Minerals of Crimea: varieties and mining

The nature of the Crimea peninsula is rich and unique. Quite a few articles have been written about the beauty of the Black Sea coast, but not everyone knows that these lands are carriers of valuable minerals. The unusual relief and specific climate led to the formation of a wide variety of soils, of which there are now more than 20 types, including rich black soil.

The whole territory is divided into 3 ridges, the mountain surface occupies 9% of the area. The main ridge is located in the south of the peninsula and occupies the sea coast. About 4 km from the sea in the western region. The main ridge is formed by arrays that are inseparable lines.

Among them are Yalta Yayla, Nikitsky Yaylo, Ay-Petrinskaya Yaylo. These relief features play an important role in the formation of minerals. On Bubugan-Yayla is Roman Kosh - the so-called highest point of the Crimean Range, its height is more than 1.5 thousand meters above sea level.

Ai-Petri, exceeding 1200 meters in height, is another peak worthy of special attention. It is located in the southwest. The top is famous for its giant trident - this is what an unusual natural formation looks like. Local lands also contain valuable rock. The slopes inherent in local arrays have a steep surface.

Ayu-Dag mountain range in Gurzuf, Diva rock in Simeiz, Cape Fiolent on the outskirts of Sevastopol, Cape Ai-Todor - amazing nature rewarded these places not only with incredible beauty, but also enriched with minerals. The ridges of Karabi-Yayla are divided by deep depressions and are 6-7 km away from the sea. The relief attraction of the Crimea is also the majestic massif of Chatyr-Dag.

Not far from Sudak, the mountains are located closer to the sea, and this is important in the formation of minerals in the area. Sedimentary rocks are mainly mined here (clay, sandstone, limestone). Due to the frequent changes in salt levels, the marine animal world also changed, which, respectively, led to the formation of various minerals on the remains of the soil. Many valuable rocks were formed after the eruption of the volcano.

Minerals are valuable natural resources that are mineral or organic parts of the earth's crust. These substances are used in numerous fields of activity, and their significance in the construction industry is especially great. Some varieties are found in many areas of the Crimea, other specimens are considered rare. The well-being of the whole peninsula depends on the extraction of many elements.

The most important for a comfortable life fossils in the depths of the Crimea are contained in small quantities and mostly of low quality, but there are also very valuable breeds.

Combustible minerals are usually classified as liquid, gaseous and solid. The first category is, for example, oil. For the first time a well for oil production was drilled in the 60s of the XIX century. In those years, “black gold” was most often mined from the Chokrak and Karagan deposits of the Neogene period. In addition to oil, it was mined from here and gas. In general, it is believed that these finds do not bring much profit when mining in Crimea, as their reserves are very small.

Exploration to search for oil in the Crimean lands continues.Approximately 5 tons of this fuel are produced annually, which is a very small amount. The problem is also that in local lands oil can move between rock layers, which significantly complicates its production. With natural gas, which relates to gaseous combustible minerals, things are not much better.

Crimea cannot boast of coal deposits either, although it is here that they are trying to actively find this solid. It is mined on the mountain Beshui in the Bakhchsarai district. Under Baron Wrangel, the peninsula supplied itself with this fuel until the Germans burned the land. After the war, coal mining resumed, however, the quality of the substance was inferior to alternatives from other lands, and mining also became less profitable and more and more dangerous.

Ore is actively mined in the Kerch iron ore basin. The deposit area is about 250 square kilometers. The total ore reserve here is about two billion tons. The mining of ore minerals, in contrast to the above-mentioned combustible materials, is much simpler, since these substances are not so deeply deposited. However, the excellent quality of the find can not boast, and therefore the raw materials are not exported.

There are 3 types of ore here: friable brownish-brown (oolites of limonite and hydrogetite), dense species (small oolites and hydrosilicates of iron and siderite) and “caviar” (oolites with manganese hydroxides). Low quality due to low iron content (33-40%). But the content of manganese makes the find a little more valuable. The substance is low melting point and therefore widely used in industry.

The formation of ore here began at the bottom of bays and straits, therefore the substance contains elements of clay, phosphates, barite. Ore with cinnabar inclusions is found in mountainous areas, however, these species have no special industrial value. Other ore minerals that are found on the territory of Crimea include zinc blende, cadmium blende, and lead shine.

