May 26th, 2016

Somehow, probably half a year ago, everyone seriously rushed to discuss mining projects on asteroids. They planned how they would pick them, and some even wanted to collect them in traps and transport them to Earth. But it is not in vain that they say that we still do not know enough about our planet, and especially the World Ocean.

With the depletion of minerals on land, their extraction from the ocean will become more and more important, since the ocean floor is a colossal, still almost untouched pantry. Some minerals openly lie on the surface of the seabed, sometimes close to the shore or at a relatively shallow depth.

In a number of developed countries, the reserves of ore, mineral fuel and certain types of building materials have become so depleted that they have to be imported. Huge ore carriers ply all over the oceans, transporting purchased ore and coal from one continent to another. Oil is transported in the tanks of tankers and supertankers. Meanwhile, there are often very close sources of mineral resources, but they are hidden under a layer of ocean water.

Let's see how it will be mined in the future...

Photo 2.

Closer to the outer edge of the shelf in many parts of the World Ocean, concretions containing large amounts of phosphorus have been found. Their reserves have not yet been fully explored and calculated, but, according to some sources, they are quite large. So, off the coast of California there is a deposit of about 60 million tons. Although the content of phosphorus in nodules is only 20-30 percent, its extraction from the seabed is economically quite profitable. Phosphates have also been found on the tops of some seamounts in the Pacific Ocean. The main purpose of extracting this mineral from the sea is the production of fertilizers; but it is also used in the chemical industry. As impurities, phosphates also contain a number of rare metals, in particular zirconium.

In some areas of the shelf, the seabed is covered with green "sand" - an aqueous oxide of iron and potassium silicates, known in mineralogy as glauconite. This valuable material is used in the chemical industry, where potash and potash fertilizers are obtained from it. Small amounts of glauconite also contain rubidium, lithium, and boron.

Sometimes the ocean presents the explorer with absolutely amazing surprises. So, not far from Sri Lanka, at a depth of thousands of meters, accumulations of barite nodules were discovered, three-quarters consisting of barium sulfite. Despite the great depth, the development of the deposit promises significant benefits, since the chemical and food industries are constantly in need of this valuable raw material. Barium sulfite is added as a weighting agent to clay solutions when drilling oil wells.

In 1873, during an English expedition around the world on the Challenger, strange dark “pebbles” were raised from the bottom of the ocean for the first time. Chemical analysis of these nodules showed a high content of iron and manganese. At present, it is known that they cover significant areas of the ocean floor at a depth of 500 meters to 5-6 kilometers, but their largest accumulations are still concentrated deeper than two or three kilometers. Ferromanganese nodules have a rounded, flat-shaped or irregular shape with an average size of 3-12 centimeters. In many areas of the ocean, the bottom is completely covered with them and resembles a cobblestone pavement in appearance. In addition to the two indicated metals, nodules contain nickel, cobalt, copper, molybdenum, that is, they are multicomponent ores.

According to the latest estimates, the world's reserves of iron-manganese nodules are 1,500 billion tons, which far exceeds the reserves of all currently developed mines. The deposits of ferromanganese ore are especially large in the Pacific Ocean, where the bottom is in places covered with concretions in a continuous carpet and in several layers. Thus, in terms of providing iron and other metals, humanity has very favorable prospects; it remains only to establish production.

For the first time, this was done in 1963 by an American firm that had previously specialized in shipbuilding. With a good manufacturing base at their disposal, shipbuilders created a device designed to collect nodules at relatively shallow depths and tested it off the coast of Florida. The technical side of the enterprise completely satisfied the designers - they achieved the production of nodules on an industrial scale from a depth of 500-800 meters, but the business turned out to be unprofitable economically. And not at all because the extraction of ore was too expensive. The trouble was different - it turned out that shallow Atlantic concretions contain much less iron than in similar deposits in the depths of the Pacific Ocean.

An ingenious way to lift concretions from the ocean floor without great expense was proposed by the Japanese. In their design there are no collectors, no pipes, no powerful pumps. The concretions are picked up from the bottom of the sea with wire baskets similar to those used in supermarkets, but of course more durable. A series of such baskets are mounted on a long cable, which looks like a giant loop, the upper part of which is on the ship, and the lower one touches the bottom. With the help of the ship's winch drum, the cable continuously moves up in the bow of the ship and runs into the sea behind its stern. The baskets attached to it are picked up from the bottom of the nodules, carried to the surface and dumped into the hold, after which they are lowered for a new portion of ore. The system gave good results at depths up to 1400 meters, but it is quite suitable for operation at a depth of 6 kilometers.

In the minds of the inventors, another seemingly completely fantastic design was born, which already exists on the drawings, but has not yet been implemented. Usually the concretions lie on more or less even and hard enough ground to allow a crawler scraper to run over it. Having filled the ballast tanks with outboard water, the scraper sinks to the bottom and crawls along it on tracks, raking concretions with a wide knife into a voluminous bunker. Energy for work is supplied by cable from the ship, control is also carried out from there, and the operator is guided by an underwater television system. When the bunkers are full, water is removed from the ballast tanks, and the scraper rises to the surface. With modern technical capabilities, it is quite possible to build such a machine. Here again it is appropriate to emphasize that the design of underwater industrial enterprises of the future is very far from the creation of the notorious underwater cities.

Among the richest offshore deposits that are being successfully developed today are titanomagnetite sands off the coast of Japan and tin-bearing (cassiterite) sands near Malaysia and Indonesia. Underwater placers of tin ore are a shelf continuation of the world's largest land-based tin-bearing belt, stretching from Indonesia to Thailand. Most of the explored reserves of this tin are concentrated in coastal valleys and their underwater continuation. Heavier productive sands, containing from 200 to 600 grams of tin per cubic meter of rock, are concentrated in lowlands. According to the results of offshore drilling, their thickness in some places reaches 20 meters.

Far beyond the Arctic Circle, at 72 degrees north latitude, on the Vanka Bay of the Laptev Sea, the first floating tin mining enterprise in our country has recently been put into operation. Tin-bearing soil from a depth of up to 100 meters is extracted by a dredger capable of mining not only in clear water, but also under ice. Primary rock processing is carried out by a floating processing plant located on one of the ships of the flotilla. The Polar Combine can operate year-round.

