Mineral resources of the earth. Where and how are minerals formed? How to get gems

Hi all! Today I decided to talk about what jewelry for people is made from. These are precious stones that are mined from the depths of the Earth, which contain minerals. And in this post we will talk specifically about minerals, about the raw materials from which these beautiful jewelry is made...

The earth's crust (more about the earth's crust) mainly consists of substances called -. Minerals have played a very important role in the development of mankind and the creation of civilizations.

Stone Age people used silicon tools. About 10,000 years ago, man mastered the method of obtaining copper from ore, and with the invention of bronze (an alloy of tin and copper) began new century- Bronze Age.

Since the beginning of the Iron Age 3,300 years ago, man has mastered more and more ways to use the minerals that are mined from the earth's crust. Modern industry still depends on the mineral resources of the Earth.

Finding new deposits requires knowledge of what they are, the ability to tell them apart, and how they ended up where we found them.

Scientists count about 3,000 types of minerals, but only 100 of them are quite widespread.

Minerals belong to the inorganic (non-living) world. They are most often solids. Only mercury is an exception.

Organic and inorganic substances.

Everything that is extracted from the earth is called minerals by many. They also include fossil fuels, such as coal, in this category.

Mineralogists are people who study minerals professionally. They believe that oil, coal and natural gas are organic substances because they were formed from the remains of once living animals and plants, and therefore are not minerals.

Minerals have a specific chemical composition. They are always homogeneous, in other words, all parts of the mineral are the same. This differs from rocks, which consist of several minerals.

Minerals consist of chemical elements, that is, substances that can no longer be broken down into other substances by chemical means. Of the 107 elements known to science, 90 are found naturally in the earth’s crust.

Some exist in the earth's crust in a pure form or almost in a pure form. They are called native elements.

There are 22 native elements, including silver, gold and diamonds (a form of carbon).

Earth's crust.

74% of the mass of the earth's crust is made up of two elements: silicon and oxygen. Another 24.27% is made up of the other six elements: iron, aluminum, sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium. Together they form almost 99% of the earth's crust.

The most common minerals are they are silicates, a chemical compound of silicon and oxygen, often mixed with one or more of the other six elements.

Silicates such as mica, quartz and feldspars are most common. In varying proportions, all three are the main components of different types of granite. Quartz eroded from granite often accumulates on the coast and forms sandy beaches.

Determination of minerals.

Commonly occurring minerals such as feldspars, quartz and mica are called rock-forming minerals. This distinguishes them from minerals, which are found only in small quantities.

Another rock-forming mineral is calcite. It forms limestone rocks.

There are a lot of minerals in nature. Mineralogists have developed a whole system for their determination, which is based on chemical and physical properties.

Very simple properties, such as hardness or color, sometimes help to recognize a mineral. And sometimes this requires complex laboratory tests using reagents.

Some minerals can be identified by color, such as malachite (green) and lapis lazuli (blue). But color is often deceptive, because it varies quite widely among many minerals.

Differences in color depend on temperature, impurities, radiation, lighting and erosion.

Mineral trait and hardness.

Mineral Trait – This is the powder that you get when you scrape a mineral. A trait is an important characteristic feature: it is sometimes different from the color of the mineral in the sample and is usually constant for the same mineral.

Minerals also differ in hardness, which is assessed on the Mohs scale (named after the Austrian mineralogist) from 1 to 10.

The soft mineral talc on it corresponds to 1, and diamond, the hardest of natural minerals, corresponds to 10.

Specific gravity.

Specific gravity, or density, is the ratio between the weight of a substance and the same amount of water. This value is quite important for determination.

If we take the specific gravity of water as 1, then for most minerals it varies from 2.2 to 3.2. The specific gravity of some minerals (there are only a few) is very high or very low.

For example, in graphite it is wounded 1.9, and in gold it is from 15 to 20, depending on the purity. Another indicator for identifying minerals is cleavage, i.e., how a mineral breaks into pieces when struck.

By holding a mineral up to light, you can obtain information about it. Transparent minerals transmit light so easily that everything can be seen through them.

Opaque minerals do not transmit light at all, but rather reflect or absorb it. These properties are also used during the definition process. Minerals often have an iridescent or metallic sheen.

For example, galena (lead ore) has a metallic luster, it shines almost like metal, and most silicates have a vitreous luster, they resemble shiny glass.

There are also other types of shine - earthy (dull), pearly, silky (or satiny), adamantine (like a diamond). Some minerals can have several types of shine.

The luster of calcites varies from earthy to glassy. Many minerals have specific properties that make them easy to recognize. For example, talc has a soapy feel to the touch, and scorodite and the native element arsenic smell like garlic when heated.

When exposed to X-rays or ultraviolet light, some minerals fluoresce (change color or glow). Others become electrically charged under pressure or heat.

There are also minerals that can only be recognized through special tests in laboratories. Some dissolve only in concentrated acids, but not in dilute ones, others dissolve only in hot acids, but not in cold ones.

Crystals.

Minerals have their own specific composition and chemical formula. Halite (rock salt) has the chemical formula NaCl. This means that halite is a chemical compound of sodium (Na) and (Cl).

Thus, each mineral has a specific and constant composition, the atoms of its elements build a regular three-dimensional lattice of a structure specific to it.

These crystal lattices are geometric shapes, their flat faces are located symmetrically.

If you leave some salt water in a flat dish for some time, it will evaporate and salt crystals will form at the bottom.

A magnifying glass shows that they are regular cubes. The study of crystals is important for identifying minerals because most minerals have crystals that have a regular, defined shape.

There are seven main crystallographic, or isometric, systems, which are called syngonies. For example, turquoise belongs to the triclinic system, ruby to the hexagonal system, and diamond to the cubic system.

