And fuel, timber industry. Acting as exporters of products of these industries, the countries South America in to a large extent depend on their prices on the world market.

Peculiarity economic development countries of South America - a decrease in the share of agriculture in gross domestic product and an increase in the share of industry: from 1960 to 1980, the first fell from 17 to 11%, and the second increased from 21 to 26%.

Among the countries of South America, the so-called new industrial countries stand out, which include Argentina and Brazil, and Venezuela adjoins them in terms of economic development. The least developed include Guiana (French), Paraguay, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname and Ecuador; an intermediate position is occupied by Colombia, Chile, Uruguay and Peru. Uruguay and Paraguay belong to the category of countries where agriculture and the industry for processing agricultural raw materials are predominantly developed. Big role The mining industry plays a major role in the economies of most South American countries. Her share in the domestic gross product ranges from 1% (Brazil), 1.5% (Colombia), 2.5% (Argentina) to 8% (Bolivia), 9-10% (Suriname, Guyana, Chile, Peru, Ecuador) and 16% (Venezuela ). The share of mining in total industrial production is much higher: from 4.5% for Argentina to 25-30% for Bolivia and Venezuela; in Peru and Chile, mining is the main branch of industrial production. According to the structure of the mining industry, it is possible to single out countries associated mainly with the extraction of energy (Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador) and metal (Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, Peru, Chile, Brazil) raw materials. A significant part of the extracted raw materials and fuel is processed locally (in Venezuela, copper ore in Chile, polymetals in Peru, tin in Bolivia, etc.), while a significant part of the extracted iron ore and bauxite is exported in its raw form. The share of domestic consumption of produced metals is relatively small. With an annual production of steel on the continent of 28.3 million tons (1986), the countries of South America export 10 million tons of ferrous metals with an annual import of 3-4 million tons. Mineral raw materials, fuel and products made from them are one of the main export items, accounting for a significant part (over 10%) of foreign trade turnover. In addition to energy raw materials, primarily oil, which provides 80-90% of the total export value of raw materials and fuel, over 90% of the export of mining and metallurgical production is provided by copper, iron ores, bauxite, tin, lead and zinc, silver, tungsten, molybdenum and antimony.

At the latitude of the Amazon valley, the Northern Andes are separated from the Central Andes by a pinch. The latter are divided into two segments: the northern segment of the northwestern strike mainly occupies the territory of Peru, the southern one is meridional; within its borders are Bolivia and parts of the territory of Chile and Argentina. northern segment Central Andes consists of two main ranges - the Cordillera-Anticlinoria, Western and Eastern, between which the Sierra Blanca massif is wedged, formed by a young granite batholith. On the coast of southern Peru in the Arequipa massif, early Precambrian rocks emerge, proving that the Central Andes are entirely underlain by ancient continental crust. The Eastern Cordillera of Peru and its continuation in Bolivia are composed mainly of a folded terrigenous Paleozoic complex. In the cores of uplifts, a green-schist Upper Proterozoic complex is exposed, separated by a sharp unconformity from the Paleozoic; the main deformations of the latter occurred in the Late Devonian and Permian. The Upper Paleozoic and Triassic are represented by continental volcanics and molasses. On the wings and in separate synclines, shallow water sediments are preserved, in the south - continental deposits of chalk. The Western Cordillera is formed mainly by calc-alkaline volcanics and granites of Cretaceous and Early Paleogene age. In the south, within its limits, there is a group of young volcanoes. In the trough between the Cordillera and to the east of the latter, shallow-water carbonate-terrigenous Cretaceous deposits, devoid of manifestations of volcanism, are mainly distributed. In the south, in Bolivia, the space between the Cordillera is occupied by the Altiplano graben, filled with a thick sequence of predominantly continental clastic sediments of the Cretaceous-Cenozoic. In the sides of the graben are Neogene subvolcanic intrusions. In the south, to the eastern part of the Bolivian Andes, the Sierra Pampa massif with a block structure adjoins; horsts contain Upper Proterozoic metamorphites and Paleozoic granites; grabens are filled with continental Cenozoic. In the southern segment of the Central Andes in the structure of the Western Cordillera significant role belongs to the Jurassic marine "porphyrite" series; in the upper Jurassic, it is replaced by terrestrial volcanics, continuing in the Cretaceous and Paleogene deposits; they form a single volcano-plutonic belt with coeval granites. In the south, the Main Cordillera of Chile and Argentina answers it; from the west it is accompanied by the Peredovaya Cordillera and Precordillera Argentina, composed of Paleozoic strata with ophiolites. In the Coastal Cordillera of Chile, Paleozoic metamorphites and granites come to the surface.

