Iron ore centers in the Urals. Deposits of iron ores in the regions of the Urals, Siberia and the Far East

One of the most valuable industrial minerals is iron ore. Deposits in Russia of this mineral are abundant. It is not without reason that our country is one of the five leaders in terms of the production of this raw material. Let's find out where the richest iron ore deposits in Russia are located.

The role of iron ore in industry

First, let's find out what role it plays in Russia, more precisely, in its industrial production, what qualities it possesses.

Iron ore is a naturally occurring mineral that contains iron in such quantities that it is economically efficient and feasible to extract it from the ore.

This mineral is the main raw material for the metallurgical industry. The main end product is cast iron and steel. The commercial form of the latter is called rental. Indirectly, through this industry, machine building, automotive, shipbuilding and other spheres of the national economy depend on the supply of iron ore.

Therefore, every available iron ore deposit in Russia is so important for the development of the country. The economic regions of the country, especially the East Siberian, Central Black Earth, Ural, North and West Siberian, are largely tied to the processing of ore raw materials.

The main properties of iron, because of which it is so widespread in industry, is strength and heat resistance. It is equally important that, unlike most other metals, the extraction and extraction of iron from ore is possible in large volumes and at relatively low cost.

Iron ore classification

Iron ores have their own classification system.

Depending on the chemical composition ores are divided into the following types: oxides, hydroxides and carbonate salts.

The main types of iron ore minerals are magnetite, limonite, goethite, siderite.

Iron ore deposits in Russia also have their own classification. Depending on the method of ore occurrence and its composition, they are divided into several groups. Of primary importance are the following: sedimentary deposits, skarn, complex, quartzite.

Reserves and production volumes

Now let's find out what volumes of iron ore are mined in Russia.

In terms of the volume of explored deposits of iron ore in terms of iron, the Russian Federation shares the first place with Brazil, having 18% of the total amount of world reserves. This is due to the fact that we have the largest iron ore deposits in Russia.

If we take into account not pure iron, but all ore with impurities, then in terms of reserves, the Russian Federation takes the second place in the globe- from 16% of world reserves, second only to Ukraine in this indicator.

For a long time, Russia has been in the top five countries in terms of extraction of the valuable mineral. So, in 2014, 105 million tons of iron ore were mined, which is 1,395 million tons less than the leader of this list, China, or 45 million tons less than the fourth in the list, India. At the same time, Russia is ahead of the next Ukraine by 23 million tons in terms of production.

For many years, Russia has been in the top ten largest countries for the export of iron ore. In 2009, the country ranked sixth with an export volume of 21.7 million tons, in 2013 it dropped to ninth place, and in 2015 rose to fifth. According to this indicator, the unchanging world leader is Australia.

In addition, it should be said that two Russian metallurgical plants at once are among the top ten world giants in the production of iron ore products. These are Evrazholding (production volume - 56,900 thousand tons / year) and Metalloinvest (44,700 thousand tons / year).

Main deposits

Now let's define where the main iron ore deposits are located in Russia.

The largest iron ore basin in the country is KMA. The Kola ore region and deposits of Karelia have large ore reserves. The Urals are also rich in iron ore. One of the largest in Russia is the West Siberian basin. Large deposits of iron ore in Russia are located in Khakassia and in the Altai Territory.

With the annexation of Crimea to Russia in 2014, another large iron ore basin appeared in the Russian Federation - the Kerch basin.

Deposits of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly

The Kursk anomaly is not only the largest iron ore deposit in Russia, but also the undisputed world leader in terms of iron content. In terms of the amount of crude ore (30,000 million tons), this region is second only to one Bolivian deposit, the reserves of which are still being verified by specialists.

KMA is located on the territory of Kursk, Oryol and Belgorod regions and has total area within 120,000 sq. km.

The basis of the iron ore in this region is magnetite quartzite. It is with the magnetic properties of this mineral that the anomalous behavior of the magnetic needle in this area is connected.