Each system can be described according to the specificity of its symmetry - properties that, when the crystal rotates around an axis, allows it to appear identically two or more times in one full rotation.

The number of symmetry axes can be used to determine the crystal.

Precious minerals.

People made jewelry from gold back in the Stone Age, and from silver in the Bronze Age. A variety of minerals are at the disposal of jewelers today.

Diamond (especially colorless) is the most expensive gemstone. Also, the most expensive stones include: ruby, emerald and sapphire, which are primarily valued for their color.

These stones are so expensive that their weight is measured in carats. One carat is equal to 200 milligrams.

Diamond is a type of chemically pure coal and chemical composition no different from the ordinary soft mineral graphite, which is familiar to us from pencils.

Diamonds are valued for their brilliance and hardness. It acquires its shine when cut and polished. The reason for this difference between graphite and diamond is that their atoms are arranged differently, they have a different internal structure.

Polymorphosis is the ability of a substance to exist in two or more forms with the same chemical composition.

For example, a rare and green variety of beryl is emerald. The most beautiful specimens are found in Colombia. The world's most famous rubies are found in Myanmar. Beautiful sapphires are mined in Thailand and Sri Lanka.

Well, now, I think that when we buy precious stones for ourselves, we will know about their composition and how they are mined. And we will understand carats, which shows the value of precious stones. We will also know how minerals are determined, by what methods their hardness is determined, etc...

Friends, hello everyone. Today I will tell you about what methods of mining exist, and their impact on the environment, but first of all, these methods depend on the minerals themselves, their physical and chemical properties, locations and the development of technological progress.

Until recently, the extraction of natural resources was carried out manually, which required great physical effort and considerable labor costs, and it itself had rather low labor productivity.

In modern conditions, everything has changed radically: with the development of powerful technical means and the use of special machines, labor costs have decreased, and productivity and volumes of mineral extraction have increased significantly.

Basic methods and technology of natural resource extraction

Everything, both solid, liquid, and gaseous on our planet, is distributed unevenly and is either on the surface or deep underground, and depending on their location and occurrence, one or another method is used for their extraction. The most common methods of extracting natural resources can be considered:

open path or career path,
closed method or underground or mine method,
combined method or open-underground method,
geotechnological method or borehole method,
dredging method.

All of these methods have both their advantages and disadvantages, therefore the open-pit mining technology involves the creation of deep pits in the form of large quarries or cuts at the sites of development and extraction of natural resources, the dimensions of which depend on the relatively small depth and length, as well as power fossil beds.
The advantage of this method of extraction is its relative cheapness, the highest productivity and labor intensity, safe working conditions, and the disadvantages are a large decrease in the quality of raw materials due to the content of a large amount of waste rock, and negative consequences for the environment.

Natural construction and industrial raw materials such as -

limestone and chalk,
sand and clay,
peat and coal,
copper and lead,
molybdenum and nickel,
tin and tungsten,
chromium and manganese,
zinc and iron.

Solid minerals located at a sufficiently large depth are mined underground, i.e. closed method, in which underground mines are constructed.
The disadvantage of this method is its huge risk for miners, associated with collapse and gas contamination, and therefore an explosion hazard.

Ores, polymetals and mineral raw materials are usually mined in this way.

such as:

copper and gold,
tungsten and iron,
and mineral salts.

If the open and closed method of mining is not suitable for a given deposit of industrial raw materials, then a combined open-underground method is used, where raw materials from the upper layers are first extracted by open method, and then the remaining reserves of metal ores located at a sufficiently large depth are processed using the mine method. .

The advantages of this method are large volumes of extraction of natural raw materials, and many non-ferrous metals and diamonds are usually mined in this way.

The geotechnological or borehole method is used in the extraction of special types of raw materials that are in a gaseous or liquid state using a procedure such as drilling deep wells, where, using the physico-chemical method of sedimentation, leaching and melting, minerals coming out through pipes are extracted from the bowels of the earth to the surface.

This method is usually obtained:

gas and oil,
sulfur and lithium,
phosphorus and uranium.

And finally, a separate dredge method, where the mining enterprise simultaneously carries out both the extraction of raw materials and its enrichment, i.e., with the help of special equipment, the primary separation of valuable rock from the accompanying waste rock occurs.

Placer deposits are usually developed in this way:

gold and diamonds,
platinoids and cassiterite.

Impact on the environment of mining of useful raw materials

Mining by any method cannot but have a negative impact on the environment, since it occupies huge areas of economic land, sometimes reaching tens of thousands of square kilometers.
Such a technogenic load on the natural environment disrupts the natural course of self-regulation of life processes in the environment and sometimes leads to its rapid degradation.

As a rule, the most productive soil chernozems are located under their development:

fields and arable land,
forests and reservoirs,
roads and settlements.

Production begins with preparatory clearing work, where all artificial barriers are removed from the area, as follows:

Perennial forests with valuable tree species are cut down,
centuries-old reservoirs in the form of swamps, rivers and lakes are drained,
Utilities are laid in the form of drainage ditches and access roads.

Then stripping work is carried out, the purpose of which is to remove layer-by-layer and move waste rock into dumps, which opens access to the natural resources themselves:

soft and light rock is mined using bulldozers and earthmoving machines,
rock and hard rock are first blasted using drilling and blasting equipment, and then mined using excavators and scrapers,

already exposed minerals are mined and loaded onto special vehicles- mining dump trucks,

which transport extracted raw materials to processing plants and metallurgical plants.

The extraction of natural raw materials also has such negative consequences for the environment as contamination of soil, water and air with chemical elements from dumps, which has a detrimental effect on both the flora and fauna of the area.