The development of underwater placers gives a significant amount of diamonds, amber and precious metals - gold and platinum. Like tin ores, these placers serve as a continuation of terrestrial ones and therefore do not go far under water.

The only platinum deposit in the United States is located on the northwest coast of Alaska. It was discovered in 1926 and began to be exploited the very next year. Prospectors, moving along small rivers, came close to the coast, and since 1937, work began already directly in the bay. The depth from which the rock bearing grains of platinum is extracted is constantly increasing.

The sea placers of Australia and Tasmania, stretching for more than a thousand kilometers, are world famous. Platinum, gold and some rare earth metals are mined here.

In some cases, sea placers are characterized by a much higher content of valuable minerals than similar deposits on land. The waves constantly stir and mix the rock, and the current carries away the lighter particles, as a result of which the sea works as a natural processing plant. Off the coast of South India and Sri Lanka, thick ilmenite and monocyte sands stretch, containing iron-titanium ore and phosphates of the rare earth elements cesium and lanthanum. A multi-kilometer strip of enriched sands can be traced in the sea at a distance of up to one and a half kilometers from the coast. The thickness of its productive layer in some places reaches 8 meters, and the content of heavy minerals sometimes reaches 95 percent.

One of the largest diamond deposits, as you know, is located in South Africa. In 1866, a little girl from a poor Dutch settlement, playing on the banks of the Orange River, found a sparkling pebble in the sand. The visiting gentleman liked the toy, and the girl's mother, Madame Jacobs, presented the guest with a shiny trinket. The new owner showed a curious find to one of his friends, and he recognized it as a diamond. After some time, Mrs. Jacobs was stunned by the unexpected wealth that fell on her - she received as much as 250 pounds sterling, exactly half the cost of a shiny pebble found by her daughter.

Soon South Africa was struck by the "diamond rush". Now income from the development of diamond mines is a very noticeable item in the budget of South Africa. Surveys in 1961 showed that diamonds are found in alluvial deposits consisting of sand, gravel and boulders not only on land, but also under water at a depth of up to 50 meters. The very first sample of sea soil weighing 4.5 tons contained 5 diamonds with a total value of $450. In 1965, almost 200 thousand carats of diamonds were mined from the sea in this area, a hundred years after the discovery of the first diamond.

50-60 million years ago, the north of Europe was covered with continuous coniferous forests. Here grew four species of pine and one species of fir, which no longer exist. Resin flowed from cracks in the bark of trees along powerful trunks. Its frozen drops and lumps fell into the rivers during the flood and were carried out to the sea. In salt water over the centuries, the resin hardened, turning into amber.

The most powerful placers of amber are located on the coast of the Baltic Sea near Kaliningrad. Beautiful yellow "stones" are hidden from view in bluish fine-grained glauconite sands of marine origin, on top of which later stratifications were formed. Where the amber-bearing layer goes to the sea, the surf constantly destroys it, and then pieces of rock fall into the water. Waves easily wash away sandy-clay clods and release the amber contained in them. Being only a little heavier than water, in calm weather it falls to the bottom, but with the slightest excitement it sets in motion.

Like any other light object, amber sooner or later is thrown out by the waves onto the beach. Here it was found by the ancient inhabitants of the Baltic coast. Phoenician ships sailed to the amber shore and took away a huge amount of exchanged "electron" from here. Archaeological finds allow us to trace the long path along which amber and products made from it, thanks to barter, reached from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean.

The jewelry value of amber has survived to this day. For products, the best, transparent and large pieces are selected, while the bulk of small amber is used in industry. This material is used for the manufacture of high-quality varnishes and paints, is used as an insulator in the radio industry, biostimulants and antiseptics are prepared from it. A modern amber plant is a mechanized enterprise where the rock is washed and enriched, and the extracted valuable material is sorted and subjected to further processing. In 1980, an amber museum was created in Kaliningrad, which presents products from this material and unique finds.

Some of the mineral deposits are hidden in the depths of the seabed. Their development in comparison with placers is technically more difficult. In the simplest case, the opening of the ore layer is carried out from the shore. For this purpose, a vertical shaft of the required depth is passed, and then horizontal or inclined passages are laid towards the sea, along which they get to the field. This can be done when the development site is close to the coast. Similar mines, the faces of which are located under the seabed, are found in Australia, England, Canada, the USA, France and Japan. They produce mainly coal and iron ore. One of the largest mines in the world, developing an "offshore iron ore deposit", is located on a small island in the Belle Isle Channel. Some of its sections go far from the coast, and above the faces there is a 300-meter rock layer and a hundred-meter layer of water. The annual production of the mine is 3 million tons.

It is estimated that the seabed off the coast of Japan stores at least 3 billion tons of coal, and 400,000 tons are extracted annually from this stock.

If a deposit is discovered at a distance from the shore, it is economically unprofitable to open it in the described way. In this case, an artificial island is poured and through its thickness they penetrate to minerals. Such an island was created in Japan at a distance of two kilometers from the coast. In 1954, a vertical shaft of the Miki mine was laid through it.

The experience of building underwater tunnels makes it possible to use them not only as transport arteries, but also in order to get closer to mineral reserves along the seabed. The finished reinforced concrete sections of the tunnel are laid on the bottom, and from the last section they begin to drive the mine.

At a considerable distance from the coast and at a sufficient depth, you will have to do without a tunnel. In this case, it is supposed to vertically install a reinforced concrete pipe of large diameter on the bottom and then remove the soil from the inside. As the pipe develops, under the influence of its own gravity, it will sink somewhat. The extracted soil does not need to be taken anywhere, it is simply thrown out, and it will settle around the pipe, creating an embankment that prevents sea water from penetrating inside the pipe. Upon completion of construction, miners will descend into the mine through this pipe, and ore or coal will rise up.

In order not to raise the mined ore to the surface of the ocean, one British company developed a project for an underwater nuclear ore carrier. Although such a ship has not yet been built, it has already received the name "Moby Dick" in honor of the legendary white sperm whale described in the novel of the same name by the American writer G. Melville. The underwater ore carrier will be able to transport up to 28,000 tons of ore per flight at a speed of 25 knots.

The development of minerals hidden in the bowels of the seabed requires continuous monitoring of water entering the mine, which can easily seep through cracks. The danger of flooding increases in seismically active areas. So, in some offshore mines in Japan, it has been noticed that after each earthquake, the inflow of water increases by about three times. More attention has to be paid to the possibility of collapse of the rock, so in a number of offshore mines, especially where the faces are separated from the water by a small layer of rock, it is necessary to limit the excavation, leaving part of the ore-bearing layer as supports.