The largest deposits of the KMA are Korobkovskoye, Novoyaltinskoye, Mikhailovskoye, Pogrometskoye, Lebedinskoye, Stoilenskoye, Prioskolskoye, Yakovlevskoye, Chernyanskoye, Bolshetroitskoye.

Deposits and Karelia

Significant deposits of iron ore in Russia are located in the Murmansk region and the Republic of Karelia.

The total area of the Kola ore district, located within the Murmansk region, is 114,900 sq. km. It should be noted that not only iron ore is mined here, but many other ore minerals - nickel, copper, cobalt ores and apatites. Among the deposits in the region, Kovdorskoye and Olenogorskoye should be highlighted. The main mineral is ferruginous quartzite.

The largest deposits in Karelia are Aganozerskoe, Kostomukshskoe, Pudozhgorskoe. True, the first of them is more specialized in mining

Deposits of the Urals

The Ural Mountains are also rich in iron ore. The main production area is the Kachkanar group of fields. The ore from this region has a relatively high titanium content. The extraction is carried out in an open way. The total explored volume of iron ore is approximately 7,000 million tonnes.

In addition, it should be said that it is in the Urals that the largest metallurgical plants in Russia are located, in particular, Magnitka and NTMK. But at the same time, it should be noted that a significant part of the former reserves of iron ores have been exhausted, so they have to be imported to these enterprises also from other regions of the country.

West Siberian basin

One of the largest iron ore regions in Russia is the West Siberian Basin. It could be the largest field in the world (up to 393,000 million tons), but, according to explored data, it is still inferior to KMA and the El Mutun field in Bolivia.

The pool is located mainly on the territory of the Tomsk region and covers an area of 260,000 square meters. km. It should be noted that despite the huge volumes of ore reserves, exploration and production of ore deposits are associated with a number of difficulties.

The largest deposits of the basin are Bachkarskoe, Chuzikskoe, Kolpashevskoe, Parbigskoe and Parabelskoe. The most significant and explored of them is the first on the list. It has an area of 1200 sq. km.

Deposits in Khakassia

Deposits in the Altai Territory and Khakassia are quite significant. But if the development of the first of them is carried out rather poorly, then the Khakass ore reserves are actively mined. Of the specific deposits, the Abagazskoye (volume of more than 73,000 thousand tons) and Abakanskoye (118,400 thousand tons) should be distinguished.

These deposits are of strategic importance for the development of the region.

Kerch basin

More recently, in connection with the annexation of the Crimea, Russia's wealth was also replenished with the Kerch basin, which is rich in iron ore. It is completely located on the territory of the Republic of Crimea, and has an area of over 250 sq. km. The total ore reserves are estimated at 1,800 million tons. A feature of ore deposits in this region is that they are located mainly in the troughs of rocks.

Among the main deposits are Kyz-Aul, Ocheret-Burunskoe, Katerlezskoe, Akmanayskoe, Eltigen-Ortelskoe, Novoselovskoe, Baksinskoe, Severnoe. Conventionally, all these deposits are combined into the northern and southern groups.

Other iron ore regions

In addition, a significant number of other iron ore deposits are located in Russia, which are of less importance and volumes than those listed above.

The large iron ore deposit is located in the Kemerovo region. Its resources are used to provide raw materials for the West Siberian and Kuznetsk metallurgical plants.

In Eastern Siberia, in addition to Khakassia, there are iron ore deposits in Transbaikalia, in the Irkutsk region and in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In the Far East - in the future - large-scale development may begin in Yakutia, Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krai, Amur Region. Yakutia is especially rich in iron.

However, this is by no means a complete list of iron ore deposits that are available. In addition, one should not forget that some deposits may be poorly explored, underestimated in terms of volume, or not discovered at all at the moment.

