Copper ore deposits in Russia

Copper is one of the first metals that humans began to master, the reason for this is its availability and low melting point. In nature, copper is found in the form of nuggets much more often than gold, silver or iron. All these factors led to the fact that it was the development of copper that was the next stage in the evolution of mankind known as the "Copper Age".

Today, copper is one of (if not the most) valuable non-ferrous metals in the world. Copper has high electrical and thermal conductivity (second only to silver in electrical conductivity), which explains the unlimited use of copper in the development and design of electrical systems, heat-dissipating parts of various installations, etc.

However, the extraction of copper ore and the subsequent production of copper concentrates is a very labor-intensive process, since the copper content in the ore usually does not exceed, at best, 10%, while the more common value of copper concentration in the ore ranges from 0.5% to 3%. Another problem in obtaining finished copper concentrates is that copper often occurs in combination with zinc, lead, gold, silver and other metals, which also affects the complexity of the copper ore enrichment process.

The main copper ore deposits in Russia are concentrated in the Urals, Eastern Siberia and the North Caucasus. The list of the main Ural deposits located in the Sverdlovsk region includes Kirovograd, Revdinskoye, Degtyarskoye and Krasnouralskoye. Copper mining is also carried out in such regions as Chelyabinsk and Orenburg. Significant copper deposits are concentrated in the Krasnoyarsk Territory: Norilsk, Talnakh, Oktyabrskoye deposits.

The largest and most unique copper deposit in Russia , which is located in the Chita region and is known as the Udokan deposit . The copper ore reserves of the Udokan deposit are approximately 24.6 million tons, and rank third in the world. The deposit received its name due to its geographical location, located 30 kilometers south of the Novaya Chara railway station in the Zabaikalsky Krai on the Udokan ridge. The rock of the Udokan deposit is copper pebbles, the ores are almost monometallic copper and contain only a small admixture of silver. The uniqueness of this deposit is manifested in the fact that the mineral composition of the mined ore is characterized by exceptional constancy. The deposit itself was discovered in 1949 by an expedition of the first main department of the USSR Ministry of Ecology. However, due to incorrect conclusions about the depth of copper ore, further research was not continued.

The Udokan pilot industrial plant (PIP) was accepted into operation by the state commission on February 15, 2006, and included mining and processing and hydrometallurgical equipment for processing ores of non-ferrous, ferrous, rare, and noble metals to obtain commercial products.

In 2008, the license for the right to develop the deposit was sold to the Metalloinvest holding for 15 billion rubles. In 5.5 years, the company committed to extract 12 million tons of ore per year from the deposit, and in seven years - 36 million tons. To build the infrastructure to ensure high productivity of further copper mining, Metalloinvest promised to create a consortium with the state corporation Rostekhnologii.

By 2010, about 15 thousand meters of verification, geological and geomechanical boreholes had been drilled, more than 1.2 thousand meters of trenches and more than 2.5 thousand meters of underground mine workings had been tested, more than five thousand channel and core samples had been selected for analytical work. According to the results, it was established that the copper reserves of the Udokan deposit amount to 25.7 million tons of copper, 2.7 billion tons of ore with an average metal content of 0.95%. The Udokan deposit is being developed by open-pit mining.

The Talnakh and Oktyabrskoye copper-nickel ore deposits are unique on a global scale . Many geologists consider the Oktyabrskoye deposit to be a continuation of the single Talnakh deposit. The Talkhanskoye deposit is located in the northwest of the Siberian platform and was discovered in 1960 by the Norilsk geological exploration expedition. Three years later, the shaft of the Mayak mine was sunk. The mine itself began operating on April 22, 1965. Currently, the deposit is developed underground. The length of the mine field is 12 km, the maximum width is 3.5 km. The occurrence of rocks is monoclinal with a dip to the northeast at angles from 5 to 15̊. Three types of ores are distinguished: disseminated in parent rocks, continuous sulfide ores in the base part of the intrusion, disseminated-veined in exocontact rocks. The ore composition is dominated by pyrrhotite, pentalandite and chalcopyrite.

The license for the development of the deposit belongs to OJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel. In 2011, the company extracted 55.9 thousand tons of nickel and 72 thousand tons of copper from the deposit.

The Degtyarskoye deposit is located in the Ural copper-pyrite belt, was discovered in 1888, and put into industrial development in 1914. The ribbon-shaped ore deposit can be traced for about 5 km and pinches out at a depth of more than 600 m. The main ore mineral is pyrite. The deposit was developed underground, but was closed due to unprofitability, although the ore in them was not mined.

Thus, based on the dynamics and chronology of the development and study of copper deposits, we can say that copper has been and is given considerable interest. Despite all the difficulties, copper deposits are one of the primary deposits to be developed, which is due to the widespread use of copper in industry and the daily life of people and society.