The great practical experience accumulated in the extraction of oil from the bottom of the sea turned out to be useful in the development of such a completely solid mineral as sulfur, deposits of which are also found in the thickness of the soil on the seabed. To extract sulfur, a well is drilled, similar to an oil well, and a superheated mixture of water and steam is injected into the reservoir under high pressure. Under the influence of high temperature, sulfur melts, and then it is pumped out using special pumps.

But what plans are already being actively implemented.

Photo 3.

In the spring of 2018, in the Bismarck Sea at a depth of 1,600 m, Nautilus Minerals will begin commercial development of the Solwara 1 hydrothermal copper ore deposit. The commercial success of this project could set off a process of massive “dipping” of mining companies to the ocean floor in pursuit of colossal mineral reserves.

The idea of ​​digging deep into the “Davy Jones Chest,” as British sailors call the deep ocean, is not new. The first who managed to put his hand into the bins of the sea devil was the Scottish engineer George Bruce, who built in 1575 in the middle of Culross Bay a coal mine with a waterproof pile driver and a caisson-type mouth. And although in 1625 Davy Jones returned his own, sending a storm of unprecedented strength to Culross, which blew Bruce's brainchild to pieces overnight, the technology quickly spread throughout the Old World. In the 17th-19th centuries, coal, tin, gold and amber were mined in the sea from Japan to the Baltic using the Bruce method.

Photo 4.

Sandstone diamonds

At the end of the 19th century, when powerful steam engines appeared in the arsenal of miners, a simple and flexible “horizontal” scheme for underwater gold mining was developed in Alaska using floating dredge pumps, dredgers and ram barges, on which the rock was unloaded. Over time, through the use of heavy special equipment for underwater work, the possibilities of horizontal mining have expanded significantly. Today, anything is mined in shallow seas in this way - from building gravel and iron ore to rare earth monazite and precious stones.

For example, in Namibia, De Beers has been successfully extracting diamonds from sandy deposits for more than half a century, which for millions of years were carried to the shores of the Atlantic by the waters of the Orange River. At first, mining was carried out at depths of up to 35 m, but in 2006, after the depletion of easily accessible deposits, De Beers engineers had to replace conventional dredgers with floating drilling rigs.

Solwara 1 deep sea quarry
The area of ​​the Solwara 1 site, located on top of an extinct underwater volcano, is small by earthly standards - only 0.112 km2, or 15 football fields. But several thousand such deposits have already been discovered at the bottom of the World Ocean.

In 2015, specifically for the development of the Atlantic 1 concession (depth 100-140 m), Marine & Mineral Projects built for De Beers a new remote-controlled caterpillar "vacuum cleaner" - a 320-ton electro-hydraulic giant capable of clearing sand from an area two football fields. The short process cycle is completed on the support vessel Mafuta, where the precious sludge is continuously fed to the sorting conveyor. Every day, De Beers private special forces deliver about 700 large diamonds of the highest quality from the Mafuta to the mainland.

Photo 5.

However, gold and diamonds are trifles in comparison with real treasures waiting in the wings in the deep ocean zones. In the 1970s and 1980s, as a result of large-scale oceanographic research, it turned out that the seabed is literally dotted with giant deposits of polymetallic ores. Moreover, due to the specific conditions of ore formation, the content of metals in them is an order of magnitude higher than in deposits on land. True, to raise the ore to land is not an easy task.

The German company Preussag AG was the first to try to do this, which in 1975-1982, under a contract with the authorities of Saudi Arabia, explored the Atlantis II Deep basin, discovered in the Red Sea at a depth of more than 2 km ten years earlier. Exploratory drilling on an area of ​​about 60 km2 showed that a dense “carpet” of mineralized silt up to 28 m thick contains, in terms of pure metal, about 1,830,000 tons of zinc, 402,000 tons of copper, 3,432 tons of silver and 26 tons of gold. In the mid-1980s, in cooperation with the French company BRGM, the Germans developed and successfully tested a "vertical" deep-sea mining scheme, which was in general copied from offshore drilling platforms.

During the testing of the equipment - a suction unit with a hydromonitor, fixed on a carrier pipeline 2200 m high - more than 15,000 tons of raw materials were lifted onto the auxiliary vessel, the quality of which exceeded the expectations of metallurgists. But due to a sharp drop in metal prices, the Saudis abandoned the project. In subsequent years, the idea came to life many times and was shelved again. Finally, in 2010, it was announced that the development of Atlantis II Deep, one of the world's largest deep-sea copper-zinc deposits, would begin after all. When this will happen is unknown. In any case, not before stainless Nautilus Minerals robots will visit Davy Jones.

Photo 4.

Washing and rolling

The deal satisfied both parties. The islanders can now count on a solid rent, and the Canadians, who have received 17 more licenses for deposits of 450,000 km2 in the Bismarck Sea, have provided themselves with jobs for the next decade. Today, Nautilus is perhaps the only company in the world with sophisticated technology and unique equipment for deep sea mining. The water-slurry ore mining scheme, adapted by Nautilus engineers for Solwara 1 conditions, consists of three basic elements: remotely controlled underwater mining equipment, a vertical slurry lifting system and a support vessel. A key element of the technology is the world's first dedicated deep sea mining vessel, which began construction in April 2015 at China's Fujian Mawei shipyard. The 227-meter flagship Nautilus, equipped with a high-precision positioning system with seven tunnel thrusters and six Rolls Royce azimuth steering columns with a total capacity of 42,000 hp, is expected to roll off the stocks in April 2018. The “shoulders” of this floating mine will support, literally and figuratively, the entire technological cycle of the deposit: delivery of equipment to the sinking point; lowering, lifting and maintenance of machines; lifting, draining and storage of sludge.

Photo 6.

All underwater technology for the Nautilus was developed by the British company SMD. It was planned to create a complex multi-operation combine capable of working for months in an aggressive environment at zero temperature and enormous pressure. But after consulting with experts from Sandvik and Caterpillar, it was decided to make one specialized crawler robot for each of the three basic operations - leveling the working bench, opening the rock and lifting the cuttings to the mountain. "Dry" tests of steel monsters worth $100 million were held in November 2015, and next summer they will have a series of tests in shallow water.