The importance of the iron ore industry

Of course, the extraction of iron ore and its subsequent processing and export are of rather high importance for the economy of the entire country. Russia has the largest iron ore reserves in the world and is one of the leaders in their extraction and export.

We stopped at the most important iron ore deposits in Russia, but this is not a complete list. This mineral can be found in almost every economic region of the country. Select (Russian iron ore deposits, by the way, not all are fully explored) any of them on the economic map - and you will surely stumble upon such a site.

Today this industry is of great interest as a promising direction.

In terms of iron ore reserves, the USSR ranks first in the world. The Soviet Union contains about 54% of the world's proven iron ore reserves. The main deposits in the USSR are as follows.

South and Center of the USSR

The ores of the Krivoy Rog deposit are distinguished by a high iron content and an insignificant amount of harmful impurities: 0.04 - 0.08% S and 0.03 - 0.06% R. The Krivoy Rog basin has very large deposits of so-called quartzites, which contain about 35% iron and about the same amount of waste rock in the form of silica (SiO 2).

The Kerch deposit is represented mainly by] brown iron ore, which contains up to 4.6% manganese, up to 1% phosphorus (sometimes higher) and relatively little iron - up to 39%.

The Tula and Lipetsk deposits are represented by brown iron ore. In the ore of the Tula deposit, the iron content reaches 45%, and in the Lipetsk ore - up to 47%. The Tula ore contains more phosphorus (about 0.44%).

The Belgorod iron ore region includes five deposits. Some deposits of this region are rich in magnetic quartzites. There are also rich ores, in which the iron content reaches 61%.

Kursk Magnetic Anomaly (KMA) is a deposit containing rich hematites (containing 54.8 - 61.4% iron) and poor quartzites. The deposit is very large and promising.

Deposits of the North-West

There are seven iron ore deposits in this area. The largest are Olenegorskoye and Eno-Kovdorskoye, the ores of which serve as the iron ore base of the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant. Basically, the ores of the Olenegorsk deposit are represented by magnetites and hematites. The average iron content in these ores is about 31%. The waste rock of the ores of this deposit is the same as in the Krivoy Rog deposit. The peculiarities of the chemical composition of the iron ores of the Eno-Kovdor deposit are their high phosphorus content and the increased basicity of waste rock. The average iron content for this deposit is 30%.

Deposit of iron ores of the Caucasus and Transcaucasia

The iron ore base of the Transcaucasian Metallurgical Plant is the Dashkesan deposit. The ores of this deposit contain up to 14% lime (CaO) and up to 1.2% magnesia (MgO). In terms of iron content, they are classified as poor, since its content does not exceed 39%.

Ural iron ore deposits

The largest deposits in this region include Magnitogorsk (the ore is used by the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works), Tagilo-Kushvinskoe (Kushvinsky and Novo-Tagil Metallurgical Plants) and Bakalskoe (Chelyabinsk Metallurgical Plant).

The bulk of the magnetic iron ore of the Magnitogorsk deposit consists of two types of ores: magnetite and martite. The magnetites of this deposit are sulfurous. The sulfur content in individual nests reaches 4%, and the iron content is 59%. Martites contain significantly less sulfur (up to 0.16%) with an average iron content of 62% (up to 65%). The waste rock of these ores consists of silica, alumina, lime and magnesia. The main waste rock is alumina.

Tagilo-Kushva magnetic iron ore (Grace, High and Lebyazhya mountains) contain up to 62% iron; in some places its content is reduced to 30 - 32%. The waste rock of these ores consists of silica and alumina. The ore is sulphurous and phosphorous, in some areas the sulfur content reaches 1.5%, and the phosphorus content 1.2%. In some areas, the ore is relatively pure in phosphorus. Goroblagodatskaya ore contains copper. When mining, ore is divided into low-copper ore, containing up to 0.2% copper, and cuprous - up to 0.7%. Lumpy beneficiated ores are used for blast-furnace smelting raw, and silty ores after beneficiation and agglomeration.

