Minerals of the Urals - description and characteristics

The minerals of the Urals are represented by both jewelery diamonds and other minerals, as well as various metals and non-metals.

The very first minerals of the Urals, which began to be mined, are copper ore, the history of their extraction began about 4 thousand years ago.

Much later, approximately in the V-III centuries BC. E., began to extract iron ore. Gold began to mine in the 1st millennium BC. Since the deposits that came to the surface, where the minerals of the Urals were located, quickly dried up, it was necessary to carry out deeper development. But this kind of human activity temporarily fell into decay, as in the first millennium BC. The entire South Urals are inhabited by nomads who did not engage in mining and fusible metals.

Only after 1,5 thousand years people again began to extract the minerals of the Urals, and a new era of using these resources began.

Minerals of the southern Urals

Black metals

From the end of the XVIII century to the present day, brown iron ore is mined. At the beginning of the last century, the iron ore deposit began to be developed at a rapid pace, and the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works was built, but to date the ore reserves are almost exhausted. Near Magnitogorsk, a deposit of magnetite and titanomagnetite ores is being developed, which is called Maly Kuibas.

Mineral resources of the Urals are represented not only by iron ores, other ferrous metals such as titanium, chromium, vanadium, manganese are also mined here.

At present, the development of deposits of iron-titanium and vanadium ores, the reserves of which are very large. They have a high iron content - up to 57%, titanium - up to 6.5%, vanadium - up to 0.4%.

Non-ferrous metals

In the Southern Urals, there are many ores of various non-ferrous metals. Already developed a large number of deposits of pyrite copper, as well as deposits of sulphide ores. Since they are at insignificant depth, then their open development is conducted. Near the "Arkaim" reserve at the end of the last century, a zinc deposit was discovered and is now being developed. The main difference between pyrite ores is that they always have several components. If the main ones are zinc and copper, then together with them there is a sufficiently high amount of gold, lead, silver, and also rare metals such as gallium, indium, scandium, mercury and others. Sulfur is also produced from these ores.

Along with pyrite ores, there are significant deposits of copper-porphyry ores, in which there is a considerable amount of molybdenum.

The Ufaleisk deposits of nickel-cobalt ores are known far beyond the borders of the country. Some of them have already been worked out, but there is a constant search for new deposits of these ores. There are deposits of bauxite from which aluminum is smelted.

Noble metals

The Southern Urals is the main supplier of gold to the treasury of the state. It was in the Urals found a nugget of this metal weighing about 36 kilograms. Gold mining is carried out from mines, the depth of which reaches 700 m. Also, gold and silver are extracted during the processing of pyrite ores.

Rare metals

This type of metals include tungsten, tin, tantalum, beryllium and others. Production of such a rare mineral as columbite is being carried out. It is from it that niobium is extracted, and zirconium ore is mined, along with which ceramic feldspar raw materials are extracted. There are deposits of tungsten and beryllium ore.

A few kilometers from Satka there is a unique deposit of rare metal ores, namely zirconium, niobium, tantalum, molybdenum, called Simbirka. This ore has an unusual mineral composition and is very rich in tantalum and niobium, which is extremely rare.

To date, a map of the Urals minerals has been compiled, which is constantly being refined, as a new search and development of deposits is carried out.