Consequences of mining. The impact of the extraction of mineral resources on the natural environment and measures for their rational use and protection of the subsoil

The degree of negative impact of mining on the natural environment depends on many reasons, among which it is worth highlighting: technological, due to a complex of techniques and methods of influence; economic, depending on the economic opportunities of the region as a whole and the enterprise in particular; ecological, related to the characteristics of ecosystems experiencing this impact. All these causes are closely related to each other, and the excessive impact of one of them can be compensated for by the other. For example, in a mining region that has substantial budget contributions, it is possible to compensate for the intensity of environmental impact by investing additional funds both in the modernization of production and in measures to improve the state of the natural environment.

From the point of view of the impact of extraction of natural resources on the landscape, deposits of solid, liquid and gaseous natural resources, since the consequences of the development of each of the selected categories of deposits are different. For example, the main consequence of the development of a deposit of solid minerals in an open way is the disturbance of the relief due to the formation of dumps and various excavations on the surface of the earth, and the underground method is the formation of waste heaps. other minerals, a mound of waste or slag from various industries and the burning of solid fuels, which occupy tens of thousands of hectares of fertile land. In addition, coal heaps often ignite spontaneously, which leads to significant air pollution. Long-term development of oil and gas fields leads to lowering earth's surface and amplification of seismic events.

When mining, there is a high risk of man-made accidents. Man-caused accidents include accidents associated with drilling wells - fountains, griffins, etc., explosions and breakthroughs in process pipelines, fires and explosions at oil refineries, the fall of the traveling block tower, sticking and breakage of well tools, fires at drilling rigs and etc.; associated with work in mines (underground mining), - explosions and fires in underground workings, overhead buildings, sudden emissions of coal dust and methane, accidents at lifting installations, central drainage and compressor installations, accidents of main ventilation fans; collapses in mine shafts, etc.

The scale of mining of mineral raw materials is increasing every year. This is due not only to an increase in the consumption of rocks and minerals, but also to a decrease in the content of useful components in them. Technologies have been developed that make it possible to recycle almost all materials. Currently, the global production of mining raw materials and fuels has significantly exceeded 150 billion tons per year with a useful content of less than 8% of the original mass. About 5 billion tons of overburden rocks, 700 million tons of enrichment tailings and 150 million tons of ash are annually stored in dumps in the CIS member states. Of these, further to national economy no more than 4% is used Granovskaya N.V., Nastavkin A.V., Meshchaninov F.V. Technogenic mineral deposits. - Rostov-on-Don: Southern Federal University, 2013..

Any method of mining has a significant impact on the natural environment. A great environmental risk is associated with underground and above-ground mine workings. The upper part of the lithosphere is especially affected. With any mining method, there is a significant excavation of rocks and their movement. The primary relief is replaced by man-made.

Open pit mining has its own specifics. Significant destruction of the earth's surface and the existing mining technology lead to the fact that the quarry, crushing and processing complexes, pellet production complexes and other industrial facilities of the mining and processing plant are, to one degree or another, sources of destruction and environmental pollution. Underground mining is associated with water pollution (acid mine drainage), accidents, waste rock dumps, which require land reclamation. But the area of ​​disturbed lands with this method of mining is ten times less than with surface mining.

A significant number of mines are currently abandoned, their depth is hundreds of meters. In this case, the integrity of a certain volume of rocks is violated, cracks, voids and cavities appear, many of which are filled with water. The pumping of water from mines creates extensive depression funnels, the level of aquifers decreases, and surface and underground waters are constantly polluted.

In quarrying (open pit) under the influence of powerful pumps that carry out drainage from workings, excavators, heavy vehicles, the upper part of the lithosphere and the terrain change. The risk of hazardous processes is also associated with the activation of various physical, chemical, geological and geographical processes: increased soil erosion processes and the formation of ravines; activation of weathering processes, oxidation of ore minerals and their leaching, geochemical processes are intensifying; subsidence of soils, subsidence of the earth's surface over the worked-out mine fields; in places of mining, soils are polluted with heavy metals and various chemical compounds.

Thus, it should be noted that the intensive development industrial complex should be carried out along with the greening of production Complex of characteristics of environmental safety in the extraction of minerals / I.V. Sokolov, K.V. Tserenova, 2012..