Brown iron ore of the Bakalskoe deposit can be considered pure in terms of sulfur and phosphorus. The average iron content in the ores of this deposit is 48 - 50%.

Iron ores of Siberia and the Far East

Deposits in this area can be divided into several groups:

Mountain Shoria, where the ores contain 42 - 55% iron, and Khakassia (the ore contains up to 46% iron). These deposits are the raw material base of the Kuznetsk Metallurgical Combine.

Beloretskaya, Inskaya (in Altai), Auzasskaya and Alatau-Altalytskaya groups, the ores of which will become the raw material base of the West Siberian Metallurgical Plant.

The Angara-Pitskaya and Angara-Ilimsk groups with the Nizhne-Angarskiy, Korshunovskiy, Rudnogorskiy and other fields will be the main bases of the new metallurgical plants - Krasnoyarsk and Pribaikalsk.

Garinsky and Kimpanian groups (Far East), Priargunsky district of Chita region and Aldan group in the Yakut ASSR.

Waste rock from deposits in Siberia and the Far East is represented mainly in the form of calcium oxide (CaO), which does not cause difficulties in blast-furnace smelting. The rich ores of this region contain from 50 to 55%, and the poor 33 - 45% of iron.

Deposits of the Kazakh SSR

On a territorial basis, the iron ore resources of the Kazakh SSR are divided into three regions: Central Kazakhstan, Aral and Kustanai. The last iron ore region is also the base of the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Combine and the Barnaul Plant in Western Siberia. This area is represented by magnetite ores (45 - 59%) of Sokolovsky, Sarbaisky, Kacharsky, Kurzhunkulsky and other deposits; brown iron ore (37 - 42%) of the Ayatskoye, Lisakovskoye and Kirovskoye deposits.

By technological types, iron ores are subdivided into magnetites (19.0%), hematites (1.9%), brown iron ores (77.3%), siderite (0.1%) and hematite quartzites (1.7%), from of which 4.17 million tons do not require enrichment (55.9%).

The most important indicator of the quality of iron ore is its iron content. Therefore, in the metallurgical assessment of iron ores, first of all, attention is paid to this indicator, as well as to the composition of waste rock. Waste rock, for which the ratio of the sum of CaO + MgO bases to the sum of acids SiO2 + Al 2 O 3 is equal to or close to unity, is called self-melting.

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

The very first Urals, which began to be mined, is the history of their mining began about 4 thousand years ago.

Much later, approximately in the V-III centuries BC. e., began to extract iron ore. Gold mining began in the 1st millennium BC. Since the deposits reaching the surface, where the minerals of the Urals were located, quickly dried up, it was necessary to carry out deeper development. But temporarily this type of human activity fell into decay, since in the first millennium BC. the entire South Ural is inhabited by nomads who were not involved in the extraction and smelting of metals.

Only 1.5 thousand years later, people began to extract minerals from the Urals again, and a new era of using these resources began.

Mineral resources of the southern Urals

Black metals

From the end of the 18th century to the present day, brown iron ore is mined. At the beginning of the last century, the development of an iron ore deposit began at a high rate, and the Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Plant was built, but today the ore reserves here are practically exhausted. Not far from Magnitogorsk, a deposit of magnetite and titanomagnetite ores is being developed, which is called Maly Kuibas.

Mineral resources of the Urals are presented not only iron ores also others such as titanium, chromium, vanadium, manganese are mined here.

Currently, the development of deposits of iron-titanium-vanadium ores is underway, 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

There are many ores of various non-ferrous metals in the South Urals. A large number of pyrite copper deposits, as well as deposits of sulfide ores, have already been developed. Since they are located at an insignificant depth, their open development is being carried out. Not far from the "Arkaim" reserve at the end of the last century, a zinc deposit was discovered and is being developed. The main difference between pyrite ores is that they always have several components. If zinc and copper are the main ones, then along with them there is a fairly high amount of gold, lead, silver, as well as such rare metals as gallium, indium, scandium, mercury and others. Sulfur is also obtained from these ores.