The first violin in this trio is played by the Auxiliary Cutter, equipped with a double cutter ripper on a long swivel beam. Its task is to form a flat platform for the future quarry, cutting off the uneven terrain. The Auxiliary Cutter will be able to use lateral hydraulic mounts to maintain stability on steep slopes. The main "miner" Nautilus will follow - a heavy Bulk Cutter with a weight of 310 tons with a huge cutting drum. Bulk Cutter function - deep opening, crushing and grading of rock into shafts.

Photo 7.

The most difficult operation of the cycle - collection and supply of water-slurry mass to the riser-sludge lifter - will be performed by the Collecting Machine "vacuum cleaner", which is equipped with a powerful pump with a cutting-suction nozzle and is connected to the riser with a flexible hose. The geometry and cutting power of the cutters are designed by SMD engineers to produce rounded pieces of rock about 5 cm in diameter. This will achieve optimal slurry consistency and reduce abrasion and the risk of plugging. SMD experts estimate that the Collecting Machine will be able to collect between 70% and 80% of the volume of stripped rock.

On the ship, the sludge will be stored in the holds, and then reloaded onto bulk carriers. At the same time, at the insistence of ecologists, the "bottom" sludge water will have to be filtered and re-injected to the depth. On the whole, the Nautilus mining scheme threatens the nature of the ocean no more than trawl fishing. Local deep-sea biosystems, according to scientists, are restored within a few years after the cessation of external influence. Man-made accidents and the notorious human factor are another matter. But here, too, Nautilus has an effective solution. All processes on Solwara 1 will be managed by a system developed by the Dutch company Tree C Technology.

If all goes according to plan, the sharp fangs of the cutter will rip the first ton of rock from the surface of the ancient Solwara volcanic plateau in the spring of 2018. I would like to hope that this "small step" into the abyss, which Nautilus ventured, will be a huge step for all mankind.

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sources
The article "Davy Jones Chest" was published in Popular Mechanics (No. 162, April 2016).

Basic concepts and definitions

Quarry - mining enterprise, carrying out the extraction of minerals in an open way (open pit mining).

Quarry - excavation in the earth's crust, bounded by an artificially created surface, which is the result of open-pit mining operations.
In the practice of open-pit mining of coal and alluvial deposits, it is customary to replace the term quarry with the terms section and mine, respectively.
overburden– excavation of rocks covering the mineral to ensure full access to it. Overburden is carried out in horizontal or slightly inclined layers, while the side surface of the quarry acquires a ledge shape. for overburden, excavator or hydraulic methods are most often used.
ledge- part of the lateral surface of the quarry, having the shape of a step.

Figure 1 - the main elements of the ledge:

1 - the upper platform of the ledge.
2 - the lower platform of the ledge.
3 – ledge slope.
4 - the upper edge of the ledge.
5 - the lower edge of the ledge.
6 - the bottom of the ledge.
h is the height of the ledge.
& is the slope angle of the ledge.

Working platform of a bench - a platform of a bench, on which the main equipment for its development is located. The width of the bench working platform exceeds its height by 2-4 times.
A berm is a site where no work is done. There are safety and transport (connecting) berms.
Ledge slope - an inclined surface that limits the ledge from the goaf side.
Slope angle - the angle formed by the bench plane and the horizontal plane.
Bench face - part of the ledge, which serves as an object of influence of mining equipment.

Features of the open method:

the need to remove significant volumes of overburden from the quarry, the development costs of which make up the bulk of the total cost of mining;
the need to comply with a certain order of working out the layers - the excavation of the lower layers can be started only after the mining (excavation) of the overlying layers;
unlimited possibility of using large-sized high-performance special mining equipment that provides comprehensive mechanization and automation of all production processes.

Advantages of the open method:

the possibility of providing a high level of automation and mechanization of mining operations;
high labor productivity;
low cost of minerals;
safer working conditions;
more complete extraction of minerals;
lower capital costs.

Disadvantages of the open method:

dependence of some technology parameters on climatic conditions;
significant environmental damage during mining operations.
Main indicators of open pit mining:
annual productivity of a quarry in terms of minerals and overburden;
stripping ratio;
monthly labor productivity of a worker in a mineral;
costs per 1 m3 of overburden;
production and full cost of a mineral;
capital costs per 1 ton (1 m3) of minerals;
annual profit and career profitability.

Reduced costs are used to compare different open pit design options.

Zp \u003d (C + En K) Q, rub
where C is the cost of 1 ton of minerals, rub/t;
Yen - normative coefficient of efficiency of capital investments = 0.1 - 0.2;
k - capital costs per 1 ton of minerals, rub;
Q is the annual volume of mining, i.e.

The concept of stripping ratio

The stripping ratio is determined by the ratio of the volume or weight of stripping to the amount of mined or to be mined minerals. Depending on the dimension, the stripping ratio is called weight (t / t), volumetric (m3 / m3) and mixed (overburden / mineral m3 / t).
There are average, current, contour, boundary and planned overburden ratios.
The average coefficient Kav is determined by the ratio of the volume Vv of overburden to the volume Vi of the mineral in the final contours of the quarry

Кср = Vв/ Vii

The current stripping ratio Kt is determined by the ratio of the volume Vv.t of stripping, displaced from the quarry or within its boundaries for a certain period of time (year, quarter, month) to the volume Vv.t of the mineral extracted over the same period of time
Kt \u003d Vv.t / Vi.t
The overburden contour coefficient Kk is determined by the ratio of the volume of overburden to the volume of the mineral extracted when changing the final contours of the open pit.
The boundary overburden coefficient Kgr characterizes the specific maximum volume of rocks to be moved, at which the costs for the extraction of a unit of a mineral by an open method do not exceed the similar costs Sp for an underground method, i.e.

Stripping ratio values ​​are important indicators of open pit mining. They serve to determine the economically viable boundaries of open-cast mining and the depth of open pits in the development of inclined and steep deposits that lie at a considerable depth, as well as to plan and regulate the production of a quarry and the cost of coal produced.