The border of the South (Patagonian) and Central Andes is fuzzy. Folded in the south mountain system turns east, continuing into Tierra del Fuego and, already under water, towards the island of South Georgia. Here, between the folded Paleozoic and young granites of the Patagonian Cordillera and the Cretaceous-Early Paleogene flysch zone, a sequence of Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous ophiolites is wedged, considered as formations marginal sea. Ophiolites and flysch are gently thrust over the Cenozoic molasse of the fore Magellan Trough.

The Bolivian tin-silver belt is distributed in a territory composed of Paleozoic geosynclinal and platform deposits, intruded by subvolcanic granodiorites, dacites and rhyolites, with which endogenous mineralization is associated. In the recent past, it was the richest silver province with such unique deposits as Potosi, from whose bowels 35 thousand tons of silver have been mined since 1544. The ore veins of this deposit are concentrated around a porphyry stock. The veins have been traced to a depth of 875 m, but rich ores are concentrated in their upper parts to a depth of 350 m. Nowadays, deposits of tin ores of the sulfide-cassiterite formation are of primary practical importance.

The oil and gas belt of the Eastern Foothills, as well as the intermountain troughs of the Andes, filled mainly by Cenozoic molasses, contain numerous deposits of oil and combustible gas, especially significant in Venezuela.

Traps and ring intrusions of ultramafic alkaline rocks with rare-metal carbonatites of Cretaceous and Paleogene age are known in the Andes and beyond.

Numerous coal deposits are also associated with the Mesozoic-Cenozoic era, mainly of Jurassic, Cretaceous and age. Among them are coal deposits in the intermountain depressions of the Andes (for example, Bogota in Colombia, Beblian in Ecuador, etc.), a chain of lignite deposits of predominantly Tertiary age in the eastern forward trough of the Andes (Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina) and individual deposits in the platform cover (Aosta- Amazon in Brazil, etc.). 51 oil and gas bearing basins are known to the young weathering crust of the water area. total area 8.1 million km 2, including 2 million km 2 of water area. Industrial oil and gas potential is established in 28 basins, and production is carried out in 25 of them. Explored reserves of hydrocarbons at the beginning of 1989 amounted to 18.2 billion tons of oil and 7.3 trillion. m 3 gas (about 90% associated). At the same time, the vast majority of oil and gas reserves are concentrated in two basins: Maracaibe (44% oil and 34% gas) and Orinok (36% oil and 32% gas). The productive horizons of these basins are associated with Cenozoic and Cretaceous sediments. The main explored hydrocarbon reserves are concentrated in the depth interval of 1-3 km (70% of oil reserves and 80% of gas reserves). Among the countries of South America, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Suriname, Chile and Ecuador have proven oil and gas reserves. The most significant hydrocarbon reserves are in Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia. The first oil fields were discovered in Peru in 1863 (Sorritos) and in 1868 (La Brea Parinhas). Systematic searches in most countries of South America began in the 1940s. 20th century By this time, about 100 oil fields had been discovered on the continent, including the unique Bolivar oil and gas accumulation zone. The search and exploration of hydrocarbons was carried out mainly by foreign companies. In the 40-50s. the first deposits were discovered in Brazil and Chile, in the 60s. proven industrial oil and gas potential eastern regions Colombia, Ecuador, Peru (Upper Amazonian oil and gas basin). In the 50s. Shelves are also covered by oil exploration. The first field was discovered on the Pacific shelf in 1955 (Littoral, Peru), and on the Atlantic shelf in 1968 (Guaricema, Brazil). The main volumes of oil prospecting work fall on the oil and gas basins of the Pre-Andean trough (Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador) and the Atlantic pericontinental basin (Brazil, Argentina). At the beginning of 1989, 1,400 oil (including 140 offshore) and 252 gas (including 40 offshore) fields were discovered in South America. Among them are Venezuelan oil fields with unique reserves (more than 1 billion tons) - Bachaquero, Lagunillas, Tia Juana (included in the Bolivar zone), giant cluster heavy oils - the Orinoco Belt (reserves 4.2 billion tons), Lamar and Lama, which have reserves of more than 300 million tons, as well as the deep-water fields of Brazil, unique in terms of oil reserves - Marlin (500 million tons of oil and 100 billion tons of oil). m 3 of gas) and Albacore (342 million tons of oil and 150 billion m 3 of gas).