The main properties of the geological environment of oil and gas fields are the presence in the section of two immiscible liquids - oil and groundwater, as well as a significant impact on the rocks of liquid and gas hydrocarbon components. main feature in oil and gas producing complexes consists in the technogenic load on the geological environment, when the processes of selection from the bowels of useful components interact. One of the impacts on the geological environment in the areas of oil and gas fields, as well as oil refineries, is chemical pollution of the following main types: hydrocarbon pollution; salinization of rocks and underground waters with mineralized waters and brines obtained along with oil and gas; contamination with specific components, including sulfur compounds. Pollution of rocks, surface and ground waters is often accompanied by the depletion of natural groundwater resources. In some cases, surface water used for flooding oil reservoirs may also be depleted. In marine conditions, the scale of the threat of water pollution increases with both artificial (reagents used in drilling and well operation) and natural pollutants (oil, brines). The main cause of chemical pollution in oil fields is a low production culture and non-compliance with technologies. Therefore, in the observational network for monitoring the geological environment of oil and gas fields, one of the main loads falls on geochemical observations and pollution control.

Among the physical disturbances of the geological environment in the areas of oil and gas production, one should note the manifestations of subsidence, subsidence and failures of the earth's surface, as well as flooding.

In the process of mining and processing of minerals, a person affects a large geological cycle. Man converts mineral deposits into other forms of chemical compounds. For example, a person gradually exhausts combustible minerals (oil, coal, gas, peat) and eventually converts them into carbon dioxide and carbonates. Secondly, a person distributes over the surface of the earth, dispersing, as a rule, former geological accumulations.

At present, about 20 tons of raw materials are extracted annually for each inhabitant of the Earth, of which a few percent go into the final product, and the rest of the mass turns into waste.

Most mineral deposits are complex and contain several components that are economically viable to extract. In oil fields, associated components are gas, sulfur, iodine, bromine, boron, in gas fields - sulfur, nitrogen, helium. Currently, there is a constant and rather significant decrease in the content of metals in mined ores. Obviously, in 20–25 years, to obtain the same amount of non-ferrous and ferrous metals, it will be necessary to more than double the amount of mined and processed ore.

Mining affects all spheres of the Earth. The impact of mining on the lithosphere is manifested in the following:

1. Creation of anthropogenic forms of mesorelief: quarries, dumps (up to 100-150 m high), waste heaps (up to 300 m high), etc. On the territory of Donbass there are more than 2,000 waste rock dumps with a height of about 50–80 m. As a result of open mining, quarries with a depth of more than 500 m are formed.

2. Activation of geological processes (karst, landslides, talus, subsidence and displacement of rocks). During underground mining, subsidence troughs and dips are formed. In Kuzbass, a chain of sinkholes (up to 30 m deep) stretches for more than 50 km.

3. Change in physical fields, especially in permafrost regions.

4. Mechanical disturbance of soils and their chemical pollution. Within a radius of 35 - 40 km from the existing quarry, crop yields are reduced by 30% compared to the average level.

Mining affects the state of the atmosphere:

1. Air pollution occurs with emissions of CH 4 , sulfur, carbon oxides from mine workings, as a result of burning dumps and waste heaps (release of N, C, S oxides), gas and oil fires.

2. The dust content of the atmosphere increases as a result of burning dumps and waste heaps, during explosions in quarries, which affects the amount solar radiation and temperature and rainfall.

The impact of mining on the hydrosphere is manifested in the depletion of aquifers and in the deterioration of the quality of ground and surface waters.

Comprehensive measures for rational use minerals and subsoil protection include the following:

1. Ensuring the completeness of the extraction of minerals during mining:

a) improving the quality of exploration work;

b) expansion of open pit mining;

c) introduction of mining systems with goaf backfilling;

d) separate extraction of minerals and rocks;

e) re-development of sites and deposits;

f) development and use of special methods and measures to reduce losses. For example, increasing the recovery of oil reservoirs is carried out various methods: physical-chemical, thermal, waterflooding. With the help of steam-thermal impact on the reservoirs, the oil yield exceeds 40%. Enhanced oil recovery lengthens the exploitation of fields.

2. Ensuring the completeness of the extraction of minerals during processing:

a) increasing the degree of extraction of minerals by improving the technology of processing. Such technologies include underground leaching, microbiological, physicochemical, hydrometallic and combined methods.

b) use of pre-enrichment methods;

c) processing of dumps and waste;

d) additional extraction of useful components;

e) cleaning of mine and Wastewater;

f) development of economic incentives for a more complete recovery from enrichment.

3. Rational use of mined mineral raw materials and products of its processing in the national economy:

a) saving resources is one of the ways of rational use. Each percentage of saving fuel and energy resources is 2-3 times more profitable than increasing the production of a rolled product resource by strengthening it, applying coatings that protect against corrosion

b) recycling of products of processing of mineral raw materials. A large reserve in the use of secondary resources is the recycling of scrap metal;

c) maximum reduction of losses during the transportation of mineral raw materials, coal, etc.