Quarry and its elements. Determination of the parameters of the quarry elements

career field- a deposit or part of it, intended for development by one quarry. This term should be understood as a geometric body of complex configuration, enclosed in the final contours of a quarry.
Quarry wall - the side surface that limits the quarry.
The bottom of the quarry is the surface that bounds the quarry from below.
The upper and lower contours of the pit are the lines of intersection of the side of the pit, respectively, with the day surface and the bottom.
Pit side slope angle - the angle formed by the side of the quarry and the horizontal plane passing through its sole.
Working wall of a quarry - a wall on which mining operations are currently being carried out.
Quarry depth - the average distance between the sole and the average level of the day surface.
The final contours of a quarry are the contours corresponding to the moment of completion of open pit mining. They correspond to the final depth of the quarry and the final dimensions in the plan. The final contour on the day surface is also called the technical boundary of the quarry.

To the main parameters of a career include the volume of rock mass in the contours, the final depth, the dimensions along the sole, the angles of the slopes of the sides, the mineral reserves in the contours and the dimensions at the level of the day surface.
Volume Vg.m of rock mass in the contours of a quarry, characterizing the scale of mining operations. the lifetime and productivity of a quarry can be determined by the formula of Corresponding Member. USSR Academy of Sciences V.V. Rzhevsky:

and solving the quadratic equation with respect to Hc we get a formula for determining the intermediate depth of the quarry, at which the current stripping ratio will be equal to the boundary coefficient

Analytical methods for calculating the final depth of open pits are quite approximate, since they cannot take into account all the mining, geological, topographic and other features of the deposit. For a more accurate solution of this problem, other methods are used - graphical, graph-analytical and the method of variants. Technical and economic calculations show that it is expedient to develop a number of deposits in the country to a depth of 700-800 m.
Balance reserves - reserves that meet the requirements of the conditions, the development of which is economically feasible at the current level of development of technology and technology.
Off-balance reserves - reserves, the development of which is not economically feasible at the current level of development of technology and technology.
Commercial reserves - part of the balance reserves to be extracted from the bowels.
Design losses - part of the balance reserves, projected for irretrievable abandonment in the bowels. In quarries, losses are 3–10%.

Dependence of open pit mining on natural factors

Justification of the economic feasibility of using an open pit mining method and the choice of their technology and mechanization depends on:
relief of the topographic surface of the deposit;
deposit position relative to the surface;
angle of incidence, thickness and shape of the deposit;
climatic and hydrogeological conditions.
The relief of the surface can be a plain, a slope, a hill, a hilly surface, a water surface.
Depending on the position of the deposit relative to the surface, it can be:
surface - the thickness of the overlying rocks is 25–30 m;
deep - the thickness of the overburden is more than 30 m;
high-altitude - above the dominant level of the topographic surface;
deep-altitude.

According to the angle of incidence, the following deposits are distinguished:
horizontal;
gentle - angle of incidence 0 - 12o;
inclined - angle of incidence 13 - 30o;
steep - the angle of incidence is more than 30o.
According to the power, deposits are distinguished:
gentle in vertical power
very low power - 3-5 m;
low power - 6 -20 m;
medium thickness - 20-40 m;
powerful over 40 m.
inclined and steep - by horizontal power
very small - 15-20 m;
small - 25-75 m;
medium - 75 - 100 m;
high power over 100 m.

According to the structure, simple, complex and dispersed deposits are distinguished.

Simple deposits have a homogeneous structure.
Complex deposits contain interlayers of waste rocks and substandard minerals.
Dispersed deposits contain interlayers of minerals in the form of bodies distributed in an array of host rocks.

By the way, look at the photo of the architect who visited the largest

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Additional processing by sowing or dredging is carried out directly on site or at special enterprises. This type of non-metallic material remains the most common. It is in demand in construction, the production of building materials and the manufacture of glass. On the territory of the Moscow region, more than 30 enterprises are officially operating, leading the quarrying of sand. Each of them has deposits of different sizes.

Sand quarries of the Moscow region

• CJSC "GEODOR"
  141895, Moscow region, Dmitrovsky district, Ozeretskoye village,
• CJSC "BOGAEVSKY KARRIER"
  143122, Moscow region, Ruza district, Oreshki settlement
• OBLNERUDPROM LLC
  
• LLC "SYCHEVSKY PTK"
  143611, MOSCOW region, VOLOKOLAMSKY district, SYCHEVO, street PESCHNAYA, 1,
• OOO RUZSKIY KNM
  143121, MOSCOW region, RUZSKY district, VILLAGE POKROVSKOE, MIRA street, 3,
• Bogaevsky Quarry LLC
  , Bogaevsky Quarry
• POLYGON LLC
  141801, MOSCOW region, DMITROV, KOVRIGINSKOE HIGHWAY, 7
• CJSC "QUARTZIT"
  140241, Moscow region, Voskresensky district, Khorlovo village
• LLC "STROYINDUSTRIYA-V"
  140478, Moscow region, Kolomensky district, Ignatievo village, d. ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING
• CJSC "VOLUME"
  143122, Moscow region, Ruzsky district, Oreshki village
• CJSC "Trading house" Kozlovsky quarry "
  141340, Moscow region, Sergiev Posadsky district, Kozlovo village,
• LLC "Dushenovo Quarry"
  141135, Moscow region, Schelkovsky district, Ogudnevo village, 25/1, office. ROOM 1
• KORSAR LLC
  143103, Moscow region, Ruza, Socialist street, 78
• OOO "Stroykontrakt"
  142304, Moscow region, Chekhov, Komsomolskaya street, 11, 2,
• OOO "SERPUKHOV NON-METAL COMPANY"
  142210, Moscow region, Serpukhov, Krasnoflotsky lane, d.
• POISK-2 LLC
  141100, Moscow region, Schelkovsky district, Schelkovo, Sovetsky lane 1, 25, office. 317
• CJSC NEDRY
  142300, Moscow region, Chekhov, Molodezhnaya street, 1,
• PSK EKOSTROM LLC
  141305, Moscow region, Sergiev Posad, Skobyanoe highway, 13
• LLC "VISHENKOVSKIY GOK"
  143122, Moscow region, Ruzsky district, Oreshki village
• OOO GPK GORSKY
  140560, Moscow region, Ozery, Yuri Sergeev street, 1
• OOO Silver-Prudsky Quartzite
  142970, Moscow region, Serebryannye Prudy, Sovetskaya Square, 6
• CJSC "MOSOBLSTROYECOLOGIA"
  141052, Moscow region, Mytishchi district, Marfino village, d.
• LLC "KIMOVSKIY KARRIER"
  140209, Moscow region, Voskresensk, Cesis street, 11, office. ROOM 11
• SHCHUROVSKIY KARYER LLC
  140413, Moscow region, Kolomna, Dimitrova street, d.
• JSC "KHOTKOVSKOE quarry management"
  141354, Moscow region, Sergiev Posad district, Mostovik village
• NERUDRESURS LLC
  141505, Moscow region, Solnechnogorsk, Revolution street, 3A
• Limited Liability Company "SOLNECHNOGORSK NON-METAL COMPANY".
  141580, Moscow region, Solnechnogorsky district, Lunevo settlement
• KAREROUPRAVLENIE No. 1 LLC
  141650, Moscow region, Klinsky district, Razdolie village, 12
• Limited Liability Company "VESTA-1".
  141801, Moscow region, Dmitrov, Kovriginskoe highway, 7
• ZAO IKSHA-STROYDETAL
  141860, Moscow region, Dmitrovsky district, Iksha, Rabochaya street, 30
• OJSC "VITA"
  142155, Moscow region, Podolsky district, working settlement Lvovsky
• REMIX LLC
  142400, Moscow region, Noginsk, Elektrostalskoe highway, 29 A
• OKA RESOURCE LLC
  142800, Moscow region, Stupino, Zhdanova street, 4A
• OOO QUARTZ
  142918, Moscow region, Kashirsky district, Zendikovo village, Oktyabrskaya street, 4, of. 65
• POLYGON LLC
  143121, Moscow region, Ruzsky district, Pokrovskoye village, Komsomolskaya street, 10, office. 7
• JSC "TUCHKOVSKY KSM"
  