This negative impact on the environment also negatively affects the health of people living in nearby areas - increasing the incidence of illness in the local population.

Therefore, during the development of mineral deposits, regular activities such as observations and environmental monitoring are necessary.
It is possible to reduce the negative impact on the environment in the future by improving development methods, as well as by reclaiming these lands, returning them and bringing them to their original state, but this requires huge financial resources and a considerable time interval.

Therefore, mining enterprises, in accordance with the law of subsoil and environmental protection, are obliged, after all work carried out on the extraction of raw materials, to ensure the restoration of the natural landscape of the area, where at their own expense they plant forests and subsequently create recreation areas, and also restore the fertile layer of soil, involving it in agricultural turnover

I hope you enjoyed my article on mining methods and learned a lot from it. Maybe you know some new ways of extracting natural raw materials. Tell me about it in the comments to the article, I will be curious to know them. Let me say goodbye to you and see you again, dear friends.

I suggest you subscribe to blog updates to receive my articles in your email. You can also rate the article according to the 10 system, marking it with a certain number of stars.

Come visit me and bring your friends, because this site was created especially for you. I am always glad to see you and I am sure that you will definitely find a lot of useful and interesting information here.

Minerals are formed everywhere: deep in the earth, in deserts, swamps and lakes.

The predominant amount of minerals is formed from magma. However, among the minerals that make up these igneous rocks, it is hopeless to look for beautiful samples, elegant crystals. When igneous rocks formed, individual minerals crystallized and prevented each other from growing. So they turned out to be “compressed”, incomplete. Remarkable mineral specimens arise in pegmatite and hydrothermal veins formed from hot aqueous solutions. Here, magnificent crystals grow in the cavities (voids) of the veins, where nothing interferes with their free growth. Fine crystals of pyrite and marcasite are found in fossil coals and sometimes in clays.

You should always carefully inspect the area where you are so as not to miss a valuable mineral.

Minerals (in collections and when described in books) are arranged in a certain order: according to their chemical composition and lattice structure. Below is a classification of minerals by chemical composition (only the most important minerals are mentioned):

1) native minerals: gold, platinum, silver, graphite, diamond;

2) sulfur compounds, or sulfides: galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, cinnabar;

3) oxides (compounds with oxygen): ice, quartz, hematite, magnetite;

4) hydrous oxides: brown iron ore, or limonite, etc.;

5) silicates (i.e., silicon compounds, or silicon): mica, feldspars, hornblende; this includes almost all rock-forming minerals;

6) phosphates (salts of phosphoric acid): phosphorite, apatite, turquoise;

7) tungstates (salts of tungstic acid): wolframite, scheelite;

8) sulfates (salts of sulfuric acid): mirabilite, gypsum, barite;

9) carbonates (salts of carbonic acid): calcite, siderite, dolomite;

10) halogen compounds (salts of hydrofluoric and hydrochloric acids): fluorite, rock salt, sylvite;

11) organic compounds: amber, various fossil resins found in coals, etc.

According to archeology, primitive man in the Stone Age already used about 20 minerals and 10 rocks in his everyday life.

The industry now uses about 400 minerals. After all, even for the publication of this book, at least 20 different minerals were needed: letters were cast from stibnite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite and clichés were made for drawings; Colored paints were prepared from chromite, hematite, limonite, and bismuthin; mirabilite, barite, chalk, talc, etc. were used in the production of paper. Add to this the minerals necessary for the manufacture of printing machines: iron ores (three or four types), copper, cobalt, nickel, chromium, aluminum, as well as others - and you will get some idea of the importance of minerals in human life.

A mineralogist must first study the properties of minerals. There are many chemical elements that are important for industry and agriculture, but some of them are very rare and never form any large accumulations. These are, for example, the metal cadmium, which gives copper high strength, and the metal thallium, the compounds of which kill pests of agricultural crops. They do not form independent minerals, but are found as impurities in zinc blende, and it is impossible to judge these impurities by their appearance.

In many cases, based on the presence of some, often insignificant, mineral, one can conclude about the presence of previously undetected valuable ores.

A mineralogist can provide important assistance to exploration geologists, who study a deposit in detail for development, and to mining engineers, who develop a deposit, extracting valuable minerals from it. Carefully studying the deposit, the mineralogist will make accurate sketches in which he will note how individual minerals and their accumulations (ores) are located, which must be extracted.

Knowledge of the conditions of deposit formation for various minerals is of enormous practical importance. By looking at the geological map of any area, we can predict what minerals, what minerals we can look for here.

For a number of minerals - polymetals, gold, coal, oil - forecast (foresight) maps are drawn up. Each of them indicates the areas or areas in which the desired mineral should be searched, in which these minerals should be absent and should not be searched for. Forecast maps are increasingly becoming part of search and exploration practice and are extremely useful.

Many ores and minerals contain various impurities. Before recommending them for industrial use, a mineralogist must study in detail all their technological properties. In other words, he must indicate how well a given mineral meets its purpose, what methods of processing can be recommended, etc. In addition, the mineralogist must indicate the possibility of using mining waste in industry.

When extracting any mineral, a greater or lesser amount of waste rock is always extracted from the depths, i.e. rock accompanying the mineral. Such rocks go into dumps, which is unprofitable for the state: after all, labor, materials, and electricity are spent to extract them. Therefore, mineralogists carefully study all the minerals found in these rocks and try to use them.