The set of measures to radically improve the use of energy resources includes three main aspects:

ü reduction of energy consumption to meet energy needs;

ü increasing the range of use of energy resources by improving the technology of extraction, processing, distribution and use of fuel and energy resources;

replacement of expensive and limited types of energy resources with cheaper energy sources.

6 Mineral resources of Belarus, their use and problems of protection natural complexes in the development of minerals. In the bowels of B. more than 30 types of mines. raw materials. According to the degree of readiness for use vyd. field: 1. With detailed explored reserves of the miner. Raw materials 2. Not yet prepared for industrial development, 3. Promising areas. Fuel resources .Oil. According to comp. in 2008, 71 deposits were discovered in Belarus, 68 in the Gomel region. and and 3 in Mogilevskaya. Developed about 38 deposits. The largest: (Rechitskoye, Ostashkovichskoye (Svetlogorsk district), Vishanskoye (Svetlog. And Oktyabr. districts), Tishkovskoye (Rech. district), Davydovskoye (Svetlog. district). Gas. In the development of oil fields mined associated gas, deposits on ter. Borshchevsky, Krasnoselsky and Zapadno-Aleksandrovsky deposits. Peat. Stocks located. in all areas. Field Svetlogorsk, Vasilevichskoe, Lukskoe (Gom. Region), Berezinsky, Chistik, Smolevichskoe (Minsk. Region), Rare Horn, Dnieper (Tomb. Region), Berezovsky (Grodno. Region), Dobeevsky moss, Usvizh Buk, Vitebsk (Vit .region). It is used as local fuel, it is also possible to use. For production of organomineral fertilizers, filters, prod. For household chemicals, wood dyes, in mud therapy. Brown coals. There are 3 deposits in Gomelskaya. brown coal: Zhitkovichskoe, Brinevskoe and Tonezhskoe. To the industry The Brinevskoye field and two deposits at the Zhitkovichi field were prepared for development: Severnaya and Naidinskaya. oil shale . 2 cereals Deposit: Luban (Minsk region) and Turov (Gomel and Brest regions). Gor. sl potential raw material for the development of energy, chemical. prom-ti, pro-va builds. materials. Nonmetallic Potassium salts 3 deposits. Starobinskoe in Mins. region, Petrikovskoe and Oktyabrskoe in Gom. region). Republican Unitary Enterprise "PO" Belaruskali "at the Starobinsky field. Potash ores, from which potash fertilizers are produced. Rock salt. 3 deposits: Starobinskoye in the Min. Oblast, Davydovskoye and Mozyrskoye in the Gom. obl.) Salt is mined at the Mozyr deposit. And in recent years, the mining of rock salt (food, fodder and technical) has begun at the Starobinsky deposit. Dolomites. Field Ruba in Vit.region, developed by Dolomit OJSC. The raw material is used for the production of dolomite flour, crushed dolomite, asphalt concrete coatings, as a refractory material, etc. Cement raw materials. Chalk. - more than 30 deposits. The largest is Kommunarskoye (Kostyukovichsky district). Margel - deposit. Kommunary and Kamenka (Mogilev region), Ros (Grodno region). Fusible clays (ceramic raw materials) Gaidukovo Minsk. district. Refractory and refractory clays . 6 deposits, 4 of which are in operation, the largest ones are Gorodokskoye (Loevsky district), Stolinskiye khutor and Gorodnoye (Stolin district). Used for the production of refractories, refractory bricks, facing tiles. Glass and molding sands . 3 deposits. Molding Peskov: Lenino in the Dobrush region, Zhlobin and Chetvernya in the Zhlobin region.; Location glass sands: Gorodnoe (Brest region), Loevskoe (Gom. region) Building stone. Mestor. Mikashevichi, Glushkovichi, Sitnitsa, in the south of Belarus. Ore. Iron ore. 2 iron ore deposits: Okolovskoe deposit. ferruginous quartzites (Stolbtsovsky district, Minsk region) and Novoselkovskoye ilmenite-magnetite ores (Korelichsky district, Grodno region). Sapropels. 85 deposits, located. in all regions of the country, Sudable, Holy. Use In quality Fertilizers, additives to livestock feed, light building materials, for medicinal purposes. Mineral water . 63 sources, according to chem. comp. vyd: sulfate, chloride, sulfate-chloride, radon. Metalliferous brines . Nah. Within the Pripyat woodlands. They retain bromine, strontium, cesium, boron, magnesium, etc.

