COPPER DEPOSITS OF RUSSIA: AN OVERVIEW OF MAJOR MINERAL DEPOSIT TYPES AND MINERAL POTENTIAL

The Russian territory is an unique metallogenic province, which is known all over the world for abundance chiefly of copper deposits of different mineral types, size and age. The copper ores belong to the following mineral types: ultramafic/mafic intrusion-hosted, VMS, SEDEX, stratabound sedimentary rock-hosted, porphyry, and skarn. This area contains 139 copper deposits of variable size. This number comprises such well-known and large copper deposits as Oktyabrskoye (16Mt or 24% of reserves of Russia), Udokan (19Mt, 22.4%), Talnakh (8Mt, 12.5%), Gai (4.9Mt, 7.6%), Bystrinsk (1.7Mt, 2.7%), Podolsk (1.7Mt, 2.6%), Yubileinoe (1.6Mt, 2.5%), Volkovskoe (1.6Mt, 2.5%). Russia ranks third in the world after Chili and the USA in respect of the explored reserves of copper. Total copper reserves of commercial categories (A, B, Ñ₁) amount to 64.5 Mt. Most of copper deposits are mainly concentrated in the East Siberian (Norilsk and Udokan ore districts) and Urals regions. Copper reserves in sulfide Cu-Ni ultramafic/mafic intrusion-hosted deposits amount, to 43.4% of total Russian reserves; VMS to 27.9 %; cupriferous stratabound sedimentary rock-hosted, to 23.8%; other types, about 5%. Along with the reserves characterizing the explored deposits in the territory of Russia, a quantitative assessment of prognostic resources of categories P₁, P₂ and P₃ is given. Prognostic resources are estimated from results of prospecting and evaluation work as well as medium-scale regional geological study. Evaluation of prognostic resources is given both for separate local occurrences — ore shows and ore fields, within of which discovery of new copper deposits of certain economic geological types is quite possible. At present, for the Russian territory total amount of prognostic resources (P₁+P₂+P₃) is estimated at 65.1 Mt of copper.