The total reserves of coals of all types in the countries of South America at the beginning of 1987 were estimated at about 52.8 billion tons (39.9 billion tons of coal and 12.9 billion tons brown coal). Explored reserves amount to 15.4 billion tons (14.2 billion tons of hard coal and 1.2 billion tons of brown coal). Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, Chile have the largest total reserves.

The coal content of South America is associated with deposits of a wide age range - from Devonian to Quaternary, however, coal seams of the Permian (Brazil), Cretaceous (Colombia, Peru) and Paleogene-Neogene (Colombia, Venezuela, Chile, Argentina) age are of the main industrial importance. Coal-bearing deposits of Permian (possibly, partially Late Carboniferous) age are distributed mainly in the sediments of the cover South American Platform, and the Mesozoic-Cenozoic - in the folded belt of the Andes. The coal basins of Rio Grande do Sul, Santa Catarina (Brazil), Bogota, Boyaca (Colombia), Zulia (Venezuela), Concepción, Magellanes (Chile) and the deposits of Serrejon (Colombia) and Rio Turbio ( Argentina). Brown coal basins in South America are insignificantly distributed (Bolivia, Brazil) and are practically not developed. The coals of South America are mainly medium- and high-ash, mostly energetic non-coking or low-coking.

Tectonic structure, as well as history geological development Eurasia determined not only the diversity of the relief, but also the richness of its mineral. Eurasia has the richest reserves of fuel minerals compared to other continents. Most of the world's oil reserves are concentrated here (Fig. 173). The two largest oil and gas basins of the planet are located in the Mesopotamian trough and on the West Siberian young platform.

The basin in the Mesopotamian Trough is unique primarily for its oil reserves, and the basin in Western Siberia— gas reserves. Together, these two basins form a kind of gas-bearing and oil-bearing belts of the Earth, extending from Kara Sea to the Persian Gulf, where they intersect.

The Caspian Sea region ranks third in terms of oil and gas reserves after the Mesopotamian trough and Western Siberia. Another proof of this was the discovery of a unique field in the northern part of the Caspian Sea, which turned out to be the second in the world in terms of reserves (second only to one of the fields in Saudi Arabia). This is the largest new deposit discovered in the last thirty years.

Birth of Caspian oil. It was here that the first offshore oil fields appeared. Russian Empire. Back in 1824, the inhabitants of the coast of the Caspian Sea near Baku built wells isolated from water and scooped oil at a shallow depth. In the early 1920s, one of the bays in Azerbaijan was covered with sand and the first well was drilled here, the first industrial oil field in the Caspian Sea. And in 1935, the first drilling platform appeared in the sea.

The Volga-Ural oil and gas region is also known, the deposits of which were formed in the depressions of the foundation of the ancient platform and in foothill troughs. Significant oil deposits have also been found on the islands of the Malay Archipelago. In the 70s of the XX century. commercial production of oil and gas began on the shelf of the North Sea.

AT recent times in search of fuel minerals, mankind is moving more and more confidently further into the depths of the World Ocean. Today, on the continental slope of Eurasia at depths of up to 3000 m, oil and natural gas mined by Denmark, India, Ireland, Spain, Italy, China, Norway, Russia, Great Britain, Indonesia and others. South China Sea and the Bay of Bengal.