Influence of production p / and on the environment. environment is manifested in the following: the creation of anthropogenic forms of mesorelief: quarries, dumps; activation of geological processes (karst, landslides, screes, subsidence and displacement of rocks), mechanical disturbance of soils and their chemical pollution; depletion of aquifers and deterioration in the quality of ground and surface waters, etc. There are more than 40 thousand hectares in the country. lands requiring reclamation and restoration. Reclamation- restoration of industrially disturbed territories - provided for by law. Mining companies. resources are required to provide opportunities for the restoration of the disturbed landscape even before the start of work. After the cessation of open-pit mining, the surfaces of the dumps are leveled, terraces are made on the walls of quarries, and toxic and barren rocks are covered with soil on which plants can live. Fertile soils are often used, which were removed from here at the beginning of the development of the field. Reclaimed areas are used for planting forests and creating recreation areas.

AT general technology Mining causes the following types of environmental disturbances:

geomechanical- cracking of rocks as a result of explosions, changes in terrain, deforestation, deformation of the earth's surface;

hydrological- change in stocks, traffic regime, quality and level of groundwater, removal of harmful substances into water bodies from the surface and bowels of the earth;

chemical- changes in the composition and properties of the atmosphere and hydrosphere (acidification, salinization, water and air pollution);

physical and mechanical- pollution of the environment with dust, changes in the properties of the soil cover, etc.;

Noise pollution and soil vibration.

The causes of hydrological disturbances are:

Regulations, as a form of disturbance, are manifested in the form of reservoirs and water canals. Caused by the need to drain the surface above the field,

Waterlogging is observed around dumps with an area of ​​more than 200 ha,

Flooding is typical for cases when production has an excess of water and does not use it completely in the water cycle. Water is discharged onto the ground, into streams and reservoirs, and additional areas of land are flooded. Elsewhere in connection with this, exhaustion may occur,

Drainage - occurs through the drainage of underground groundwater by workings and wells. At each quarry, the depression funnel of groundwater reaches a diameter of 35 - 50 km,

Flooding occurs in the case of disposal of liquid production waste.

Impact of open pit mining

In places open development deforestation, vegetation disturbance and decommissioning large areas agricultural land as a result of stripping works and storage of rocks on the surface of the earth. Thus, the volume of overburden works (removal of rocks covering and enclosing the body of a mineral) in the open pits of the coal industry is 848 million m3 / year, iron ore - 380, building materials - 450. Krivoy Rog iron ore deposit - 800 m). The impact of open pit mining on the environment is depicted in Figure 4.4.

Rice. 4.4. Impact of open pit mining on the environment

Quarries often reach depths of 400 - 600 m, and accordingly a large amount of rock is brought to the surface. The areas occupied by dumps are several times larger than the area of ​​a quarry. Deep, mostly toxic, rock layers are dumped onto the surface of the dumps. This prevents the growth of plants, and after the rains, the water that flows from the dumps poisoned the rivers and soils. Tentatively, it can be considered that for the open mining of 1 million tons / year of minerals, about 100 hectares of land are required. For example, on land allotments 5 GOK Krivbass with total area more than 20 thousand hectares annually store almost 84 million m3 of overburden and more than 70 million tons of tailings from processing plants. There is not only a violation of the soil and vegetation cover in vast areas, but the surface of the earth is also disturbed by both mine workings and dumps. In Ukraine, the greatest violations of the natural environment occurred in Krivoy Rog, more than 18 thousand hectares of land were destroyed here (Fig. 4.5).

Rice. 4.5. Space image Krivoy Rog iron ore quarry

Changes caused by surface disturbance negatively affect its biological, erosive and aesthetic characteristics. It is in the open-cast mining of deposits that the geotoxicological influence of mining on humans is manifested. The productivity of agricultural land is declining. Thus, in the area of ​​the Kursk magnetic anomaly near quarries within a radius of 1.5–2 km, the yield of fields decreased by 30–50% due to alkalization of soils to pH = 8, the growth of harmful metal impurities in them, and a decrease in water supply.

In the process of open pit mining, the main sources of pollution include mass explosions, operation of mining equipment and vehicles. Mass explosions in a quarry are periodic sources of pollution, as they are usually carried out once every 2 weeks. The charge of the explosion reaches 800 - 1200 tons, and the amount of rock mass blown up by it is 6 million tons. About 200 - 400 tons of dust are emitted into the atmosphere. It is considered 1 ton. An exploded explosive gives 40 m3 of CO2, in addition, nitrogen oxides are released.