Along with pyrite ores, there are significant deposits of porphyry copper ores, in which there is a significant 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 a constant search for new deposits of these ores is being carried out. There are bauxite deposits from which aluminum is smelted.

Noble metals

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

Rare metals

This includes tungsten, tin, tantalum, beryllium and others. Extraction of such a rare mineral as columbite is carried out. It is from it that niobium is extracted, and zirconium ores are also mined, along with which ceramic feldspar raw materials are mined. There are deposits of tungsten and beryllium ores.

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

To date, a map of mineral resources of the Urals has been drawn up, which is constantly being updated, as new prospecting and development of deposits are being carried out.

The Ural region covers an area of more than 820 thousand km 2. Bashkortostan, Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, Orenburg and Kurgan region, Komi-Permyak AO. The capital of the region is Yekaterinburg.

Climate

Natural conditions The Urals vary from north to south. This is due to the significant length along the meridian (in comparison with latitude). At the same time, the climatic zones of the tundra and taiga, mixed forest, forest-steppe and steppe are replaced. The Urals are divided into the Cis-Urals, Trans-Urals and the Ural Range itself. In the central part, the North, South and Middle regions are distinguished. In general, the climate can be described as continental, but it is notable for its diversity. The air temperature in winter from west to east varies from -15 to -20 degrees, and in summer - from 15 (in the north) to 22 (in the south). Autumn and spring are cool enough. Winter is long, snow lasts up to 140-250 days. The natural conditions of the territory are determined by the location relative to the plains of Eurasia, as well as by the insignificant height and width of the ridges. Zonal changes are associated with a large extent from north to south. It has been established that the western slope receives 150-200 mm more precipitation than the eastern one. The lack of moisture is acutely felt in the southern part of the region, where drought often occurs. Meanwhile, it is here that the conditions for conducting agricultural activities are most favorable. The southern part of the region is dominated by steppes and forest-steppes with a moderately warm climate. In the north, the soil cover needs high-quality reclamation work. In the Perm Territory, there are about 800 swamps that require drainage. The main agricultural area is the river valley. Ural. In this part, there are plowed black earth steppes.

Features of economic development

The Urals region is located between Siberia and Kazakhstan, on the border of the Asian and European parts of the country. This arrangement has a very favorable effect on economic development territory. The natural conditions and resources of the Urals make it possible to provide a connection between the eastern and western economic zones, which have different economic specializations. The region ranks second in Russia in terms of industrial production.

Natural resources of the Urals

The history of the Urals begins in the 18th century. At that time, the territory was not yet considered favorable. After some time, the EGP of the territory has noticeably improved. This was facilitated by the development of the transport network and the construction of roads. Highways pass through the district that cross the entire territory of the country from the west to The Pacific... Fuel and raw materials are supplied to the Urals from the eastern regions. Western regions supply the products of processing enterprises. Natural resources The Urals, the table of which will be given below, are very diverse. It has discovered about 1000 types of mineral raw materials, about 12 thousand mineral pools. In the Urals, 48 out of 55 elements from the periodic table are being mined. great importance for the national economic complex. On the territory of the region there are deposits of oil, cooking and limestone, and gas. Brown coal and other natural resources are mined here. The Ural Mountains are rich in reserves of precious stones, colored and

Fuel and energy complex

Fuel natural resources of the Ural federal district presented in a wide variety. Oil fields are located mainly in the Orenburg region. and the Perm Territory, Udmurtia and Bashkortostan. Gas was discovered relatively recently in the area. The Orenburg field became the base of the gas chemical complex. It is considered the largest in the European part of the Russian Federation. In some areas, coal is mined by open pit mining, as it is close enough to the surface. It should be said that the reserves of this raw material are relatively small - about 4 billion tons. Of these, about 75% is brown coal. Natural fuel complexes and natural resources of the Urals are of energy importance. This, in particular, applies to the Kizelskoye and Chelyabinskoye deposits of hard and brown coal. Meanwhile, as experts note, many basins are now largely worked out, and most of the raw materials come from other regions.