From fuel minerals for a long time great importance also has coal. Huge deposits of it have been discovered within the Hindustan and Chinese platforms, as well as in Kazakhstan (the Karaganda coal basin) and in Siberia (the Kuznetsk coal and Kansk-Achinsk lignite basins). In the foothills and intermountain troughs of the Paleozoic era are the basins of Great Britain, the Ruhr - in Germany (Fig. 174), the Upper Silesian - in Poland, the Donetsk - in Ukraine.

Ore minerals in the territory of Eurasia are associated mainly with the foundation of ancient platforms and with areas of Mesozoic folding. Among the most significant deposits iron ore metals - Kursk magnetic anomaly in Russia, Krivoy Rog (in Ukraine), Lorraine (in France) basins, Hindustan peninsula and Northeast China; manganese - Nikopol basin (in Ukraine). natural museum sometimes called Scandinavian Peninsula and nearby territories, where there are deposits of ores of iron, copper, nickel, cobalt, etc. material from the site

Deposits of almost all ores known on the planet are located in the Urals. Deposits of ores of non-ferrous metals of world importance lie along the eastern edge of the mainland. The so-called tin belt extends here (Fig. 175), where, in addition to tin, zinc, mercury, lead, copper, tungsten, etc. are found. known metals on Earth, including precious and radioactive ones.

rich Eurasia and non-metallic minerals. Almost limitless reserves of potash and kitchen salt formed huge domes here. in brines Dead Sea contains almost the world's richest reserves of potash salt. The largest sulfur deposits on Earth lie on the Iranian highlands. Unique deposits native sulfur in the Carpathians. Graphite, saltpeter, birthplaces of various building materials, in particular granite, marble, etc., were also found in Eurasia. Precious stones of South Asia are widely known throughout the world. The Ural precious stones are also world famous, namely: emerald, topaz, amethyst, malachite, etc.

Eurasia - the mainland, very rich in a wide variety of minerals.

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Natural substances and types of energy that serve as means of subsistence human society and used in the economy are called .

One of the varieties natural resources- mineral resources.

Mineral resources - these are rocks and minerals that are used or can be used in national economy: to obtain energy, in the form of raw materials, materials, etc. Mineral resources serve mineral raw material base economy of the country. More than 200 species are currently used in the economy mineral resources.

Often synonymous with mineral resources is the term "minerals".

There are several classifications of mineral resources.

Based on accounting physical properties allocate solid (various ores, coal, marble, granite, salts) mineral resources, liquid (oil, mineral water) and gaseous (combustible gases, helium, methane).

By origin, mineral resources are divided into sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic.

Based on the scope of the use of mineral resources, combustible (coal, peat, oil, natural gas, oil shale), ore (ore rocks, including metallic useful components and non-metallic (graphite, asbestos) and non-metallic (or non-metallic, non-combustible: sand, clay, limestone, apatite, sulfur, potassium salts). separate group there are precious and ornamental stones.

The distribution of mineral resources on our planet is subject to geological patterns (Table 1).

Mineral resources of sedimentary origin are most characteristic of platforms, where they occur in the sedimentary cover, as well as in foothill and marginal foredeep.

Igneous mineral resources are confined to folded areas and places where the crystalline basement of ancient platforms comes to the surface (or close to the surface). This is explained as follows. The ores were formed mainly from magma and hot aqueous solutions. Typically, the rise of magma occurs during periods of active tectonic movements, therefore, ore minerals are associated with folded areas. On platform plains, they are confined to the basement; therefore, they can occur in those parts of the platform where the thickness of the sedimentary cover is small and the basement comes close to the surface or on shields.

Minerals on the map of the World

Minerals on the map of Russia

Table 1. Distribution of deposits of the main minerals by continents and parts of the world

Minerals	Continents and parts of the world
			North America	South America		Australia
Aluminum
Manganese
Floor and metals
Rare earth metals
Tungsten
non-metallic

Potassium salts
Rock salt
Phosphorites
Piezoquartz
ornamental stones

Sedimentary origin is primarily fuel resources. They were formed from the remains of plants and animals, which could accumulate only in sufficiently humid and warm conditions favorable for the abundant development of living organisms. This occurred in the coastal parts of shallow seas and in lacustrine-marsh land conditions. Of the total mineral fuel reserves, more than 60% is coal, about 12% is oil, and 15% is natural gas, the rest is oil shale, peat and other fuels. Mineral fuel resources form large coal and oil and gas bearing basins.

coal basin(coal basin) — large area(thousands of km 2) continuous or intermittent development of coal-bearing deposits (coal-bearing formation) with layers (deposits) of fossil coal.