Almost all mining operations are accompanied by dust formation. So, in the process of moving the rock with an excavator, the intensity of dust release is 6.9 g / s, in the process of loading coal with a rotary excavator - 8.5 g / s. Permanent sources of dust formation are car roads. In some quarries, they account for 70 - 90% of all dust. Significant amounts of dust enter the atmosphere during loading and unloading operations. The intensity of dust emission in the process of excavation of coal by an excavator is 11.65 g / s, in the process of loading into railway cars - 1.15 g / s. Due to the use of a large number Vehicle, large areas under the cuts, as well as powerful massive explosions of atmospheric pollution under the condition of open mining is much greater than with the underground method.

Hydromechanized mining of minerals causes significant scale pollution of the hydrosphere, since all hydromechanized technologies are associated with the use of water, its pollution and the return of water in a polluted state to the general hydrological network. As a result, there is pollution of rivers and reservoirs with muddy waters, which are formed in the process of hydromechanized mining of minerals, fish leave reservoirs and significant areas of reservoirs are excluded from spawning grounds, and the floodplain is lost. Lost areas are restored for spawning approximately 10 - 15 years after the end of development. But taking into account that the vast majority of deposits are worked out within 25-50 years, the areas of polluted watershed are excluded from the reproduction of fish stocks for 45-70 years. For mining and washing sands and other rocks, different amounts of water are used and it is polluted to an unequal degree, which affects the amount of dilution and loss of minerals to varying degrees, especially if they are diluted with rocks containing fine clay, which is difficult to isolate and precipitate With muddy water discharged from washing plants.

The nature of the relief, the level of occurrence of groundwater are taken into account when designing a mining system. They also affect environmental impact mining: the placement of dumps, the spread of dust and gases, the formation of depression funnels, karst, the behavior of dump waters and much more. The methods and extent of extraction of ores change over time.
Industrial mining minerals, starting from the XVIII century, was carried out with the help of vertical mine workings: deep pits (up to 10 m), mines. From a vertical working, if necessary, several horizontal workings were passed, the depth of which was determined by the level of groundwater occurrence. If they began to fill the mine, the pit, the extraction was stopped due to the lack of drainage equipment. Traces of old mine workings can be observed today in the vicinity of Plast, Kusa, Miass and many other cities and towns of the mining zone of the region. Some of them remain unclosed, not fenced off until now, which poses a certain danger. Thus, the vertical amplitude of changes in the natural environment associated with the extraction of mineral raw materials hardly exceeded 100 m until the 20th century.

With the advent of powerful pumps that carry out drainage from workings, excavators, heavy vehicles, the development mineral resources more and more often it is carried out in an open way - quarry.

In the Southern Urals, where most of the deposits lie at depths of up to 300 m, open pit mining prevails. Quarries produce up to 80% (by volume) of all minerals. The deepest mine working in the region is the Korkinsky coal mine. Its depth at the end of 2002 was 600 m. There are large quarries in Bakal (brown iron ore), Satka (magnesite), copper ore), Upper Ufaley(nickel), Magnitogorsk and Maly Kuibas (iron).
Very often, quarries are located in the city, on the outskirts of villages, which seriously affects their ecology. Many small quarries (several hundred) are located in countryside. Almost every large agricultural enterprise has its own quarry with an area of ​​1-10 hectares, where crushed stone, sand, clay, and limestone are mined for local needs. Typically, mining is carried out without observing any environmental standards.

Underground mine workings (mine fields) are also widespread in the region. In most of them, mining is no longer being carried out today, they have been worked out. Some of the mines are flooded with water, some are filled with waste rock lowered into them. The area of ​​worked-out mine fields in the Chelyabinsk lignite basin alone is hundreds of square kilometers.
The depth of modern mines (Kopeysk, Plast, Mezhevoy Log) reaches 700-800 m. Individual mines of Karabash have a depth of 1.4 km. Thus, the vertical amplitude of changes in the natural environment in our time, taking into account the height of dumps, waste heaps in the territory Southern Urals reaches 1100-1600 m.
Alluvial gold deposits in river sands have been developed in recent decades with the help of dredges - large washing machines capable of taking loose rock from depths of up to 50 m. Mining at shallow placers is carried out hydraulically. Rocks containing gold are washed away by powerful jets of water. The result of such mining is a "man-made desert" with a washed away soil layer and a complete absence of vegetation. You will find such landscapes in the Miass Valley, south of Plast. The scale of extraction of mineral raw materials is increasing every year.

