KYANITE ORES IN THE KHIZOVAARA ORE FIELD, NORTH KARELIA

Abstract

A succession in the practical applications of kyanite ores from being a natural source of aluminium to a high-alumina industrial mineral used for manufacturing refractory, nonstick and special ceramic materials is explained. All stages of research up to the discovery of polygenic and polychronous kyanite ores in the industrial Khizovaara Kyanite Field are described. The Khizovaara Structure of the North Karelian Greenstone Province has become an experimental ground for summarizing the available data on the morphogenetic types and dressing technology of kyanite ores. The main locality, known as the Yuzhnaya Lens, consisting of six large metamorphogenic-metasomatic and metasomatic bodies, is described in detail. The Khizovaara Structure new serves as the standard for the geodynamic model of the formation of greenstone belts of the North Karelian type based on our knowledge of terrain tectonics, with the application of the results on the geochemical types of igneous rocks and isotope-geochronological studies conducted by Е. V. Bibikova, V. N. Kozhevnikov, А. V. Samsonov, А. I. Slabunov, А. А. Shchipansky and others. S. А. Bushmin and V. А. Glebovitsky have revealed the thermodynamic regimes of metamorphism and various metasomatic processes ranging from acid leaching to alkaline metasomatism. The ore field was described geologically, technologically and economically by V. V. Shchiptsov et al. A summary is provided of the results of longterm studies on the technological mineralogy of kyanites, their enrichment by flotation, and the related market analysis carried out at the Institute of Geology KarRC RAS. There is a shortage of refractory materials based on high-alumina raw materials in various industries. Therefore, the raw materials potential should be augmented. Kyanite is a material belonging to the 21st century. Russia’s kyanite potential is largely associated with the Karelian Region.