• JSC "TUCHKOVSKY KSM"
  143130, Moscow region, Ruza district, pos. Tuchkovo, st. Kirova, 2
• JSC "VOLOKOLAMSKOE"
  143400, Moscow region, Krasnogorsk, st. Postal, 39
• CJSC "Mansurovskoye quarry management"
  143523, Moscow region, Istra district, village Mansurovo
• LLC "SYCHEVSKIE BUILDING MATERIALS"
  143611, Moscow region, Volokolamsky district, urban-type settlement Sychevo, Nerudnaya street, 15, office. 18
• MUNICIPAL UNITARY ENTERPRISE "KAR'ER".
  141601, Moscow region, Klin, Krasnaya street, 48
• Limited Liability Company "NON-METAL TRANSPORT COMPANY".
  143131, Moscow region, Ruzsky district, Tuchkovo, Vostochnaya street, 1
• Limited Liability Company "OKSKOE QUARRY MANAGEMENT".
  142200, Moscow region, Serpukhov district, Oka station
• Limited Liability Company "ROSNEDRA".
  143406, MOSCOW REGION, KRASNOGORSK, TUP ILYINSKY, D 9
• Limited Liability Company "NEVEROVSKY PLANT OF BUILDING MATERIALS".
  143103, Moscow region, Ruzsky district, Ruza city, microdistrict territory, 4B
• Limited Liability Company "MOSOBLNEDRA".
  142450, MOSCOW region, NOGINSKY district, STARAYA KUPAVNA, OCTOBER STREET
• OJSC "Vyazemskoye quarry management"
  215110, Russia, Smolensk region, Vyazemsky district, Stepanikovskoe rural settlement, Industrial base of GOK, quarter 5
• JSC "Silnitsky quarry"
  152131, Russia, Yaroslavl region, Rostov district, Khmelniki village
• 171133, Tver region, Vyshnevolotsky district, village Kozhino, 34
  LLC "Inert" JSC "National non-metallic company"
• Litvinovsky Quarry LLC
  Russia, Moscow region, Solnechnogorsk district, with. Litvinovo
• Upper Volga Careers LLC
  152916, Yaroslavl region, Rybinsk, st. Gaidara, 3, office 7
• OJSC "Pyatovskoye quarry management"
  Kaluga region, Dzerzhinsky district, Pyatovsky settlement
• Quarry "Khomyakovsky". LLC "464 Plant of non-ore minerals"
  Russia, Tula region, Leninsky district, Vostochny village
• Quarry "Dertniki". OOO "Vita"
  152137, Yaroslavl region, Rostov district, p / o Lyubilki, Dertniki
• (CJSC "REMIX")
  142410, Moscow region, Noginsk, Elektrostalskoe shosse, 29A
• OOO ISTRINSKY KARRIER
  143514, MOSCOW REGION, ISTRINSKY DISTRICT, D BUZHAROVO, STENTRAL, D 1 A
• OJSC RAMENSKY GOK
  140125, MOSCOW REGION, RAMENSKY DISTRICT, P/O CHULKOVO, S. Eganovo
• CJSC NEDRY
  142300, MOSCOW REGION, CHEKHOV, YOUTH STREET, D 1
• OOO "STROYKONTRAKT"
  142304, MOSCOW REGION, CHEKHOV, STREET KOMSOMOLSKAYA, OWNERSHIP 11, STR 2
• Lyubertsy sand quarries
  Moscow region, Lyuberetsky district, Kotelniki, Malaya Kolkhoznaya street
• CJSC "QUARTZIT"
  140241, MOSCOW REGION, VOSKRESENSKY DISTRICT, RP KHORLOVO, PROMPLOSHADKA
• KARRIER-M GORA LLC
  141892, MOSCOW REGION, DMITROVSKY DISTRICT, S KHRABROVO, KARERnaya st., 3
• Kvazar LLC
  Kaluga region, Maloyaroslavetsky district, 0.4 km west of the village of Potresovo
• Polygon PGS LLC
  Kaluga region, Borovsky district, village Kirillovo
• Kupro Quarry
  Moscow region, Mozhaysky district, village Kuprovo

The volume of extracted material is measured in millions of cubic meters per year. Most of it is used in large and private construction. Withdrawal of material is carried out for 12 months with different intensity. This is due to the decline in demand in winter. Part of the seized mineral is transported to other areas, where its extraction is less rational than the purchase in neighboring regions.

Sand is used in most stages of construction. Therefore, career development is a stable, constantly expanding business. Improving technologies improves production efficiency and optimizes costs. This provides an opportunity to set affordable prices for wholesale and retail buyers.
The main type of sand mined in the Moscow region is construction sand. It can be seeded, washed and supplied without further purification. Sand and gravel mixture is mined in large volumes, which is actively used in construction.