If a practically important mineral is rare or occurs in the form of small, poor samples, then they try to produce it artificially. For example, to obtain aluminum you need the rare mineral cryolite, which was once found in the Ilmensky Nature Reserve in negligible quantities. Now they have learned to produce this mineral in factories in large quantities: thousands of tons. Mineralogical laboratories, special institutes and factories produce artificial transparent and colorless minerals: quartz, calcite, fluorite (from which lenses and prisms are made for optical instruments), ruby (used in mechanisms pocket watch and as a precious stone), etc. Many thousands of tons of artificial graphite are produced in electric furnaces. Our industry produces over a hundred different artificial minerals, and special laboratories continuously continue to work on obtaining new minerals.

If you find an error, please highlight a piece of text and click Ctrl+Enter.

Collection of semi-precious gemstones and minerals - gems
Collection of stones and minerals - a product of the extraction of kimberlite components
Mining work in deposits and hazardous industries

Gemstones and minerals represent a high collection value and are most often stored in mineralogical collections “as is in nature”, with minimal processing (whole crystals, druses, interesting fragments and pseudomorphs). Monochrome or multi-colored stones and minerals, often having collection or jewelry value, are the object of hunting for specialists not only in stones and minerals.

Tourmaline elbaite. Himalaya Mine, San Diego County, California. USA. Photo: V. Levitsky.
The upper part of tourmaline is verdelite (reminiscent of beryl), the lower part is dravite (brown tourmaline)
Resembles medical laboratory pharmaceutical flasks and pharmaceutical kits

Sherlova Gora and Adun-Chelon(in jargon - “Petition”). Transbaikalia, Russia (CIS, 2010). Photo-look at the legendary Siberian gem deposits. Sherlova Gora and Adun-Chelon are usually considered together as a single whole. For more than 300 years, magnificent examples of beryl, topaz and quartz have regularly come from these places. All excavations take place in areas of known greisen bodies, which is understandable. It is difficult for a lone prospector to carry out large-scale exploration with deep excavations. I would like to hope that prospecting work at Sherlova Gora will not stop, and in the coming years we will witness new remarkable finds, because the potential of the deposit is far from being exhausted. All historical experience shows that only a single prospector (on crystals) or a small team (on druzes) can work profitably in such complex deposits, where success depends not only on hard work and perseverance, but also on experience and a deep understanding of the subsoil (differentiation). An industrial enterprise can operate profitably only on massifs - 99.3% of ore and other material.

View of the Sherlovogorskoe deposit. On the right you can see the dumps of a tin and tungsten quarry.
(type of dumps - Khaidarkan, Kyrgyzstan, CIS), and on the left on the slopes of the hill numerous traces are visible
developments for aquamarine. In the foreground, wolframite-cassiterite placers were mined.

Greisen body on the Voropaevskaya vein. A small excavation goes 6-7 meters underground.
Long kimberlite quartz fracture with underground river flow (type - Mitchell Falls)

Prospectors call cloudy, opaque beryl crystals technical, or “technical”
- chic material (together with quartz) for beads, bracelets and fang-type jewelry (pendants)

Excavation of a new horizon according to the Mitchell Falls type (ledges in steps with a turn) - Level III
The face of the Voropaevskaya vein is located higher up the slope. The greisen zone turned out to be extended
Famous clays - for the production of pots (crystals and druses - interfere, they are selected from clay)
Beryl - stone of the Spanish crown (Ukrainian lit., "Zakhar Berkut"), from clay for mercury production

In one day, a fresh working on the Voropaevskaya vein deepened - “Mountain Troll Cave”
On the right is a white (II level) potassium yield of kimberlite, on the left is cinnabar (III level)

Images that the human brain generates in extreme situations - palettes (probe - computer)
Presented - the author's palette of simulating the work of the brain " Wild Wind" and "Poster" (brainstorming)
For those interested in working on kimberlites - in the author's development

In the center of the greisen there was a quartz vein with a small amount of beryl - a “stone river”
Druze of characteristic quartz with beryl sticks ("jacketed"), quartz - grew a little earlier

A small crystal of beryl heliodor - delicately colored yellow with uranium (radioactive)
Keep with great care in private and museum collections - radiation hazardous (uranium)

Individual beryl crystals. The largest one shows inclusions of dark wolframite
If a mining party goes for crystals on reconnaissance, this is a good catch

Regular light green beryl, there are many of them here - ideal raw material for jewelry (solid)
When making pottery and pots from clay, beryls interfere (during annealing, holes in the pots)
This is how the famous “pots without bottom” appeared - mercury production (pipes) in Almaden (Spain, EU)
And the roofs of Almaden “tremble under the weight of days” precisely from this kimberlite (special clay)

Blue beryl aquamarine with imprints of other crystals - meteorite bombardment, curved

Bluish-green (with color transition) beryl aquamarine - reminiscent of tourmaline

Intergrowths (druze) of prismatic crystals of bright blue beryl with white topaz and
gray fine quartz. This is the best collection material mined at Sherlovka in 2010.
In appearance and color it resembles poisonous celestine drusen (Madagascar, etc.).

One of the greisen zones of the Novikov vein. Mining operations here have moved underground
Finds of a quartz crystal overgrown with topaz and a small blue aquamarine (shape like schorl)

The Crafty-Golden Mine, here the bulldozer worked. Stones - in red clay (proto-lithosphere)

“Horse teeth” is the local name for pointed topaz (ideal pendants)
Topaz is covered with limonite on top, “eaten away” along the surface by solutions, rock inclusions

Mining excavation of the upper slope deluvium below the Podebesnykh vein - this is usually not enough

This is approximately what the daily beryl mining by two miners from slope placers looks like.
Such inconspicuous mineralogical samples from the “upper placers” are used for cutting

Pegmatite is not selected, the remains of the productive zone with small voids are visible in the side of the mine

Granite remains on the mountain tops create a unique flavor of the Adun-Chelon steppe.
In addition to a large amount of black morion quartz in the miaroles of basalt units
a lot of fine prismatic schorl and only two small crystals of colorless beryl.