This is due not only to an increase in the consumption of certain minerals, rocks, but also to a decrease in the content of useful components in them. If earlier in the Urals, in the Chelyabinsk region, polymetallic ores with a content of useful elements of 4-12% were mined, now poor ores are being developed, where the content of valuable elements barely reaches 1%. In order to get a ton of copper, zinc, iron from ore, it is necessary to extract much more rock from the depths than in the past. In the middle of the 18th century, the total production of mineral raw materials per year in the region was 5-10 thousand tons. At the end of the 20th century, the mining enterprises of the region processed 75-80 million tons of rock mass annually.
Any method of mining has a significant impact on the natural environment. The upper part of the lithosphere is especially affected. With any mining method, there is a significant excavation of rocks and their movement. The primary relief is replaced by man-made. AT highlands this leads to a redistribution of surface air flows. The integrity of a certain volume of rocks is violated, their fracturing increases, large cavities and voids appear. A large mass of rocks is moved to dumps, the height of which reaches 100 m or more. Often dumps are located on fertile lands. The creation of dumps is due to the fact that the volumes of ore minerals in relation to their host rocks are small. For iron and aluminum, this is 15-30%, for polymetals - about 1-3%, for rare metals - less than 1%.

Pumping water from quarries and mines creates extensive depression funnels, zones of lowering the level of aquifers. During quarrying, the diameters of these funnels reach 10-15 km, the area is 200-300 sq. km.

The sinking of mine shafts also leads to the connection and redistribution of water between previously separated aquifers, breakthroughs of powerful water flows into tunnels, mine faces, which greatly complicates mining.
The depletion of groundwater in the area of ​​mine workings and the drying of surface horizons strongly affect the condition of soils, vegetation cover, and the amount of surface runoff, and cause a general change in the landscape.

The creation of large quarries and mine fields is accompanied by the activation of various engineering-geological and physico-chemical processes:

There are deformations of the sides of the quarry, landslides, mudslides;

There is a subsidence of the earth's surface over the worked-out mine fields. In rocks, it can reach tens of millimeters, in weak sedimentary rocks - tens of centimeters and even meters;

In areas adjacent to mine workings, the processes of soil erosion and gully formation are intensifying;

In workings and dumps, weathering processes are activated many times over, there is an intensive oxidation of ore minerals and their leaching, many times faster than in nature, there is a migration chemical elements;

Within a radius of several hundred meters, and sometimes even kilometers, soils are contaminated with heavy metals during transportation, wind and water spread, soils are also contaminated with oil products, construction and industrial waste. Ultimately, a wasteland is created around large mine workings, on which vegetation does not survive. For example, the development of magnesites in Satka led to the death pine forests within a radius of up to 40 km. Dust containing magnesium entered the soil and changed the alkaline-acid balance. Soils have changed from acidic to slightly alkaline. In addition, quarry dust, as it were, cemented the needles, leaves of plants, which caused their impoverishment, an increase in dead cover spaces. Ultimately, the forests perished.

Bosom

Subsoil is the upper part of the earth's crust, within which mining is possible. Subsoil contains mineral resources - the basis of the leading sectors of the world economy.

The totality of minerals contained in the bowels is the concept of "mineral resources", which are the basis for the development of the most important industries (energy, black and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemical industry, construction).

On the territory of Russia, several thousand deposits of the fuel and energy complex, non-metallic raw materials and groundwater are known. At the same time, after the collapse of the USSR, the problem arose of creating its own raw material base for manganese, chromite, phosphorite ores, kaolin, large deposits of which are practically absent in the country. In the presence of a raw material base, titanium and mercury are not mined. A significant proportion of lead, zinc, antimony, niobium, rare earth and other raw materials were previously processed in the former Soviet republics. From there, iron concentrate, alumina, molybdenum, phosphate, sulfur, potash raw materials, intermediate products of some non-ferrous and rare metals came to Russia.

Forecast resources almost all types of mineral raw materials in the whole country very significant, but their implementation requires systematic investment in the geological study of the subsoil.

According to estimates, the resource of Russian subsoil, as well as what is on the surface of our country, is in monetary terms 140 trillion. dollars. For comparison: this is more than 2000 modern national annual budgets. Mineral resources have been explored so far for 29 trillion. dollars.

The reduction in appropriations for geological exploration in recent years has led to a virtual cessation of the search for minerals missing in Russia, as well as work to compensate for extinguished reserves, expand and improve mineral resource base countries. As a result, the increase in reserves for almost all types of minerals turned out to be lower than was necessary to compensate for the absorbed reserves, even with reduced production.

Distribution deposits on the territory of Russia is very even. The largest gross mineral and raw material potential is Far East and Primorye (deposits of non-ferrous, rare, precious metals, boron). Despite the relatively low share of explored reserves of the total potential (mineral resources (3%), almost everything is mined in the region: tin, antimony, diamonds, boron, more than half of gold, lead, fluorspar, a third of tungsten from all production in Russia.

