In the Arctic Briefing Guide project, prepared in cooperation with the Siberian Federal University, we talk about the resource, biological and cultural diversity of the Russian Arctic.
My interest in the mineral resources of the Arctic has been manifested for a long time. My first internship was at Cape Chelyuskin, where we studied the gold-bearing nature of the geological structures of the Taimyr folded region with a group of geologists from SNIIGGGiMS. Then on pre-graduate practice I managed to get to Koryakia in search of gold - it is the isthmus of Kamchatka, the bottleneck of the Kamchatka peninsula.
The Arctic is divided into three sectors: North American, Scandinavian and Russian. The share of mineral resources of solid minerals in all these sectors is quite significant. There are 107 active deposits in the Arctic zone, with 41 mines operating. The rest of the deposits have prospects of industrial development, i.e. are in exploration and are preparing for development. Of these 107, Russia has 42 facilities, about 23 in the United States of America and Alaska, 20 in Canada, 6 each in Sweden and Norway, and about 3 are currently being developed in Finland.
What dominates production? Of course, these are strategic metals: gold, copper, nickel, platinum group metals, diamonds, tungsten, tin. If we take the Arctic zone of Russia and consider the mineral resources from the west to the east, we should say about the mineral potential of the Kola Peninsula. This is one of the oldest mining areas where the development of copper and nickel deposits has just begun. There were discovered large deposits of agricultural raw materials, where the enterprise "Fosagro" still operates. This is the Lovozero deposit, the Zhdanovskoye copper and nickel deposit, which is now owned by Norilsk Nickel Group. The resources of the Kola Mining District have provided the main defense potential. Diamond deposits have recently been discovered in this very region.
Further to the east are the coal deposits of Vorkuta. This is the oldest coal basin - the Pechora coal basin, which is currently operating and produces quite high-quality coal. It is worth noting that the resource potential of the Arctic has developed in parallel with the development of the Northern Sea Route. Coal was needed for steamboats. And just the first coal discoveries ensured the development of navigation along the Northern Sea Route. If we remember the geological expedition of Kolchak, which was moving to the east, it was also aimed at finding a coal deposit. He found them not far from Dixon on the Taimyr Peninsula. In the same area there is a large and unique Syradasai coking coal deposit with reserves of 5.7 billion tons. These are unique high quality coals that have the potential to become one of the major factors in loading the Northern Sea Route. Moreover, it is quite cheap to bring them to Europe, for example.
Speaking of the raw material potential of Taimyr, the bright link is the copper-nickel deposit with platinum group metals. This deposit was discovered by Urvantsev in the 1930s, and its development began in the 1940s. The deposit is unique in terms of useful components content. In the future, we can find lead-zinc deposits here. The Pavlovskoye deposit, a lead-zinc ore deposit, has already been discovered on Novaya Zemlya. The prospects for the development of this area will be linked to further development and production of copper-nickel ores and platinum group metals.
If we move further to the east, the northeast of Yakutia is quite interesting, as there are tin ore deposits. A large deputy deposit is known, and tin placers are also known on the Novosibirsk Islands. In the long term, if this region is developed in a certain way, these deposits will be in demand. At the moment it is economically unprofitable, because with the fall of the Soviet Union our raw material markets have opened on a global scale, and cheaper raw materials - tin and tungsten - from South-East Asia squeezed out our enterprises and they had to be closed. Nevertheless, this province remains the largest in terms of tin content in Russia.
If we move further east, Chukotka, the lower reaches of the Kolyma River, is located there. There are large, unique tin deposits here. The last discovery is the copper-porphyry Peschanskoye deposit containing more than 2.5 thousand tons of copper and about 200 tons of gold. There are also known gold-silver deposits of bonanza ores, very rich. Now this Arctic region of Chukotka and the north of Kolyma is in great demand among subsoil users. Various companies go there and actively conduct prospecting works, expanding the potential of gold deposits.
Further to the east there is a tin and tungsten province. This is the Iultin deposit, which is currently mothballed