The production of silicate and glass sand in the capital region has established several enterprises. The first type is in demand during the manufacture of bricks and other products. The second is for glass products. A small number of manufacturers is due to lower demand and high requirements of state standards for non-metallic materials. Most companies prefer to extract the construction variety, supplying it to developers and retailers.

The existing infrastructure ensures prompt transportation of materials to the place of storage and sale. Its presence is due to the desire to reduce costs in production.
Official and illegal quarries operate on the territory of the Moscow Region. They damage the budget and the environment. The result of the lack of elementary norms that must be followed when mining non-metallic materials is the emergence of spontaneous places of withdrawal that are not subject to subsequent reclamation.

Closed quarries

Since the beginning of the last century, active sand mining has been carried out on the territory of the capital region. Its volume is constantly growing. At the current pace of development, one field of medium or large size is enough for 4-6 years. This makes it possible to understand why there are many dried-up quarries on the territory of the Moscow region.

The fate of closed fields varies significantly. According to the requirements of the state, they must be recultivated. Seized sand should be replaced with industrial waste and non-recyclable materials. Screening procedures should be in place to prevent contaminants from entering the groundwater. After filling the quarry, backfilling of the soil, including fertile soil, should be carried out.
The best way of reclamation is planting green spaces and agricultural activities. But the number of quarries that have undergone this procedure is significantly lower than the number of closed facilities.

In addition to violations of the current legislation and lack of funds for carrying out, one of the main problems of Moscow should be taken into account - the annual production of more than 7 million tons of garbage. As a result, quarries are redefined as landfills for MSW.

The largest and most dangerous objects for the environment:

• "Dmitrovsky". One of the largest polygons. Located on the territory of the former Marfino-Dyakovo quarry;
• "Shcherbinka". Natural sand quarries worked out in the 50s 3 km from Podolsk without screening and other means of combating pollution;
• "Alexinsky quarry". It is located in the depleted part of this deposit.

The situation is similar with clay quarries. Many spontaneous sand workings and official deposits are used for unauthorized dumping of garbage. This becomes a significant obstacle to reclamation and poses a significant threat to the environmental situation in the capital region.

Recreation areas and projects in worked out quarries

By coincidence or due to a good location, some developed sand deposits acquire a new life, relatively safe for the environment. The most significant example is the Lyubertsy pits. They filled with water due to the impact of natural factors. At the moment, Muscovites are resting here.
The cascade of quarries between Lyubertsy and Dzerzhinsky with a sandy beach and clear water is surrounded by mixed forests. On the territory there is infrastructure, which is in its infancy. This allows you to enjoy outdoor recreation.
Another quarry that has turned into a tourist beach is Lytkarino. The nearby Tomilinsky forest park will be a good place for walking. There is a paid parking lot, a cafe and a volleyball court. The Volkushinsky quarry has clean white sand, fresh air and bathing water.

Large construction companies want to give new life to the sand quarry in Kotelniki. They plan to open a multifunctional residential complex "New Kotelniki". The business cluster will have a park, a school, several kindergartens and developed infrastructure. According to preliminary estimates, construction will begin in 2024. The government supported this project, as it will provide 6,000 jobs.

Elite Stroy-VNV has many years of experience, holds a leading position in the mining market, implements projects of any complexity, is a multifunctional company and a reliable partner for your business. The main activity of our company is the development of quarries for the extraction of clay and sand.

The open pit mining of minerals and non-metallic materials is by far the most common for a number of reasons. The main one is the low cost of open pit mining. The development of quarries is a complex process that requires the contractor to have extensive experience in carrying out such work, the availability of its own fleet of trucks and special equipment, qualified personnel of both workers and engineering specialties. We fully comply with all these requirements.

Quarry development begins with a set of preparatory work. At this stage, it is necessary to collect and analyze information about the geological characteristics of the object: the properties of the base rock, the location of aquifers, etc. Based on the collected data, a quarry project is being developed, which includes information about its maximum design depth, side slope angles, ledge heights and many other nuances. The quarry plan is coordinated in Gosgortekhnadzor. After the plan is drawn up and all the necessary permits are obtained, work on the ground begins.

Clay quarrying

Clay is usually mined from the ground in places where rivers once passed. It is a product of the earth's crust and sedimentary rock, washed out and formed due to the destruction of rocks in the process of weathering. The occurrence of clay is monotonous and selective.

Before the extraction of clay, a surveying survey is carried out both of the quarry itself and the base of the clay warehouses. Mine surveyors also mark the boundaries of land and mining allotments, where mining will take place in the future and access roads will be formed.

Clay is mined using excavators. In order to extract clay, it is necessary to remove the SRS (soil and plant layer) with excavators or bulldozers, put it in a separate herd for subsequent reclamation of the same worked-out area in the quarry.

The next stage of work is overburden - removal of sand, gravel and other impurities. The overburden is removed so that the mineral (clay) is cleaner.

The overburden is dumped by dump trucks or also packed for subsequent reclamation.

After stripping and preparatory work has been carried out, namely, access roads to the deposit, roads for transporting clay and overburden, as well as preparing sites for storing clay (cone), the mining process begins. Excavators remove the clay in layers so that it can be rolled on a cone and loaded into dump trucks for further transportation to the warehouse. In the warehouse, it is taken by a bulldozer or a vibratory roller and then rolled into a cone.

The extraction of clay in the mining area ends when sand or gravel begins to appear under the clay. After that, the complex moves to another prepared site. In this sequence, clay is mined.

It is important to know that in unlit quarries, as well as clay warehouses, work at night is prohibited!

Clay quarries are usually flooded, so it is necessary to use motor pumps to pump out water, as well as dig the quarry with drainage ditches, otherwise flooding of the mineral and the loss of significant volumes of clay may follow!

In winter, production does not stop. To prevent freezing of the soil, the quarry is insulated with sawdust, peat and other materials with a low level of thermal conductivity. Sometimes the thickness of the insulation reaches 70 cm. The transported clay is covered with a tarpaulin so that it does not freeze during delivery to the place of production. In the closed quarries of the northern regions, where the earth seriously freezes in winter, greenhouses are equipped - closed-type structures with equipped heating devices.