Coal basins of the same geological age often form coal accumulation belts extending over thousands of kilometers.

On the the globe more than 3.6 thousand coal basins are known, which together occupy 15% of the earth's land area.

More than 90% of all coal resources are located in the Northern Hemisphere - in Asia, North America, Europe. Africa and Australia are well supplied with coal. The most coal-poor continent is South America. Coal resources have been explored in almost 100 countries of the world. Most of both total and explored coal reserves are concentrated in economically developed countries.

The largest countries in the world in terms of proven coal reserves are: USA, Russia, China, India, Australia, South Africa, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Poland, Brazil. Approximately 80% of the total geological reserves of coal are in only three countries - Russia, the USA, China.

Of significant importance qualitative composition coals, in particular, the share of coking coals used in ferrous metallurgy. Their share is greatest in the fields of Australia, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, USA, India and China.

Oil and gas basin— the area of ​​continuous or insular distribution of oil, gas or gas condensate deposits, significant in terms of size or mineral reserves.

Mineral deposit called the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe earth's crust in which, as a result of certain geological processes, an accumulation of mineral substance, in terms of quantity, quality and conditions of occurrence suitable for industrial use.

oil and gas bearing More than 600 basins have been explored, 450 are being developed. The main reserves are located in the Northern Hemisphere, mainly in Mesozoic deposits. important place belongs to the so-called giant fields with reserves of over 500 million tons and even over 1 billion tons of oil and 1 trillion m 3 of gas each. There are 50 such oil fields (more than half - in the countries of the Near and Middle East), gas - 20 (such fields are most typical for the CIS countries). They contain over 70% of all stocks.

The main part of oil and gas reserves is concentrated in a relatively small number of major basins.

The largest oil and gas basins: Persian Gulf, Maracaibe, Orinok, Gulf of Mexico, Texas, Illinois, California, Western Canadian, Alaska, North Sea, Volga-Ural, West Siberian, Daqing, Sumatran, Gulf of Guinea, Sahara.

More than half of the explored oil reserves are confined to offshore fields, the zone continental shelf, the coasts of the seas. Large accumulations of oil have been discovered off the coast of Alaska, in Gulf of Mexico, in the coastal regions of the northern part of South America (the Maracaibo depression), in the North Sea (especially in the waters of the British and Norwegian sectors), as well as in the Barents, Bering and Caspian Seas, near western coasts Africa (Guinean washed down), in the Persian Gulf, near the islands South-East Asia and in other places.

The countries of the world with the most large reserves oil is Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, UAE, Iran, Venezuela, Mexico, Libya, USA. Large reserves are also found in Qatar, Bahrain, Ecuador, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, Gabon, Indonesia, Brunei.

Endowment with explored oil reserves at modern mining is 45 years worldwide. On average for OPEC, this figure is 85 leg; in the USA it barely exceeds 10 years, in Russia it is 20 years, in Saudi Arabia it is 90 years, in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates it is about 140 years.

Countries leading in terms of gas reserves in the world, are Russia, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Large reserves are also found in Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, USA, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Algeria, Libya, Norway, the Netherlands, Great Britain, China, Brunei, Indonesia.

Provision of the world economy with natural gas at modern level its production is 71 years.

Metal ores can serve as an example of igneous mineral resources. Metal ores include ores of iron, manganese, chromium, aluminum, lead and zinc, copper, tin, gold, platinum, nickel, tungsten, molybdenum, etc. Often they form huge ore (metallogenic) belts - Alpine-Himalayan, Pacific etc. and serve as a raw material base for the mining industry of individual countries.

Iron ores serve as the main raw material for the production of ferrous metals. The iron content in the ore averages 40%. Depending on the percentage of iron, ores are divided into rich and poor. Rich ores with an iron content above 45% are used without enrichment, while poor ones undergo preliminary enrichment.