Without the work of palettes that imitate the work of the brain, kimberlite is not dug today
The pit on the left is a typical outline of the "Big Pit" kimberlite in Kimberley, South Africa, South Africa
Prospector's mine in the southern part of the Sherlova Gora and Adun-Chelon massif (Transbaikalia, Russian Federation, CIS)

Sherla tourmalines (black, large) and hairy quartz (“Beard of the Prophet Mohammed”)
Even large crystals and fragments on the mountainside are an excellent catch for one prospector
Many morion crystals with a whitish surface, intergrown with black tourmaline schorl

Black spinel, Timpton River, South Yakutia, Yakutia (Sakha), Russia (RF, CIS). Author of the photo (2010). The Gonovskoye deposit is part of the Aldan phlogopython-bearing province, which, as a source of collectible minerals, is worthy of a separate story. It is located in a remote area on the left bank of the river. Timpton is approximately 100 km southeast of Aldan. In the immediate vicinity of the deposit there are several geological settlements. Plesovy, Noisy, village. on the Maly Gon stream. During geological work at the Gonovskoye deposit, a zone with spinel crystals was discovered when assessing mica (phlogopite) mineralization.

For lovers of precious stones - creepy pools and holes on the river, water emissions (at the approaches)

The spinel mine was heavily littered with kimberlite dumps and overgrown with bushes.
Water flowed along the wall of the quarry, and a cloud of mosquitoes constantly hung over the kimberlite dump itself.

When dismantling the dump, all calcite pieces were removed and then hammered.
Sometimes the samples turned out to be very decent, but small in size - geological exploration.

Very often, individual small crystals and intergrowths of black spinel were found in the dump.
Apparently, they were simply thrown out by rotating kimberlite - visible during the development of the quarry.

A cluster of spinel crystals sticking out of the quarry wall. They pulled it out on the last day of work.

Mining of the "Diopside" mine. The mine produced many crystals and intergrowths of brownish-green diopside,
but the work was hampered by water. The weather in Yakutia was rainy, the permafrost did not thaw completely
Visible basalt fragments left after volcanic eruptions and chamber pegmatites

At the base of the dump, a light layer enriched with calcite fragments is visible, from which samples were extracted

The spinel occurrence is a lens-shaped calcite body with a series of apophyses in the hanging wall (the lateral inclined wall of the kimberlite), consistent with a sequence of host gneisses altered to almost monomineral diopsidites (diopside skarns) - massive dense rocks of a dark green color. The lens itself consists of coarse-crystalline light calcite, in which individual crystals and intergrowths of green diopside and black spinel (crystalline shield) “float” freely. Below - flooding with water.

Array of Black Spinel Crystals on Green Diopside - Crystal Shield (Individuals)
Druze of black spinel crystals growing on diopside. The sample was recovered from the dump.

A spinel crystal rolled out of a dump. They say about such samples: “The hostess planted them”

Spinel of Southern Yakutia, Sakha (Yakutia), Russia (RF, CIS). Author of the photo (2010). Report on a trip to quartz and associated deposits in the valley of the river. Aldan. Having driven by car from Moscow to Yakutia and back, we were once again able to see that Russia is a big country. Don't spare money on a good camera and memory cards, as well as film, laptop computers and power generators - so as not to be disappointed with the quality and quantity of pictures. The Kuranakh Valley is a washed-out gold placer, a real lunar landscape, albeit already overgrown with bushes. There is no road to the Koltikon deposit (dirt). You have to climb straight up the most dangerous crumbling slope (kimberlite scree - kimberlite rotates), focusing on “fresh” heaps of stones.

From the dumps of the deposit there is a view of the valley of the Koltykon stream - “zero” kimberlite
The marked light stripe on the distant hill is the railway route to Yakutsk - AYAM

The starting quarry was overgrown and crumbling. To get to the spinel exit, you need to push through
through the thickets to its distant part. A spinel mine is visible at the top of the slope.

Spinel at Koltykon is usually crystalline and shiny, its crystals are very richly cut
Fine crystalline material, crystals (0.7% of reserves are extremely rare gems)

Western Caves on the Kola Peninsula, Kola Peninsula, Russia (RF, CIS). It is impossible not to love these harsh places of the Russian Arctic. When you look at the map of the Murmansk region, it is striking that settlements in these parts are located either along the coast or concentrated along Oktyabrskaya railway, crossing the Kola Peninsula from Kandalaksha to Murmansk. Huge areas in the center of the Kola Peninsula are uninhabited and, in terms of population density, are not much inferior to the deserted expanses of Eastern Siberia (RF, CIS) or the deserts of Australia.

The point of the trip was the manifestation of almandine garnet in the area of Mount Tahlintuaiv. Civilization avoided these places until the twentieth century. The first to visit here, in 1928, was an expedition from the Academy of Sciences led by Alexander Fersman. Mount Takhlintuaiav is a hard-to-reach place, although it is located 40 km from the Lovozero massif. The easiest way to get here is by water along the river. Kurga. However, we did not tempt fate and preferred to get to the Western Caves traditional way, on an all-terrain vehicle. To do this, we had to travel more than 100 km from the village. Oktyabrsky, which is located east of the city of Apatity. Author of the photo (2010).

Takhlintuaiv is located close to the Khibiny and Lovozero mountains, about 40 km from the village. Lovozero.
A direct route here is possible - by water (Kurga River), by boat or kayak (dangerous - deserted places).