As an example, we can consider the involved equipment for the development of a site of 6 hectares with a capacity of 90,000 m3 of clay and 200,000 m3 of overburden for a period of 7 months of quarry operation.

The process included the following pieces of equipment: 2 excavators with a bucket capacity of 1.8 m3, 4 articulated dump trucks with a load capacity of 30 tons, and 2 bulldozers weighing 25 tons each on a shoulder up to 400 m.

At the end of mining operations in the quarry, reclamation is carried out, which includes backfilling of the worked-out areas with overburden and spreading of the soil and vegetation layer. Reclamation can be done with both bulldozers and excavators, if your shoulders allow.

Sand quarrying

Sand is one of the most sought-after materials in any construction, and the most common way to extract it is by quarrying. Excavators, scrapers, cable cars and other equipment are used to develop sand pits.

The first stage in the development of a sand pit is stripping, during which various impurities are prevented from entering the sand. Further, trenches are laid for working ledges and transport routes are organized. To effectively perform these works, we have an extensive own fleet of Komatsu, CAT, ChTZ, Shantui and other brands of bulldozers. After all the preparatory work is completed, you can start mining and transporting sand.

We use our own tracked and wheeled excavators of CAT, JCV, Hitachi, John Deere and Hyunday brands to perform direct quarrying. The models presented in our fleet show excellent performance and are able to perform a large amount of work in a short time. Any necessary attachments are also owned by the company.

Limestone quarrying

Limestone is a mountain-sedimentary rock of organic or chemogenic origin. Limestone is one of the most popular building materials and is widely used for the production of quicklime and crushed limestone.

The extraction of limestone is usually carried out by quarrying. Ledges 10-15 m high are cut along the strike of carbonate layers and drilling and blasting is carried out. The extraction of raw materials, as well as the removal of upper alluvial rocks (overburden), are carried out by excavators. The resulting mass is transported from the quarry by trucks.

JCB, XCMG and other brands of front and telescopic loaders are used for loading soil and mined rock. All models available in the fleet of Elite Stroy-VNV are distinguished by maneuverability, high speed of movement, large bucket capacity and have repeatedly proven their effectiveness in quarrying. For transportation of soil and mined rock, Elite Stroy-VNV has its own fleet of high-capacity and off-road dump trucks.

Peat Quarry Development

Peat quarries are quarries with a surface type of development and are characterized by shallow depth. Preparation for the development of the deposit consists in removing the surface vegetation layer with uprooting of stumps, draining the site, preparing fields for drying peat, building roads and bridges through drainage channels. When working on waterlogged soil, special all-terrain vehicles with low ground pressure are used.

Peat excavators excavate peat to a depth of 5 meters. After that, the peat goes to the press for processing, is pressed in the form of a strip and must be dried naturally (the cut strips are laid out on the fields to dry). The width of the development depends on the size of the swamp where peat is mined.

Diorite Quarry Development

Diorites are a mountain igneous rock. As a building material, diorite is widely used for making crushed stone, as well as building cladding, making pedestals, vases, countertops, etc. Diorite is a strong and heavy material and its mechanical properties are similar to those of granite.

Fluorite Quarry Development

Fluorite is a mineral found mainly in hydrothermal veins, dolomites and limestones. This material is widely used in metallurgy (as a flue), in the chemical industry and in ceramic production. It is also mined by open pit mining as part of fluorite and complex ores.

Elite Stroy-VNV is your reliable partner

In the company "Elite Stroy-VNV" you can order a range of services for the development of a turnkey quarry. All equipment is supplied with experienced and highly qualified machinists who have been trained and instructed in safety. For the prompt repair of special equipment and trucks, we have our own service base.

Our experience and material and technical base allow us to successfully cope with the development of quarries of any size and complexity.

The article tells about what a quarry is, what they are, how they are developed and why they are needed at all.

Extraction of raw materials

Even in ancient times, people paid attention to the fact that a lot of various raw materials are concentrated in the bowels of the earth, which, with the necessary processing, can produce many useful materials. Naturally, metal has always been in the first place, from which tools of labor and war were made. Due to the imperfection of processing methods, for a long time people used metals such as tin, copper and lead. But because of their plasticity, the tools wore out quickly, and later various alloys were invented, which were distinguished by higher hardness and stability. But with the beginning of industrial production of steel, the need for them disappeared.

However, in addition to metals, there are other useful materials in the bowels of the earth, in particular, sand and various types of stone. They are usually mined in quarries. So what is a quarry? And what is mined in it? In this we will understand. But first, let's define terminology.

Definition

A quarry is a set of workings of minerals that are produced in an open way, that is, on the very surface of the earth, and not in mines. This word has French roots, and in the original it sounds like carrière, which means "cut". So now we know what a quarry is. But why is their development carried out precisely on the surface and what is most often mined in them?

Technology

Most minerals and other materials of value are concentrated underground. The depth of occurrence usually depends on the specific site, material, its shape, etc. For example, coal is hidden by the earth because it was formed from the remains of ancient plants, which gradually mineralized under pressure. There are, of course, ground-based exits, they turned out due to faults in the earth's crust. But not all substances are hidden deep, some are on the surface itself or lie close to it, and therefore for their extraction there is no need to build deep mines, it is much easier to mine in an open way.

Most often, a quarry looks like a large funnel, on the slopes of which, as it deepens, a spiral road is made for equipment.

So, we have sorted out the question of what a quarry is. But what do they get most often?

Sand

Sand is one of the most common substances on the planet, and no one definitely feels the lack of it. However, how can sand be useful, why is it needed at all?

Oddly enough, sand is very valuable. Of course, not like iron, and even more so gold and silver. Some are made into glass, sand is added to concrete during construction, used as drainage for tunneling, and in the end, no playground is complete without a sandbox. And by the way, the sand pit after the end of the development is often flooded and becomes a bathing place.

Stone

Humanity cannot do without stone either. Naturally, not all stones are valuable, but certain varieties of it. Most often it is marble and granite. Since they usually lie at the very surface, they do not build mines for their extraction, but use all the same quarries. Unlike sand, stone is somewhat more difficult to mine - you can’t just load it with excavators. Therefore, depending on the type, it is either first crushed or exploded, or special cutting machines are used. This happens when monolithic and even blocks are needed, which are further processed additionally.

A stone quarry is usually developed for many years, and its reserves are practically inexhaustible.

That's all. Now we know what a quarry is for.