By the size of the general geological resources of iron ore the first place is occupied by the CIS countries, the second - Overseas Asia, the third and fourth are shared by Africa and South America, the fifth is occupied by North America.

Iron ore resources are located in many developed and developing countries. According to them total and proven reserves Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, China, Australia stand out. There are large reserves of iron ore in the USA, Canada, India, France, and Sweden. Large deposits are also located in the UK, Norway, Luxembourg, Venezuela, South Africa, Algeria, Liberia, Gabon, Angola, Mauritania, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan.

The provision of the world economy with iron ore at the current level of its production is 250 years.

In the production of ferrous metals, alloying metals (manganese, chromium, nickel, cobalt, tungsten, molybdenum), used in steelmaking as special additives to improve the quality of the metal, are of great importance.

By reserves manganese ores South Africa, Australia, Gabon, Brazil, India, China, Kazakhstan stand out; nickel ores - Russia, Australia, New Caledonia (islands in Melanesia, southwestern part Pacific Ocean), Cuba, as well as Canada, Indonesia, Philippines; chromites - South Africa, Zimbabwe; cobalt - DR Congo, Zambia, Australia, Philippines; tungsten and molybdenum USA, Canada, South Korea, Australia.

Non-ferrous metals find wide application in modern industries industry. Non-ferrous metal ores, unlike ferrous ones, have a very low percentage useful elements in ore (often tenths and even hundredths of a percent).

Raw material base aluminum industry constitute bauxite, nephelines, alunites, syenites. The main raw material is bauxite.

There are several bauxite-bearing provinces in the world:

• Mediterranean (France, Italy, Greece, Hungary, Romania, etc.);
• coast of the Gulf of Guinea (Guinea, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Cameroon);
• coast caribbean(Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Suriname);
• Australia.

Stocks are also available in the CIS countries and China.

Countries of the world that have largest total and proven bauxite reserves: Guinea, Jamaica, Brazil, Australia, Russia. The provision of the world economy with bauxites at the current level of their production (80 million tons) is 250 years.

The volumes of raw materials for obtaining other non-ferrous metals (copper, polymetallic, tin and other ores) are more limited in comparison with the raw material base of the aluminum industry.

Stocks copper ores concentrated mainly in Asia (India, Indonesia, etc.), Africa (Zimbabwe, Zambia, DRC), North America (USA, Canada) and CIS countries (Russia, Kazakhstan). Resources of copper ores are also available in countries Latin America(Mexico, Panama, Peru, Chile), Europe (Germany, Poland, Yugoslavia), as well as in Australia and Oceania (Australia, Papua - New Guinea).Leading in copper ore reserves Chile, USA, Canada, DR Congo, Zambia, Peru, Australia, Kazakhstan, China.

Provision of the world economy with explored reserves of copper ores with the current volume of their annual production is approximately 56 years.

By reserves polymetallic ores containing lead, zinc, as well as copper, tin, antimony, bismuth, cadmium, gold, silver, selenium, tellurium, sulfur, the leading positions in the world are occupied by the countries of North America (USA, Canada), Latin America (Mexico, Peru), as well as Australia. Countries have resources of polymetallic ores Western Europe(Ireland, Germany), Asia (China, Japan) and CIS countries (Kazakhstan, Russia).

Place of Birth zinc are available in 70 countries of the world, the availability of their reserves, taking into account the growth in demand for this metal, is more than 40 years. largest reserves have Australia, Canada, USA, Russia, Kazakhstan and China. These countries account for more than 50% of the world's zinc ore reserves.

World deposits tin ores are found in Southeast Asia, mainly in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. Other large deposits are located in South America (Bolivia, Peru, Brazil) and in Australia.