Iron ore

These natural resources of the Urals are represented by titanomagnetites, magnetites, siderites, etc. In total, the region contains about 15 billion tons. In terms of production, the territory is second only to the Central Black Earth Region. However, its own production meets only 3/5 of the needs of the territory. At present, the rich ores of the Magnitogorsk, Tagilo-Kushvim and other basins have already been developed. Today, the development of the Bakal and Kachkanar groups of fields is underway. Titanomagnetites are considered the most promising raw materials for metallurgy. They occur in the Kachkanar group of basins. Siderite is present in the Bakal deposits. Unique chromium-nickel ores have been found in the Orsk-Khalilovsk group of basins.

Non-ferrous metals

These natural resources of the Urals are represented in a huge variety. By the volume of their production, the region is second only to Kazakhstan. The main deposits of copper ores are located in the Gaysky, Blyavinsky, Degtyarsky, Kirovgrad and other basins. Nickel reserves are present in the Rezhskiy, Buruktalskiy, Orskiy, Ufaleiskiy basins. The natural resources of the Urals also include zinc (copper-zinc) ores. The Gayskoye field was discovered relatively recently. Pyrite ores with a high copper content have been found here. They also contain sulfur (up to 50%), zinc, silver, gold, rare metals. All ores present in the Urals are usually multicomponent. Due to this, their extraction is very profitable.

Other metals

Large reserves of bauxite are concentrated in the North Ural basin (in the Sosvinskoe, Krasnaya Shapochka, etc.). However, many reserves are already on the verge of depletion today. In the Urals region there are 27% of the total volume of explored deposits of copper and ore bauxite, 12% of nickel, 58% of zinc. Reserves of emeralds, alluvial diamonds, rare metal ores have been discovered and are being developed.

Salt

Large reserves of this raw material have been discovered in the Urals. The region is home to one of the world's largest salt pools - Verkhnekamsky. The balance reserves of the field are estimated at 172 billion tons. The Iletskoye and Solikamskoye are large salt-bearing basins.

Construction and other materials

The natural resources of the Urals are also represented by large reserves of quartzite, clay, quartz sand, magnesite. Here there are deposits of asbestos, cement marls, marble, graphite, etc. The reserves of ornamental, semi-precious and precious stones are widely known. Among them are garnet, alexandrite, aquamarine, ruby, topaz, jasper, lapis lazuli, smoky crystal, malachite, emerald. The main volume of diamond reserves in the Urals is concentrated in the Perm Territory in the Visherskoye deposit. The region is in second place in the country in terms of production after Yakutia.

Forest

It occupies about 30 million hectares (more than 40% of the territory). The share of coniferous forest is 14 million hectares. The main massifs are located in the northern part of the Urals. In the Perm Territory, forests cover about 68.9% of the territory. Moreover, in the Orenburg region. there are about 4.4% of tree plantations. The western slope of the ridge is covered mainly by spruce and fir, the eastern one - by pines. The total timber stock is estimated at 4.1 billion tons. Species such as larch, fir, pine and spruce are of particular value. Forestry enterprises produce about 14% of commercial raw materials, 17% - sawn timber and about 16% of all paper in the country. The products are manufactured mainly for internal needs. The factories are located in industrial areas.

