
feldspar raw materials |
thousand tons |
2 |
12907,3 |
9438,2 | |||||||||||
|
13 |
cement raw materials: limestone clay |
thousand tons |
2 |
315275 |
144331 |
2 |
315275 |
144331 |
614000 |
2176,4 |
9 |
|||||
|
14 |
facing raw materials |
thousand cubic meters m |
4 |
7778,3 |
2449 |
3 |
5512,8 |
61 |
1 |
|||||||
APRIL 8. KCR. In the sphere of subsoil use of Karachay-Cherkessia, over the past three years, a positive trend has continued to increase the volume of mining, in particular gypsum and limestone, which indicates the activity of the business sector even in a crisis economy.
Today, in the small hall of the Government House of the republican capital, a final meeting of the Ministry of Property and Land Relations of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic was held, where the results of the past 2015 were discussed.
First of all, last year the department in the field of subsoil use focused on the involvement of new deposits in the turnover, with the aim of rational and effective use of the resource potential of the republic.
As of the beginning of 2016, the republican list of subsoil plots of local significance included 75 plots with common minerals and 34 containing fresh groundwater.
In 2015, the Ministry, based on approved lists of local subsoil areas, issued 12 licenses for the right to use subsoil. The dynamics of their issuance over the past three years has increased significantly, the maximum value was set in 2014, however, despite the difficult economic situation, the number of permits issued in the past year is higher than the average for the last three years. This factor indicates the interest of entrepreneurs and the intensification of their activities in this direction, especially in the context of a shortage of promising explored areas.
In order to develop the mineral resource base, at the expense of subsoil users, reserves of andesitic porphyrites with a volume of more than 18 million cubic meters were explored and placed on the territorial state balance sheet. meters and 680 thousand cubic meters. meters of boulder-sand-gravel mixture, which will increase the tax base in the future and, accordingly, bring more revenue to the regional budget.
According to an analysis of the production volumes of solid minerals and groundwater in the past year, there is a tendency for this indicator to grow in comparison with the previous period for a number of types of minerals. Thus, despite the increase in taxes, an increase in the volume of gypsum production was recorded by 22%, limestone - by 2.2 times, and metamorphic rocks by 20%. This positive trend has continued over the past three years, despite the increase in production taxes.
"The downside of an active mining process is the fact that rational use and protection of subsoil must take into account the need to preserve geological natural monuments located on the territory of the republic. Currently, there is no certification of geological natural monuments of regional significance, which can lead to the irreparable loss of such objects,” noted during the final board meeting the First Deputy Minister of Property and Land Relations of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic Radmir Agirbov.
Among other things, one of the priority areas of activity of the regional ministry is to improve the efficiency of management of state-owned objects and their involvement in economic circulation, and improve the quality of their accounting. In the field of property relations, department employees are primarily aimed at identifying inefficiently used real estate assets and their further transfer to small businesses.