At the foot of Makzabak the all-terrain road ends. We go on foot to the west, where in the middle of the swampy forest-tundra rises Takhlintuaiv - a mountain similar to its neighbors. At its top, mica schists containing garnet are exposed. Tahlintuaiva garnet is represented by almandine. It occurs in the form of small (up to 5 cm in size) crystals with a good cut and red-violet color. The most attractive specimens are found on the surface, just under the turf layer. Crystals in the weathering crust are loosely anchored in the rock and often fall out of the shale during mining (crystalline shield). In some places, the mica rock is so destroyed that it can be disassembled by hand. A significant part of the mined garnet is individual crystals without rock.

Weathered mica "powder" with garnets at outcrops of garnet-muscovite schists.
It's easy to dig through and you'll find mostly individual garnet crystals.

Less commonly, samples with almandine crystals on shale rock can be found under a layer of turf.
Such samples went through a process of natural preparation. The material remains to be rinsed with water.

The highest quality garnet crystals on ores are obtained by disassembling the root
slate. This breed is quite strong and one cannot do without a chisel and a sledgehammer (with the breed).

A large number of old pits and burrows were discovered at the deposit (near the town of Makzabak)

The entire space around the pits was strewn with large crystals and fragments of garnet.

Selected garnet grains (crystals) - medium sized garnets (4-5 cm) were found in abundance

True, large crystals of almandine were rarely found - a crystal the size of an apple

A rare trigontrioctahedral type of garnet for Makzabak. Almandine. Pyrope-almandine

The most spectacular on Makzabak are not only garnet crystals, but also their intergrowths

Kola Peninsula, Russia (RF, CIS). The object fifteen kilometers east of Kovdor, which we managed to reach, was a manifestation of kyanite and garnet on Mount Keles-Wive. There, on the surface of weathered blocks of gneisses, peculiar druses of red garnet and blue kyanite (“Kashmir sapphire”) formed. Author of the photo (2009).

Garnet and kyanite crystals (blue) on the weathered surface of gneisses. Mount Keles-Wive.

Dashkesan, Azerbaijan (Azerbaijan, CIS). The Dashkesan deposit is the largest iron ore deposit in Transcaucasia. Exploration of iron ore deposits in the region began at the beginning of the 20th century. Typical skarn deposit (kimberlite). Very dangerous - large stone kimberlite dumps. Author of the photo (2008).

The cavity in the skarns of the Vostochny mine was discovered more than 10 years ago, in the 90s. XX century

Andradite garnet is one of the common minerals in Dashkesan (kimberlites)
Small samples can even today be found in the walls of kimberlite quarries.

Garnet and epidote on quartz are satellites in Dashkesan skarns (gas cavities in basalts)
Forms in basaltic gas voids after erupted lava begins to cool
From above you can see a fragment of basalt in which (geode, cavity) crystals formed

Flat brushes of fine-crystalline andradite (garnet) are found in the dumps of the Vostochny mine
Andradite garnet is sometimes unsuitable for cutting crystals and is used whole (solid)

Kotui River(Bukan, Kugda, Odikhincha), West Siberia, Russia (RF, CIS). The Odihincha massif is located among Cambrian dolomites. The massif is composed of various alkaline rocks and is dissected by pegmatite veins. The deposit was explored for phlogopite and is now known to contain shorlomite (titanium garnet) crystals and nepheline crystals. All varieties of rocks and pegmatite veins are exposed in a cirque (amphitheater) in the northwestern part of the massif. Odikhincha is a mountain range of ultrabasic alkaline rocks with carbonatites, interesting pegmatite veins and a complex of metasomatic rocks in which crystals were found black titanium garnet – shorlomite and nepheline crystals up to 40 cm in size. A deposit of phlogopite mica has also been explored at Odikhinch. An abundance of interesting things, incl. jewelry materials. Photo by the author, 2014

Andradite, a group of garnets, is not usually used for jewelry. Dark melanite (from the Greek "melas" - black) is a type of black andradite containing titanium. Melanite is known in Italy, USA (Colorado), Germany, France, Uzbekistan, CIS (Tashkent region). This stone is used in mourning jewelry. Especially dark (black) varieties of melanite are called shorlomite and ivarite. Andradite is a common mineral of pegmatites, found in contact deposits (in a narrow aureole, metamorphite) together with other calcium and iron silicates. Melanite is characteristic of alkaline rocks, known in contacts of alkaline granites with limestones. Topazolite and demantoid (valuable) are present in serpentinite rocks along with asbestos.

Small, but bright and well-cut crystals of shorlomite in calcite were found in the pegmatite vein.
The nest was located under a stream of water, so we had to dig under the stream to drain the water.

Black crystals of titanium garnet shorlomite in white natrolite, gray nepheline.
Looks like black coals of an extinguished fire in white and gray ashes

Samples of large black shorlomite garnet from the "below the creek pegmatite".

Central zone of pegmatite with blue mineral, probably sodalite,
huge crystals of shorlomite and diopside in white calcite.

Brown andradite in sugary light green apatite looks quite impressive.
It’s only a pity that its edges are not as bright and shiny as those of Shorlomites from other points and crystals
fall out of apatite quite easily. You need to be extremely careful with such samples.

Isolated crystals of shorlomite and andradite garnet from apatite pegmatite.
Sometimes the garnet here is not black shorlomite, but ordinary brown andradite garnet.

Prismatic crystals of green diopside in white calcite.

In the first right tributary of the Ebe-Yuryakh after the adit, pegmatite bodies of a different composition were exposed by ditches.
They contain PSH, aegirine, nepheline, and eudialyte. Up the Ebe-Yuryakh stream on the left and right sides meet
ditches revealing pegmatite bodies with melilite, nepheline, phlogopite, aegirine, etc.