Northern territories

Natural resources are represented by minerals, iron ores. Corundum, turquoise, ferrimolybdite, clinozoisite, rhodochrosite, etc. have been found here. The volume of iron ores is estimated at millions of tons. There are deposits of manganese, bentonite, copper, chromium. The development of basins in the northern part of the Urals makes it possible to fill the deficit of raw materials in the region. In 2005-2006. studies were carried out, during which predictive and promising basins were identified. It was planned to extract manganese, iron, the projected volume of the latter is more than 300 million tons. It is planned to increase the production of coal by 50% by 2020. This will help to improve the energy situation in the state. In addition, in the northern territories it is planned to extract such minerals as gold, tungsten, phosphorites, lead, zinc, uranium, molybdenum, bauxite, tantalum, niobium, platinoids.

Natural resources of the Urals

The table below will help you better understand what kind of wealth this region has. It contains the main categories of reserves located in the area.

	Major centers
	Solikamskoye, Iletskoye, Verkhnekamskoye deposits
	Perm Territory
Copper ore	Gayskoye, Blyavinskoye, Degtyarskoye, Kirovgradskoye and other deposits
	Vishera pool
	Severouralsk field
	Rezhsky, Buruktalsky, Orsky, Ufaleysky bass.
Pyrite ores	Gayskoye field
Bituminous and brown coal	Kizel and Chelyabinsk bass.
	Perm kr. and Orenburg region, Udmurtia, Bashkortostan

Water reserves

The river network of the region belongs to the basins of the Caspian (Ural and Kama rivers) and Kara (Tobol rivers) seas. Its total length is over 260 thousand km. About 70 thousand rivers flow on the territory of the region. In the basin of the river. Kama included 53.4 thousand, r. Tobol - 10.86 thousand. With regard to groundwater, their specific value in terms of units. area - 115 m / day / km 2, per capita - 5 m / day / person. They are concentrated mainly in the mountainous regions of the Urals. They occupy more than 30% of the area of the entire territory and include 39.1% of the total share of groundwater. The distribution of reserves is influenced by the dependence of runoff on structural-hydrogeological and lithological factors. The Urals is considered to be more abundant in water resources than the Trans-Urals. This situation is due to climatic conditions... Mountain ranges trap masses of moist air coming from the Atlantic. Accordingly, unfavorable conditions for the formation of groundwater flows are formed in these areas.

Gumshevsky copper mine (Gumyoshki) is one of the oldest and famous copper deposits in the Urals. The history of the Gumshevsky mine begins in the Bronze Age and continues in the early Iron Age. The deposit was re-discovered in 1702 by the Aramil peasant Sergei Babin and the Utka peasant Kozma Suleev.

In 1709, industrial development of Gumyoshek began. The mined ore was transported to the Yekaterinburg and Uktussky plants, until in 1718 the Polevskoy copper smelter was built for its processing.

In the period from 1735 to 1871, the deposit was developed by numerous mines and pits. At this time, only oxidized ores were known and mined, consisting of cuprous clays, malachite and native copper. At the same time, the depth of work varied from 20 to 150 meters.
In 1749, at a depth of 14 fathoms, two human skulls, tibia and humerus, 4 leather rawhide bags, two copper breakers, an iron knife with a bone handle and many other finds of the Chud period were found.
In 1774, birch lining and two fur mittens were found at a depth of 15 fathoms.
Gumeshevsky malachite was the most exceptional, it was used to make jewelry, it was used to decorate the malachite halls of the Hermitage and the Palace of Versailles. In 1770, a lump of malachite weighing more than 2.7 tons was mined at the mine, part of it is kept in the Mineralogical Museum of the Leningrad Mining Institute.

The next period, from 1870 to 1937, is characterized by the mining of cuprous clays by quarries, the processing of old dumps and heap leaching. For this, a chemical plant was built next to the deposit, and in 1907 a sulfuric acid plant (Polevskoy Order of the Red Banner of Labor cryolite plant) was erected in its place. Waste products were stored in the worked out quarries and mines "Georgievskaya" and "Angliyskaya".
Until 1917, copper ore was mined and the old dumps were washed at the mine on a small scale. Then work at the mine was resumed in 1926 by the British concession "Lena Goldfields" and continued until 1931.
Since 1934, engineer M.I. extensive search work was organized.

