History of prospecting and development of deposits of quartz raw materials in the Urals and the prospect of their further use

Abstract

Relevance of the work. For 60 years of hard work of quartz workers in the geological industry, Soviet geologists have fully provided the USSR industry for many years to come with piezoquartz and high-grade, highly pure quartz for the production of all types of quartz products. Much has changed over the years; and it became necessary to analyze the existing raw material base of Russia for quartz for smelting. Purpose of the work: analysis of the existing raw material base of Russia for quartz raw materials and the role of the deposits of quartz raw materials in the Ural region in solving this problem. Research methodology. The history of the use of quartz material as an industrial raw material and its application by the most developed countries of Europe is briefly outlined. It is shown that in the presence of various genetic types of quartz in the territory of Russia, the main deposits of highly pure quartz are located within the Ural region. The history of the complex and multiple reorganization of geological units that carried out prospecting, exploration, production and processing of all types of quartz raw materials from the Urals deposits is considered in detail. With the aim of centralization of exploration, mining operations, the production of industrial products from quartz and gemstones, scientific and project construction works in the Urals, the production association Uralkvartssamotsvety has been established since November 1, 1977. In terms of its technological equipment, the level of technology and organization of production, the achieved technical and economic indicators and allocations, the Uralkvartszamotsvety association was the flagship among the related associations of the USSR Ministry of Geology. Conclusions. Nowadays, the severe issue of the raw material base of quartz in Russia is the provision of the domestic industry with raw materials for the fusion of special transparent quartz glasses used primarily in microelectronics, fiber optics, and the production of high-intensity light sources. Ural had been and could continue to be the main supplier of raw materials and especially pure quartz. The reserves of these types of raw materials are significant, and the deposits are located in favorable economic and geographical areas.