The ditches (exploration) exposed apatite-shorlomite-phlogopite-diopside-nepheline pegmatite veins. The veins are different. In some, the apatite is sugar-like, and in it there are individual well-cut crystals of black titanium garnet of shorlomite, 2-10 cm in size, in others, there are long prismatic transparent crystals of light green apatite, up to 10 cm long in massive black shorlomite. Often, apatite crystals form spectacular “stars” - radially radiant aggregates. The central part of some pegmatites is made of white calcite or natrolite, sometimes together with lilac or crimson sodalite - hackmanite. In this part of the pegmatite bodies, the shorlomite crystals are the most well-cut, and the most spectacular druses and intergrowths are found.

Blue topazes of the Eastern Sayan, Southern Siberia, Russia (RF, CIS). The expanses of the CIS are great and they have been studied - in relation to collectible and drusy minerals (topazes are especially loved in Ukraine - as the holder of this site, whole pieces, these are stone "Asphodels", this is the famous Ukrainian literature - "The Almaden Epic", which is now being filmed everywhere ). Author of the photo (2008).

The problem is exclusively linguistic, “Babylon” (translations from Ukrainian into Russian and other languages, this is sometimes not clear). And only in rare cases did information leak to the surface (arrivals in the Russian Federation, etc.) and fall into the hands of interested people (geologists). This is exactly what happened in the summer of 2008, when a group of prospectors decided to check a hole lost among the ridges of the Eastern Sayan in the upper reaches of the river. Oka. Long treks, lack of firewood and water in the mountains and the hostile attitude of the newcomer (slaves of the Spanish crown, thieves in the fields, from the EU) population towards the working people (geologists, owners, citizens of the CIS) - that’s what threatened to disrupt the trip (totally). But it is unlikely that anyone will be able to convince the expedition members that a dozen topaz crystals brought from the Sayan Mountains are not worth the effort spent on them (“Asphodels” from the “Champs Elysees” of the Russian Federation, CIS).

Traces of steam blowing out of the caldera (pit, kimberlite) are visible in the elements of the modern relief
Kimberlite - Chuquicamata type, Chuquicamata, copper mine, Chile, South America ("Chunga-Changa")

The legendary Roman epic in the book - and the stone “flower” from the Asphodel kimberlite mines, topaz

It is necessary to extract loose (kimberlite, ground by a meteorite impact in the past) rock
from the cracks between the blocks of granite kurum and, “oh miracle!!!”, blue topaz crystals come across it
Three tools for extracting topaz - third level of kimberlite danger (waterlogging, karst)

Images that the human brain generates in extreme situations - palettes (adit - computer)
Brain palette (PC) with the author's name "Atomic tornado" and palette "Orange death" (like a volcano)
For those interested in working in the fields - in the author's development

Sung by Pliny the Elder (biblical psalm “Babylon”), performed by V. Kipelov, “Babylon, Babylon, what you built, what you destroyed, Babylon, Babylon, souls melt with furious fire. The light burned on every stone...” (topazes ). Elements of glaciation (left) and tectonic breccia of kimberlite destruction (right) are restored on the palettes. The features of the human brain are simulated - on a photo-visual image (on a PC). The tectonic breccia is not visible in the photo (sharp stones, dangerous) - palettes at this level of work are strictly required. In the photo, the breccia is on the right, on the palette - on the left (marks from the site holder), washed away - by karst waters (not visible). The type of blue palette on the left (“Atomic tornado”, the name of the site’s author) is used by climbers - an imitation of a glacier with stone. These are complete palettes of the work of the brain with full markings. You can download (incomplete ones - submitting is prohibited).

Old kimberlite dump with a lot of quartz rubble and small topaz fragments
This is a good jewelry material (fragments and fragments), suitable for cutting and processing into a collection

Blue topaz (crystal), quartz and hammer - upper (I level) kimberlite, one tool, scree

Aesthetic flowers that grow on the slopes of the Sayan mountain range (July)

This red flower (plant) can be passed off as a stone - red cinnabar (very similar)

Welcome to Hunan(2013)!! Photographs of minerals. Ukrainian geologists (geological exploration) also participated in the first Chinese international mineral fair in the city of Changsha in China (Southeast Asia region, Pacific Ocean). Typical and recognizable, including polychrome mineralogical samples of Ukraine (CIS).

Ukrainian geologists visited the exhibition in Changsha. They exhibited samples of Volyn topazes
and Morions. There is also golden beryl-heliodor (colored with uranium), Ukraine (CIS)

Russian gems are known all over the world. Many deposits are unique in volume and content. The main occurrence area is the central and northeastern parts of the country. The most famous and developed deposits are located in the Urals, in the Yamalo-Nenets District, Chelyabinsk Region (Norilsk). Ekaterinburg and other cities of the Sverdlovsk region, the Baikal region (Irkutsk and Chita regions, Buryatia) are famous for their precious stones.

The first Russian diamonds were found in the Urals in 1829. Mining was carried out using artisanal methods; very often, precious stones were found by accident while washing gold-bearing sand. In less than 100 years, 250 diamonds weighing up to 25 carats were mined in the Urals. Ural diamonds have amazing purity and transparency. Later, deposits were discovered in the western regions of the Urals.

Diamond mining in Siberia began only in the 50s of the twentieth century. The largest kimberlite pipes were discovered in Yakutia. This made Russia one of the world leaders in diamond mining.

Yekaterinburg and the cities of the Sverdlovsk region amaze with the variety of minerals. What semi-precious and precious stones are mined here? Ekaterinburg is part of the so-called Ural region. The variety of minerals mined here is simply amazing: garnets (red jewelry and grossulars), malachite, rauchtopaz. Ural topazes are very famous - red, blue and purple. Ekaterinburg values wine-yellow stone most of all.