An important role in the all-Russian balance of production is played by the iron ore deposits of the Kursk magnetic anomaly, oil from the Volga region, tungsten and molybdenum North Caucasus.

It is believed that the Central and Volga-Vyatka regions are poor in mineral resources. However, this does not mean that there are not enough minerals, they can simply be located in deep horizons.

In the Pechenga region near the city of Nikel, where large reserves of nickel ores are concentrated. Prior to this, more than a million meters of exploration wells had been drilled here, but they did not go to great depths. It was believed that the deposits of nickel ores are located close to the surface - at a depth of 100 m. The Kola well 12262 m at a depth of 1600-1800 m uncovered an ore body with a commercial grade of copper and nickel. This alone justified all the costs of its creation. Further drilling yielded new data. At a depth of 10-10.25 km on the Kola Superdeep, new elements of the granite layer were discovered, where there is nickel, copper, gold, and with an industrial content. Since 1998, the well has been operating as a world-class geological laboratory.

All raw mineral base covers depths up to 4 km. These reserves are rapidly depleted. deep drilling allows you to monitor the depths of the Earth and better understand how mineral reserves are formed.

Intrusion into the bowels can sometimes have a very tangible impact on nature. In a number of cases, agricultural land is withdrawn from use, forests are damaged, the hydrogeological regime of the regions, the terrain and traffic are changing. air currents, the surface of the earth, air and water basins are polluted by production waste.

At the site of open pits, vegetation, animals, soil are destroyed, centuries-old geological strata are turned over to a depth of hundreds of meters. Rocks brought from the depths to the surface can turn out to be not only biologically sterile, but also toxic to plants and animals. Large territories are turning into lifeless spaces - industrial deserts. Such lands, leaving economic use, become dangerous sources of pollution.

Significant changes made to natural landscapes by industry are often cannot be restored by nature itself in a foreseeable short time, especially in areas with extreme conditions (permafrost and arid regions).

During the processing of minerals, the vast majority of the mined rock mass goes to dumps.

For many years on high level there are still losses in the bowels of the underground method of coal mining (23.5%), including coking (20.9%), chromium ore (27.7%), potash salts (62.5%).

Significant damage is incurred by the state from the loss of valuable components and non-complex processing already mined minerals. So, in the process of enrichment of ores is lost more than a third of tin and about a quarter of iron, tungsten, molybdenum, potassium oxides, phosphorus pentoxide from phosphorite ore.

Unsatisfactorily used in the extraction of petroleum gas, which in Russia (mainly in the Tyumen region) in 1991 alone was burned in flares more than 10 billion m 3).

Currently mining complex has become one of the most major sources of disturbance and pollution environment. The spectrum of influence of pollutants formed as a result of the activities of mining enterprises on the biosphere is so wide that in a number of areas it causes unpredictable effects that have a detrimental effect on the state of the flora and fauna.

In many cases, the extracted mineral raw materials are used in an uncomplex way, not subject to deep processing. This is especially true of valuable associated components, the reserves of which are redeemed from the bowels in proportion to the extraction of reserves of the main minerals, but their extraction from the bowels of ores lags far behind the extraction of the main minerals. Losses occur mainly at the stage of ore dressing and metallurgical processing due to imperfections applicable or lack of necessary technologies.

Under the influence of mining, significant changes in natural landscapes occur. In mining areas a specific relief is formed, presented quarries, waste heaps, dumps, tailings and other man-made formations. With the underground method of mining, the rock mass decreases towards the mined area, cracks, ruptures, dips, funnels and subsidence of the earth's surface are formed, at great depths in the mine workings rock bursts, emissions and radiation of rocks, the release of methane, hydrogen sulfide and other toxic gases are manifested , sudden breakthroughs of groundwater, especially dangerous in karst areas and in zones of large faults. At open method mining of mineral deposits are developing landslides, screes, landslides, mudflows and other exogenous geological processes.

Waste from mining enterprises pollute the soil, underground surface water, atmosphere, adversely affect the vegetation and animal world, exclude significant areas of land from agricultural turnover, construction and other types of economic activity. At the same time, a significant part of mining waste contains valuable components in concentrations sufficient for industrial extraction, and serves as a good raw material for the production of various building materials. However, their use for this purpose does not exceed 6-7%. Increasing the use of waste from mining and metallurgical industries can have a great economic effect.

When mining The works change the hydrogeological regime of the territory. In most cases, the level of groundwater decreases, and not only the places where mining is carried out, but also the territories adjacent to them dry out. The so-called "depression" drainage funnel, the diameter of which is several times greater than the size of the mining area. In some cases (when surface drains are blocked or the surface of the earth subsides after undermining), swamping and (flooding) of the territory are also possible. The drying up of the work areas causes shallowing and even disappearance of small rivers.