In the third period, from 1938 to 1957, exploration of primary sulphide ores was carried out.
At the beginning of 1938, the geologist of the Degtyarsk geological prospecting office, V.I. and the second secretary of the district committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Comrade Valov, raised the issue of prospecting drilling in the area of old mines. This is how the first drilling rig appeared at the Gumshevsky mine. The very first wells crossed the skarn ore deposit up to 20 m thick with a good copper content. After that, a drilling rig was already working at the mine.
So, in 1938, large reserves of primary (skarn) ores were discovered at the long-abandoned Gumshevsky mine. This discovery was a great event in the history of exploration of the ore resources of the Urals. In terms of its revealed reserves, it surpassed all other copper contact-metasomatic deposits in the USSR and was on a par with such large pyrite deposits as.
In the early 1940s, construction of a new mine began on Gumeshki, excavation of the Yuzhnaya mine and the restoration of the Georgievskaya mine began.

An old mine on Gumeshki (photo taken from http://ozon.newmail.ru).

When driving drifts and cross-holes, old mine workings filled with acidic mine waters or industrial waste (phenolic resins) from a cryolite plant were uncovered. All of this made mining difficult.

In 1942, in connection with the outbreak of the war, the mine was put on wet conservation.
The restoration of the mine began after the Great Patriotic War... In 1950, according to the project of the Unipromed Institute, work began on the restoration of the mine. The design capacity of the mine was determined at 300 thousand tons of ore per year. Construction of the Kapitalnaya mine began, and the Gumeshevskoye Ore Administration was formed.

From 1958 to 1994, underground mining of ore bodies in bedrocks was carried out at the Gumeshevsky mine at the horizons of 54 m, 100 m, 145 m, 195 m, 250 m, 310 m, 350 m, 410 m, 490 m, connecting the mines "Georgievskaya" , "South" and "Capital".

Mine "Yuzhnaya-Ventilatsionnaya", in the background you can see the headframe of the mine "Capital" (photo - http://ozon.newmail.ru).

At the mine, systems of block-level caving and sublevel drifts were used with ore breaking off by deep wells.
Drainage was carried out through the shaft of the Kapitalnaya mine with an average annual capacity of 216 to 338 m³ / hour. A feature of the field was the presence of watered karst cavities with a maximum volume of up to 800 m³.
Most of the water inflow was formed at the 100 m horizon, which had the largest mining area and emerged near the Zheleziansky and Seversky ponds. Water also came from the Zhelezyanka river bed and the Polevsky cryolite plant sedimentation tanks.

The bed of the Zhelezianka river, diverted to the side.

The area of the depression funnel was 3.58 km² with the length of the mine field in the meridional direction of about 900 m.

Flooded area near the Yuzhnaya-Ventilyatsionnaya mine.

In connection with the development of ore reserves in the central part of the deposit and a large inflow of water, it was decided to stop further ore mining in 1994 with a stop of drainage (up to 100 l / s). In 1995, the flooding of a huge number of mine workings began, which continued until 2001.

The depth of development of the Gumeshevskoye deposit reached 500 meters from the surface, the work was carried out at 5 underground horizons.
From 2000 to 2004, at the Gumeshevskoye field, OJSC Uralgidromed carried out exploration of cuprous clays for subsequent leaching.
In 2004, mining of oxidized ores (cuprous clays) by underground leaching using concentrated sulfuric acid began at the Gumeshevsky mine. The leaching depth was between 50 and 100 meters.

An underground leaching area at the site of the “northern” sinkhole.

A number of legends are associated with the work at the mine in pre-revolutionary times, which formed the basis of PP Bazhov's tales (for example, the tale of "The Mistress of the Copper Mountain").

The destroyed structures of the Kapitalnaya mine.