If compared economically the developed countries and developing according to their share in the resources of different types of ore raw materials, it is obvious that the former have a sharp preponderance in the resources of platinum, vanadium, chromites, gold, manganese, lead, zinc, tungsten, and the latter in the resources of cobalt, bauxite, tin, nickel , copper.

uranium ores form the basis of modern nuclear power. Uranium is very common in earth's crust. Potentially, its reserves are estimated at 10 million tons. However, it is economically profitable to develop only those deposits whose ores contain at least 0.1% uranium, and the production cost does not exceed $80 per 1 kg. The explored reserves of such uranium in the world amount to 1.4 million tons. They are located in Australia, Canada, the USA, South Africa, Niger, Brazil, Namibia, as well as in Russia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

Diamonds are usually formed at depths of 100-200 km, where the temperature reaches 1100-1300 ° C, and the pressure is 35-50 kilobars. Such conditions favor the metamorphosis of carbon into diamond. After spending billions of years at great depths, diamonds are brought to the surface by kimberlig magma during volcanic explosions, thus forming primary deposits of diamonds - kimberlite pipes. The first of these pipes was discovered in southern Africa in the province of Kimberley, after this province they began to call the pipes kimberlite, and the rock containing precious diamonds, kimberlite. Thousands have been found to date. kimberlite pipes, but only a few dozen of them are cost-effective.

Currently, diamonds are mined from two types of deposits: primary (kimberlite and lamproite pipes) and secondary - placers. The main part of diamond reserves, 68.8%, is concentrated in Africa, about 20% - in Australia, 11.1% - in South and North America; Asia accounts for only 0.3%. Diamond deposits have been discovered in South Africa, Brazil, India, Canada, Australia, Russia, Botswana, Angola, Sierra Lsona, Namibia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, etc. Botswana, Russia, Canada, South Africa, Angola, Namibia and DR Congo.

Nonmetallic mineral resources- this is, first of all, mineral chemical raw materials (sulfur, phosphorites, potassium salts), as well as Construction Materials, refractory raw materials, graphite, etc. They are widely distributed, occurring both on platforms and in folded areas.

For example, in hot dry conditions, salts accumulated in shallow seas and coastal lagoons.

Potassium salts are used as raw materials for the production of mineral fertilizers. The largest deposits of potassium salts are located in Canada (Saskatchewan basin), Russia (the Solikamsk and Bereznyaki deposits in Perm region), Belarus (Starobinskoye), in Ukraine (Kalushskoye, Stebnikskoye), as well as in Germany, France, and the USA. With the current annual production of potash salts, proven reserves will last for 70 years.

Sulfur It is used primarily to produce sulfuric acid, the vast majority of which is used in the production of phosphate fertilizers, pesticides, and also in the pulp and paper industry. AT agriculture sulfur is used for pest control. The United States, Mexico, Poland, France, Germany, Iran, Japan, Ukraine, Turkmenistan have significant reserves of native sulfur.

Stocks certain types minerals are not the same. The need for mineral resources is constantly growing, which means that the size of their production is growing. Mineral resources are exhaustible, non-renewable natural resources, therefore, despite the discovery and development of new deposits, the availability of mineral resources is declining.

Resource availability is the ratio between the amount of (explored) natural resources and the amount of their use. It is expressed either by the number of years for which this or that resource should be enough for given level consumption, or its stocks per capita at modern pace extraction or use. The resource supply with mineral resources is determined by the number of years for which this mineral should be enough.

According to the calculations of scientists, the world's general geological reserves of mineral fuel at the current level of production can be enough for more than 1000 years. However, if we take into account the reserves available for extraction, as well as the constant growth in consumption, this provision can be reduced by several times.

For economic use the most profitable are territorial combinations of mineral resources that facilitate the complex processing of raw materials.

Only a few countries in the world have significant reserves of many types of mineral resources. Among them are Russia, the USA, China.

Many states have deposits of one or more types of world-class resources. For example, the countries of the Near and Middle East - oil and gas; Chile, Zaire, Zambia - copper, Morocco and Nauru - phosphorites, etc.

Rice. 1. Principles of rational nature management

Important rational use resources - more complete processing of extracted minerals, their integrated use, etc. (Fig. 1).

What wealth is hidden in the depths of the Black Continent? The mineral resources of Africa are very diverse. And some of them are of global importance.

Geology, relief and minerals of Africa

The distribution and diversity of mineral resources is closely related to the nature of the relief and the geological structure of the territory. This geographical pattern, of course, also applies to the hottest continent on the planet. Therefore, at first it is worth paying some attention to this issue.