Every year, hundreds of millions of cubic meters of insufficiently treated or completely untreated water are dumped into the rivers from the mines of processing plants and quarries, not to mention other industrial enterprises. These waters carry millions of tons of suspended solids. As a result, many rivers turn, in fact, in waste collectors in which no longer water flows, but carbonaceous suspension.

A direct consequence of underground mining is drying up of forests in mined areas. Old trees cannot adapt to a drier water supply regime. In addition, the displacements of the soil stratum occurring during the settlement of the roof lead to rupture of the roots.

Pollution of the atmospheric and water basins in coal-mining areas partly also associated with disturbances and uncultivated lands, although the main sources of pollution are technological processes mining and enrichment of coal, chemicals.

The atmosphere is polluted with dust during drilling and blasting, overburden, transport and loading operations, from wind erosion of rock dumps. Suffice it to say that with only one explosion of average power, hundreds of cubic meters of dust and gas clouds containing tens of tons of dust are thrown into the air. In some cases, up to 200 tons of dust per 1 ha is blown away from rock dumps that are not fixed by vegetation.

Mining operations cause a real "chain reaction" of negative changes in the environment. The soil cover is being destroyed, the flora and fauna are disappearing, the hydrological and temperature regime not only in the places of extraction, but also in the adjacent territories, water is polluted by erosion products, and the air basin is polluted by dust and gases. This significantly worsens the ecological conditions of the environment or, in relation to a person, the sanitary and hygienic conditions of life.

Specific environmental changes occur during economic development northern regions. Violation of heat transfer conditions leads to to the development of cryogenic physical and geological processes, such as thermokarst, cryogenic heaving, thermal erosion, etc.

To the subsoil cryolithozone account for most of(over 60%) of our hydrocarbon reserves. They are concentrated in several giant fields, among which Medvezhye, Urengoyskoye, Yamburgskoye, Zapolyarnoye stand out, as well as deposits on the Yamal Peninsula, etc.

Technogenic impact during the construction and operation of gas industry facilities is exposed to the entire complex natural conditions: permafrost landscape, rock strata, soil layer, snow cover, groundwater, atmospheric air, as well as flora and fauna.

The most significant damage is experienced by the geological environment and, above all, the upper horizon of the permafrost zone. Violations of vegetation, soil and snow cover over a large area create favorable conditions for the intensive development of erosion processes.

The intensification of human economic activity in the West Siberian tundra leads to an acceleration of the natural process of retreat of the northern border of forests as a result of swamping of flat areas. As a result, tundra-like territories increase, the climate becomes more severe. During the construction of roads, power lines and other facilities near residential areas, forests are cut down.

Causes great damage to the natural environment application in the warm period of heavy caterpillar transport. Caterpillars of tractors and all-terrain vehicles break the turf, which leads to thawing of the permafrost layer, the development of erosion and thermokarst. In some areas of the tundra it is enough to clear the ground area so that in a few years it will turn into a lake. Therefore, for work in the Far North, new types of vehicles with low specific pressure on the ground, high cross-country ability and carrying capacity that do not disturb the soil and vegetation cover are used. It is known that traces of heavy equipment remain in the tundra for 30-40 years.

Intensive development of oil and gas fields in the north of Tyumen has a significant impact on the natural environment of the region. Oil and gas production leads to a noticeable violation of the ecological balance , environmental pollution. This applies to air water basins, subsoil, flora and fauna.

The natural balance is especially easily disturbed in the conditions of the Far North. Destroyed by motor vehicle reindeer moss is restored only after a few decades, the tractor trail on the permafrost gradually turns into a deep ravine. The development of the richest gas condensate field, the exploration of new hydrocarbon deposits, the construction of pipelines, the emergence of rotational and highway camps have turned the Yamal Peninsula into an area of ​​intensive industrialization.

mining complex- one of the largest sources of disturbed land and environmental pollution in Russia. In 7 out of 15 regions with an extremely unfavorable ecological situation, large-scale mining is concentrated, and in 5 - mining is combined with the processing of mineral raw materials. In some areas of the Urals and Kuzbass, high pollution and degradation of the natural environment have reached critical levels. The reasons for the violation of the ecological balance in half of the confiscated for industrial use area began production and partly exploration. Under them vast areas of arable land are alienated and ecologically vulnerable tundra and taiga lands. The occurrence of quarry depressions, dips and depressions in areas of underground mining, as well as dumps and settling ponds, leads to irreversible landscape changes, and a violation of the hydrogeological regime leads to the formation of depression funnels in the vicinity of large quarries, mines and mines.