Ore metals include gold. The deposit of this value is kept secret, although there is information that medium-sized reserves are mined at Cape Fiolent. In the 80s of the last century, gold elements were found in the Nizhnezamorsky Leninsky district, here they got across the river of the northern Azov region. The jewel was also found at Cape Frenchwoman near the Sudak coast. In general, the gold resources of the republic are small.

As a rule, non-metallic metals include building materials. Perhaps, this group is most common in the Crimea. The most valuable is mshankovy limestone, which also has the name of Inkerman stone. This substance was mined in antiquity. Roman tracts, houses in Alexandria, were built from this unusual stone. Sevastopol itself was once rebuilt from limestone.

The White Livadia Palace was also erected from Inkerman stone. It is possible to use this raw material and finishing work. For example, the Palace of Culture “Ukraine” in Kiev or the “Stalinist” towers in the capital of Russia are decorated in this way.

Some quarries on the peninsula contain marble limestone, it can be seen on the walls of the Moscow metro stations. Shellfish is another fairly common raw material used in the construction industry. It can be found, for example, in the area of ​​Evpatoria, the village of Oktyabrskoe, in the Starokrymsky quarry on Agarmysh. The extraction of sand is also developing here, although environmentalists are now raising the issue of an ecological catastrophe that can be caused by the illegal extraction of sand in coastal areas.

The list of other valuable gifts of the nature of Crimea is very diverse. For example, in demand are Crimean gems. They are found on the Kara-Dag volcano. Among the most common varieties - agate, chalcedony, opal, onyx, amethyst, rock crystal. These are semi-precious minerals that are commonly used in jewelry. Currently, Kara-Dag belongs to protected areas, and mining of native stones is prohibited here, although earlier, at the beginning of the 20th century, a jewelry workshop was located here, where jewelry made of cornelian and agate was created.

Cornelian refers to the most popular Crimean gems. During the reign of the king, the annual production of carnelian numbered 16 poods, Faberge made his famous jewels from stones. Kara-Dag mountain turned into a conservation area after the lonely search engines went here in search of stones. They blew up the slopes, wielded sledgehammers and crowbars, extracting chalcedony and agates, and then removed the find from the peninsula. Only after the public in the number of Soviet writers resisted against such actions, Kara-Dag was declared a reserve.

Popular on the South Shore enjoys diorite. This breed was obtained after a volcanic eruption. Diorite is found between Alushta and Gurfuz. It can be found near the Lozovoe and Ukrainka districts in the south of Simferopol. According to external signs, this stone resembles granite and can also be used in the construction industry. Its surface has a gray color with a greenish tint.

Another result of a volcanic eruption was the appearance in the depths of the Crimean peninsula of such a stone as trails It is called a rock from the ashes. The main purpose of the mineral - economic. Most trails can be found in Karadagsky, which is located 20 km from Feodosia and in the village of Planersky. Other valuable materials are concentrated on the peninsula, including quartz sand and gravel used in construction.

As already mentioned, most of the ore metals are found on the Kerch Peninsula. The “hunt” follows them in the Kamysh-Burunsky and Eltigen-Ortelsky deposits. Oil and gas are usually mined in the Kerch and Tarkhankut peninsulas. Tobechikskoe, Mysovoye, Belokamenskoye, located in the east of the territory, as well as the Glebovskoye, Kirovskoye, Olenevskoye, and Chernomorskoe deposits to the west also belong to large fuel deposits.

Gas and oil are trying to produce in the flat Crimea. Natural gas was found from wells in the Olenevsky, October, Glebovsky, Zadornenskaya anticlines. Natural gas resources are concentrated in calcareous marls and sandstones. Actively mastering the "blue fuel" steel on the Glebovsky anticline. The October anticline could boast with large deposits of matter, here it was possible to extract fuel from a depth of 2700-2900 meters. In the east, on Dzhankoysky uplift and in the area with. The rifle on the Arabat Spit was also detected splashes of flammable gas.

Small deposits of coal are observed in mountainous areas but only industrial mining was organized in Besuy. This field is located on the northern slope of the main ridge. At the bottom you can find layers of fossil working capacity.

Working trips to the mineral deposits of the Crimea, see the following video.