Mineral resources of Crimea: varieties and production

The nature of the Crimean peninsula is rich and unique. Many 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 entire territory is divided into 3 ridges, 9% of the area is mountainous. The main ridge is located in the south of the peninsula and occupies the sea coast. About 4 km away from the sea in the western region. The main ridge is formed by massifs, which are continuous lines.

Among them are Yalta Yaila, Nikitskaya Yayla, Ai-Petrinsky Yaila. These relief features play an important role in the formation of minerals. On Bubugan Yayla there is Roman-Kosh - this is the name of the highest point of the Crimean ridge, its height is more than 1.5 thousand meters above sea level.

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

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

Not far from Sudak, the mountains are located closer to the sea, and this is important for the formation of minerals in this area. Basically, sedimentary rocks (clay, sandstone, limestone) are mined here. Due to the frequent changes in the salt level, the marine fauna also changed, which, accordingly, led to the formation of various minerals on the remains of the soil. Many valuable rocks were formed after a volcanic eruption.

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 importance is especially great in the construction industry. Some varieties are found in many regions of the Crimea, other specimens are considered rare. The well-being of the entire peninsula depends on the extraction of many elements.

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

Combustible minerals are usually classified into liquid, gaseous and solid. The first category includes, 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 mined most often from the Chokrak and Karagan deposits of the Neogene period. In addition to oil, they also extracted gas. In general, it is believed that these finds do not bring much profit when mining in Crimea, since their reserves are very small.

Exploration to find oil in the Crimean lands continues. Approximately 5 tons of this fuel are produced annually, which is a very small amount. Another problem is that in local lands, oil can move between layers of rocks, which significantly complicates its production. Natural gas, which is a gaseous fossil fuel, is not doing much better.

Crimea cannot boast of coal deposits, although they are actively trying to find this solid substance here. It is mined on Mount Beshuy in the Bakhchisarai region. Under Baron Wrangel, the peninsula supplied itself with this fuel until the Germans burned these lands. After the war, coal mining resumed, however, the quality of the substance was inferior to alternatives from other lands, moreover, mining became less and less profitable and more and more dangerous.

Ores are 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 extraction of ore minerals, in contrast to the above-mentioned fuels, is much easier, since these substances are not so deeply buried. However, the find cannot boast of excellent quality, and therefore the raw materials are not exported.

In total, ores of 3 varieties are found here: loose brownish-brown (oolites from limonite and hydrogoethite), dense species (small oolites and hydrosilicates of iron and siderite) and "caviar" (oolites with manganese hydroxides). The low quality is due to the low iron content (33-40%). But the manganese content makes the find a little more valuable. The substance is fusible, and therefore is 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. In mountainous areas, ore with inclusions of cinnabar is found, 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 luster.

Gold also belongs to ore metals. The deposit of this value is kept secret, although there is information that small reserves are mined at Cape Fiolent. In the 80s of the last century, gold elements were discovered in the Nizhnezamorsky Leninsky District, where they got here through the northern Azov River. They also found the jewel at Cape Frantsuzhenka off the Sudak coast. In general, the gold resources of the republic are small.

As a rule, building materials are referred to as nonmetallic metals. Perhaps, this group is most common on the territory of Crimea... The most valuable is considered to be bryozoan limestone, also called the Inkerman stone. This substance was mined in antiquity. Roman tracts and houses in Alexandria were built from this unusual stone. Sevastopol itself was once rebuilt from limestone.

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

Some quarries on the peninsula contain marble-like limestone that can be seen on the walls of Moscow metro stations. Shell rock 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 Oktyabrskoye, in the Starokrymsky quarry on Agarmysh. Sand mining is also developing here, although now environmentalists are raising the issue of an environmental disaster, which can lead to illegal sand mining in coastal areas.

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

Cornelian belongs to the most popular Crimean gems. Under the tsar, the annual extraction of carnelian numbered 16 poods; Faberge himself made his famous jewelry from stones. The mountain Kara-Dag turned into a protected area after single search engines went here in search of stones. They blew up the slopes, wielded with sledgehammers and crowbars, mining chalcedony and agates, and then took the find from the peninsula. Only after the public, among the Soviet writers, opposed such actions, Kara-Dag was declared a nature reserve.

Popular on the South Bank diorite. This rock was obtained after a volcanic eruption. Diorite is found between Alushta and Gurfuz. You can find it near the Lozovoe and Ukrainka districts in the south of Simferopol. Outwardly, this stone resembles granite and can also be used in the construction industry. Its surface is gray in color with a greenish tint.

Another result of the volcanic eruption was the appearance in the depths of the Crimean peninsula of such a stone as tracks. It is called the ash rock. The main purpose of the mineral is economic. Most often, trails can be found in Karadag, which is located 20 km from Feodosia and in the village of Planerskoe. 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. They are "hunted" in the Kamysh-Burunskoye and Eltigen-Ortelskoye fields. It is customary to extract oil and gas on the Kerch and Tarkhankut peninsulas. Large fuel deposits also include Tobechikskoye, Mysovoye, Belokamenskoye, located in the east of the territory, as well as Glebovskoye, Kirovskoye, Olenevskoye, Chernomorskoye deposits located in the west.

They are trying to extract gas and oil in the flat Crimea. Natural gas was found from wells on the Olenevskaya, Oktyabrskaya, Glebovskaya, Zadornenskaya anticlines. Natural gas resources are concentrated in calcareous marls and sandstones. They began to actively develop the "blue fuel" at the Glebovskaya anticline. The October anticline could also boast of large deposits of matter, here it was possible to extract fuel from a depth of 2,700-2,900 meters. In the east, on the Dzhankoy uplift and in the area with. Rifleman on the Arabat Spit, splashes of combustible gas were also found.

Small reserves of coal are observed in mountainous areas, but only in Beshuisky industrial production is organized... This deposit is located on the northern slope of the Main Ridge. In the lower part, fossil strata of working power can be found.

See the next video for working trips to the Crimean mineral deposits.