The relief and minerals of Africa are directly dependent on the geological structure of the continent.

Most of the mainland is located on the ancient African platform, whose age is Precambrian. Atlas is the only young mountain system in Africa (it is also the largest). Eastern part mainland from north to south dissects a powerful rift valley, at the bottom of which a number of large lakes formed. The total length of the rift is impressively large: up to 6 thousand kilometers!

In orographic terms, the entire mainland is usually divided into two parts:

1. Low Africa (northern part).
2. High Africa(southeastern part).

The first is characterized by absolute heights of less than 1000 meters, and the combustible minerals of Africa are associated with this part of the continent. High Africa is also named so not by chance: its absolute heights exceed 1000 meters above sea level. And here are concentrated rich reserves of coal, non-ferrous metals, as well as diamonds.

highest mainland

This is how Africa is often called, because "high" forms prevail in its relief: plateaus, uplands, plateaus, volcanoes and peaks of the remnant type. At the same time, some regularities are observed in their distribution over the territory of the mainland. So, mountain ranges and highlands are located "along the perimeter" of the continent, and plains and flat plateaus - in its inner part.

The most high point located in Tanzania - this is the Kilimanjaro volcano, whose height is 5895 meters. And the lowest is in Djibouti - this is Lake Assal. Its absolute mark above sea level is 157 meters.

Minerals of Africa: briefly about the main

The continent is a major and important supplier of non-ferrous metals and diamonds to the world market. Surprisingly, how is it that most African states are considered very poor? Many metallurgical plants also work on iron ore mined in African subsoil.

Africa's minerals are also oil and natural gas. And those countries, in the bowels of which there are their deposits, live quite well and prosperously (against the background of the rest of the mainland). Here it is worth highlighting Algeria and Tunisia first of all.

But the deposits of non-ferrous metal ores and precious stones concentrated in southern Africa, within economically backward countries. And the development of such deposits, as a rule, is especially costly, therefore, the extraction of the mentioned resources is carried out with the involvement of foreign capital.

The main deposits on the continent

Now it is worth dwelling in more detail on in which parts of the mainland the development of certain mineral resources is taking place. The main mineral deposits in Africa are distributed very unevenly throughout the territory. The table below shows the top ten mineral resources of the mainland. It clearly shows how unevenly distributed the main minerals of Africa.

The table includes 10 mineral resources, as well as the regions of Africa in which they are being developed.

Deposits of the main minerals and their distribution

№	Minerals	Where are the main deposits
1	Oil and natural gas	North Africa and the coast of the Gulf of Guinea (Algeria, Tunisia, Nigeria)
2	Diamonds	South Africa (Zimbabwe, South Africa)
3	Gold	Ghana, Mali, Republic of the Congo
4	Coal	South Africa
5	bauxites	Ghana, Guinea
6	Phosphorites	North coast of the continent
7	Iron ores	Northern part of the mainland
8	manganese ores	Northern part of the mainland
9	Nickel ores	Southern part of the mainland
10	copper ores	Southern part of the mainland

Now we can clearly see how the main minerals of Africa are located. The table gives a clear idea of ​​the features of the territorial distribution of their deposits.

Oil production in Africa

12 percent - this is how much world oil is produced at African continent. Many European and American companies are trying to get access to the largest deposits oil and gas on the mainland. They are very willing to allocate investments for the development of new deposits and geological surveys.

According to recent studies, the bowels of Africa contain about 25% of the total oil reserves in the world. The most attractive countries in this regard are Libya, Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Egypt, and Sudan. In all these states, there has been an increase in oil production in recent years.

The most active in the African oil market are Chinese, Norwegian, Brazilian and Malaysian companies.

Finally...

As we can see, Africa is quite rich in various minerals. The mineral resources of Africa are primarily oil, diamonds, gold, non-ferrous metal ores, bauxites and phosphorites. However, very often rich deposits are concentrated in economically backward states (which are the majority on the mainland), so their development, as a rule, is carried out at the expense of foreign capital and investment. And this has its own, both bad and good sides.