Andrey Bereziy

    The 3,315 km-long railroad from Ust-Kut in the center of Siberia till Sovetskaya Gavan in the Far East shore crosses all the main structure-formation geological zones of the Russian East. Thus far, about 200 deposits have been discovered in this territory, with 55 of them attributed to medium, large or unique ones. Over 20 types of mineral resources have been explored there, among them, oil (reserves: 241.8 million tons), gas (1,162.4 million m³), hard coal (10,465.5 million tons), with iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, vanadium in large quantities. The deposits of gold, tin, molybdenum, titanium, niobium, tantalum and other rare-earth metals are prepared for commercial mining.
The nature created the unique opportunities of new centers of oil-and-gas industry, iron & steel and nonferrous metals sectors, mining & chemical operations, building industry to be set up in the BAM region. Several natural objects forming industrial ore-mining complexes are focused on comparatively small sites. Their simultaneous mining will permit essential savings for investors by virtue of a common macroinfrastructure and comprehensive solution of production problems.
Six most promising areas with a high concentration of mineral deposits can be singled out in the territories adjoining BAM.
The Komsomolsky Region is located in the eastern part of BAM within the Khabarovsk Krai (Territory). Here the mineral base is represented mostly by tin-ore deposits. At present, the deposits in this very region account for 40 % of all-Russian tin-ore mining. Its total reserves amount to 17 % of overall Russian ones. The operations of JSC Solnechny Mine & Concentrator and other mining undertakings which work on tin ores, with due regard to the Pravourmiysky Deposit, are provided for by explored reserves for decades ahead.
To the west of the Komsomolsky Region there is one of the promising hard-coal basin – Urgalsky. The geological factor of the mining operations and the explored reserves afford the production capacity of up to 3 million tons of coal per year to be reached.
Large reserves of coking coals, iron ores, gold, apatites are successfully combined in the South Yakutia region. An active mining of the Neryungrinsky deposit where an annual coal output is 7.8 million tons greatly depleted its reserves. In order to keep and expand coal output, a high-capacity (20-25 million tpy) coal pit is intended to come on stream in the Elginsky deposit where a 318 km-long access railroad is required to be laid.
A compact complex of iron-ore deposits has been discovered 80-130 km to the north from the Berkakit railway station. The railroad to Yakutsk (now under design) will run in the near vicinity of the deposits. Their ores are magnetite, easily-concentrated, with the payable reserves of 1,454 million tons. The biggest deposit is Tayezhny. It shows high (40 %) Fe content and large reserves suitable for open-cast mining. Apart from Fe, these ores contain boron, copper and cobalt. The reserves of these ores explored in the South Yakutia region, together with the reserves of the magnetite ferruginous quartzites of the Charo-Tokkinsky region, can supply concentrate to an iron & steel works with a capacity of 10 million tpy of hot metal. It must be stressed here that the deposits of the Charo-Tokkinsky region yield acid concentrates while those of the South Yakutia region produce basic ones. Their blending affords lower consumption of fluxes and higher Fe content.
In South Yakutia, the Kurinakhsky complex of ore and placer gold deposits is mined profitably.
The Charsky region occupies the central position in the BAM zone. Here the preparation for developing two biggest projects (the Chineisky Fe-Ti-V ore and Udokan copper ore deposits) is under way. Most likely, other unique deposits (the Katuginsky rare-metal and Golevsky synnyrite deposits) will ensue.
Twenty kilometers away from the Chineisky iron-ore deposit there is the Apsatsky coking coal deposit and the Chitkandinsky deposit (insufficiently explored) similar to the Apsatsky one. They contain free gas – methane that can be used as an energy source.
The development of the Golevsky synnyrite deposit will give an impetus to the beginning of the works at the bigger Synnyrsky deposit located in the north of Buryatia, 100 km from the Uoyan railway station. These ores contain 18 % Ê₂Î, 22 % Al₂O₃ on the average, Rb and Cs as well. The reserves of the Kalyumny section (the largest one of the Synnyrsky block) are 2 billion tons of synnyrites or 350 million tons K₂O and 450 million tons Al₂O₃. These reserves are quite comparable in potassium with big salt-bearing basins and in alumina with some bauxite-bearing provinces of the world. The studies showed that non-waste complex processing of synnyrites is possible in a single process cycle with a production of chlorine-free potassium fertilizers, alumina, rare elements and cement. The ore utilization rate can be up to 95 %.
The Charo-Tokkinsky region exhibits a large number of deposits and ore manifestations of ferrugineous (magnetite) quartzites. The main of them (Tarynnakhsky and Gorkitsky) are comparable in reserves of easily-concentrated magnetite quartzites with the big deposits of the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly in the European part of Russia and even surpass them in dressability. The local ores can be used for the production of super concentrates. The deposits of this region may become a long-term (for over 50 years) raw materials base for a high-capacity steel producer set up according to any proven process. The Tarynnakhsky deposit is assessed as the biggest one in the East of Russia. A mine & concentrator to produce 26.4 million tons of ore and 8.9 million tons of iron-ore concentrate per year can be built on this raw materials base.
The Bodaibinsky region situated 250 km to the north from BAM is familiar for placer gold deposits under working up to now and still of certain value. In the same territory, there is Russia‘s biggest primary gold deposit (Sukhoy Log) whose reserves are over 1,000 tons. Besides, associate deposits small in gold reserves have been identified.
In the western part of BAM, there is the Verkhne-Lensky region where oil, oil-gas condensate and gas-condensate fields are situated. The largest one is the Kovyktinsky gas-condensate field. Its gas reserves are estimated at over 1,000 trillion m³. In the north of the region, there is the Verkhnechonsky oil-condensate field with 159 million tons of oil reserves. Apart of these two fields, there are nine other similar fields.
Alongside the fields focused in the promising areas, separate deposits of high potential value have been explored in the BAM zone. There are rich Mo ores, Ti, V and other metals, plus Russia‘s biggest Kholodnensky Pb-Zn deposit.
Geopolitical changes raise the significance of Eastern territories of Russia as a large source of raw materials. The geographic neighborhood of the markets of the Asian & Pacific Oceans region, the already constructed and developing railroad system establish the necessary prerequisites for active business and economic activities in these territories.