What minerals of Belarus are differentsignificant stocks? What is hidden in the depths of this Eastern European country? How rationally are the mineral resources of the republic mastered and used? We will try to answer all these questions in this article.
The Republic of Belarus: common features of the country
The physical geography of Belarus is distinguished by several features. It:
- plain territory;
- the prevalence of poor sod-podzolic and sod-marsh soils;
- temperate continental climate with frequent winter thaws;
- significant land swampiness (about 30%);
- a large number of freshwater lakes (all of them - at least 10 thousand).
About a third of the country is covered by forests.mostly oak, birch, aspen, spruce or pine. Numerous lakes and swamps of Belarus have chosen various species of birds. The state has the reserve Belovezhskaya Pushcha, which is known far beyond the country. It is here that a large population of bison is protected, as well as the last part of relict forest in Europe.
Minerals of Belarus: reserves and level of development
In the Republic of Belarus, there are about 4 thousanddeposits of various mineral raw materials. For the whole world the country is famous for its huge reserves of potash salt. In terms of its industrial deposits, it occupies a leading position in Europe.
Other minerals of Belarus arerock salt, peat, as well as raw materials for the construction industry (granites, dolomites, chalk, limestone and others). There are in the country and minor oil fields. Their development began in the 1960s. However, today the country covers its domestic needs for black gold only by 12-15%.
In the depths of Belarus there is the usual, traditionalgold, and also diamonds (according to the assumptions of some expert geologists). However, their development and production in any case will be unprofitable due to too deep a given resource.
Mining and chemical raw materials: phosphorites, potash and rock salts
Within the Mogilyov region of the republicexplored deposits of phosphate rock. According to geologists, there are approximately 60 million tons of this raw material. In Belarus, phosphorites are presented in the form of thin slabs or else dispersed in several layers of sand.
В недрах страны обнаружены и калийные соли.The deposits of this mineral resource are concentrated in the southern part of Belarus (Starobinskoe, Oktyabrskoe, Petrikovskoe). Their industrial resources are estimated by geologists at 10 billion tons, and the total (forecast) resources are estimated at almost 80 billion tons.
Practically unlimited found in Belarusrock salt reserves. They are located in the Pripyat depression, on an area of 25,000 square kilometers. Upper Devonian deposits of rock salt formed in two layers. The resource is being mined in only two places at the Mozyr and Starobinsky fields. Their industrial reserves amount to about 22 billion tons of raw materials.
Mineral raw materials for the construction industry
To minerals that are used inconstruction, should include loam and clay, sand, gravel, pebbles, chalk, marl, limestone, granites, dolomites, labradorites, marble, kaolin and other rocks. The territory of Belarus is extremely rich in these minerals.
Легкоплавкие глины распространены практически по throughout the country. Up to the beginning of the twentieth century, they were mined even within the boundaries of Minsk. The highest quality clays occur within the Vitebsk region. The total reserves of low-melting clays in Belarus are estimated at almost half a billion tons. About the same in terms of volume and gravel-pebble materials in the country. Refractory and refractory clays occur within the Loevsky and Stolin districts.
Belarus is also actively minedsilicate and construction sands. Their total projected reserves are estimated at two billion cubic meters of raw materials. Construction sands today are mined in 20 fields. The largest of them is located near the village of Lebezhany, Baranavichy district.
In the Belarusian depths lies the raw material forCement industry - marl, chalk, and moraine clay. In particular, the Kommunarskoye, the largest cement raw material deposit in Europe, has been explored in Kostyukovichi District. At its base there are three plants. But near the city of Vitebsk is a large deposit of dolomite.
In Belarus, mineral pigments (dyes) are also extracted from the earth's interior, which are widely used in various sectors of the economy. It is white chalk, ocher, siderite and glauconite.
Ore minerals
In Belarus, at least two are known.iron ore deposits. They are located in Korelichsky and Stolbtsovsky district. The iron content in local quartzites is small and amounts to 30%. Ore mining is also hampered by the rather deep occurrence of its layers.
В южной части страны, как полагают геологи, могут to be deposits of some non-ferrous metals, in particular, native copper and chalcopyrite. In Lelchitsy district, the concentration of uranium in the sediments is quite large and reaches industrial indicators (that is, the organization of its production here can be profitable). In general, geologists continue to explore the south of the country, where rocks of a crystalline shield come to the surface. They are convinced that in the near future it will be possible to discover new deposits of various metallic minerals there.
Fuel minerals: oil, gas, peat
The first oil well of Belarus was drilledin the early 50s of the last century. However, the oil extracted from it was not of the highest quality. Black gold on an industrial scale began to be mined here only in the mid-1960s. The center of the Belarusian oil production has become the city of Rechitsa in the Gomel region. The local oil was already distinguished by higher quality. Another large oil field (Ostashkovichskoye) was discovered twenty kilometers from Rechitsa.
All in all, today in Belarus exploredabout five dozen oil fields. The total reserves of black gold in them amount to almost 90 million tons. Every year the country extracts about two million of this raw material from its depths.
Belarusian oil also contains someamount of associated gas. However, its production covers only one percent of the country's total needs for this resource. Associated gas is used to produce electricity at one of the TPPs, as well as for heating residential houses in settlements of the Gomel region.
In the depths of the republic are colossal depositsanother fuel resource - peat. Their total reserves are about 30 billion cubic meters of raw materials. Today, peat in Belarus is mined at 42 deposits. Most of them are in the Polesye region.
Some promising mineral resources of the country
What other minerals are promising to mine in Belarus? There are several such:
- brown coal;
- oil shale;
- gypsum.
На территории страны разведано несколько deposits of combustible shale, which occur at a depth of 600 meters. Their total reserves are estimated at eleven billion tons. The Belarusian subsoil is also rich in brown coal. Large deposits of this fuel resource were discovered in the west of the Pripyat Trough. Significant deposits of gypsum are concentrated in the same region. The total reserves of this building material are estimated by experts at 400 million tons.
The territory of Belarus, thanks to the peculiaritiesgeological structure, rich in underground mineral waters. Within the country, numerous sources of sulphate, hydrocarbonate, magnesium and other waters have been identified.
Modern problems and features of the use of mineral resources of Belarus
At the end of 2015, President of the Republic AlexanderLukashenko held a meeting at which, in particular, the state and current use of the country's mineral resource base were discussed. The head of state stressed that Belarus should minimize its dependence on foreign mineral raw materials. To do this, it is necessary to adjust the extraction of already explored deposits, as well as to actively seek new ones.
Беларусь тратит ежегодно около 11 миллиардов dollars for the purchase of hydrocarbons from abroad. At the same time, the country imports those minerals that are in large quantities in the bowels of the republic. It is about gravel, rubble, plaster. The same situation with another important resource: thus, having at its disposal the richest reserves of high-quality mineral waters, the country buys drinking water from France, Italy and other countries.
Belarus has already developed a special program for the development and rational use of local mineral resources, which should remedy the situation for the better.
Finally...
About 4 thousand have already been explored within the countryvarious deposits. The most famous minerals of Belarus that are being actively developed today are potash salt, oil and gas, peat, rock salt, dolomite, building sand, clays and marls.