The regional center and surrounding areas are famous for deposits of rare minerals. Verdelite and rhodonite are mined in the Urals. Yekaterinburg is the center of one of the oldest mining regions in the country. The whole world knows photographs depicting Ural gems. At the same time, only part of the explored mineral reserves is currently being developed. Emeralds supplied by Yekaterinburg have a rich green color and high transparency.

Recently the news was announced that a new gemstone had been found in the Sverdlovsk region - Mariinskite. The mineral is slightly inferior to diamond in hardness and brilliance.
Besides, Yekaterinburg supplies the world with amethysts and aquamarines. Red and black jaspers are mined in the Sverdlovsk region. Black tourmalines - schorls - have been explored and actively mined.

The territory of the Urals is huge and rich in minerals. Bazhov sang the Ural gems in his works. No photo can convey the full brilliance of the precious stones mined in the Urals. Minerals are highly valued by jewelers all over the world.

Developed in the Urals largest deposits emeralds and alexandrites. The richest occurrence of high-quality charoite is also located in the Urals. Moonstone is mined in the Chelyabinsk region. Adularia from the Urals often contains inclusions of gold sand. Almost transparent moonstone was found on the Kola Peninsula and in the Subpolar Urals.

The area around Lake Baikal is known for deposits of well-formed topaz. Almost all Russian jade is mined in Buryatia. Its main deposits are located relatively close to Lake Baikal. Therefore, stone mining is carried out with care so as not to harm the lake’s ecosystem. Russian jade has a variety of colors; there are even black specimens.

A little to the west of Baikal, bright red garnets - pyropes - are mined from deposits of the Bartoy group. The deposits of the Irkutsk region in the Baikal region provide the country with amethysts, light blue lapis lazuli, aquamarines and pink-red rhodonites. Tourmaline mining is carried out not far from Lake Baikal. In the Baikal region, pearl-colored moonstone is mined.

Norilsk is famous, first of all, for its vast areas of iron ore, natural gas and oil. In addition, Norilsk is famous for precious and semi-precious stones. In the vicinity of the city and surrounding areas, jadeite is mined. Norilsk has deposits of high quality greenish-yellow olivine.

Jewelers know Norilsk as a place where very rare stones are mined. Thanks to large reserves of aluminum and iron ore, Norilsk and the Krasnoyarsk Territory are the owners of pumpellyite deposits. Among other collectible minerals that Norilsk mines is moyukite. Norilsk is known for its large amount of zeolites. Prehnite stands out among them. The mineral is believed to have medicinal properties.

Norilsk is one of the places where rare light yellow stilbite was discovered. As for the name, it is Greek and means “brilliance”. The stone has an increased shine that cannot be conveyed in the photo. Recently, Norilsk began supplying the market with new semi-precious stones - xonotlites. They are white in color with black or gray streaks.

Nizhny Novgorod is not particularly rich in mineral resources. On an industrial scale, Novgorod mines dolomite, clay and sand. The surprising news is that Nizhny Novgorod can extract diamonds from the ground. The regional governor announced this. The area with a diamond-bearing pipe owned by Nizhny Novgorod is small. But geological exploration continues. Perhaps in the future the city will become one of the centers for the production of industrial diamonds. Nizhny Novgorod maintains the glory of the homeland of magnificent stone carvers. The products of local craftsmen are known throughout the world.

Makhachkala and the entire Dagestan region are known for deposits of iron ore and oil. Precious stones are quite rare here. But Makhachkala has some reserves of rock crystal, chalcedony, agate and carnelian. The region is very developed jewelry art. Kubachi, Makhachkala, Derbent are famous for their masters of glyptics - artistic stone cutting.

No significant deposits of precious stones have been discovered in the Oryol region, but there are large reserves of raw materials for building materials. Far beyond the borders of the Oryol region, the healing stones of the village of Andreevka are known. Large boulders have bizarre shapes. Each stone has special properties: it treats diseases, helps in personal life or study.

The Volgograd region also cannot boast of gems. But there are famous mounds in Surovikino. These are accumulations of large blocks of sandstone that retain heat all year round. Many tourists come to Surovikino, having heard about the healing properties of local stones.

Crimea

Many regions of Crimea (Kerch, Bakhchisarai, Feodosia) have deposits of precious and ornamental stones. Crimea is characterized by limestone and shale rocks. Carnelian, amethyst (pink and purple), onyx and opal are extracted from the depths of Crimea.

The variety of colors of Crimean agates is surprising. Black and white stones with stripes of pink, blue, red, brown and gray are mined here. Bakhchisarai and the Kerch region of Crimea are famous for their large reserves of jet. These are black petrified branches and tree trunks that look like stone. Many Crimean souvenirs are made from this gem.

On the territory of Kara-Dag there are deposits of rock crystal, heliotrope, opal, chalcedony and jasper. But this part of Crimea is a protected area, so stone mining is not carried out. Rare milky opals are found on the peninsula (Kara-Dag, Bakhchisaray, Sudak). Citrines are often found in rocks.

Researchers of Crimea found in its lands minerals unique to this region. The most famous - kerchenite, mithridatite, alushtite and bosporite - were named according to the places of discovery. Bakhchisarai, Fiolent, Karadag are rich in the most various colors. The most typical for Crimea is red and yellow jasper with colored inclusions.

The whole world knows the decorative stones of Crimea - Black Sea traces, marble, diabase. Feodosia, Sevastopol, Bakhchisaray have deposits of rock crystal. Large-scale mining of semi-precious raw materials on the peninsula is limited, since most of Crimea belongs to protected and reserved areas.