Holy places of Confucianism. Sacred mountains of China - shrines of Taoism and Confucianism

In Armenia? Of course, but ...

Some general information. It is known that most diamonds are found in kimberlite pipes, while the latter are found in ancient platforms. Permanent companions of diamonds in kimberlites are pyrope garnet, olivine, ilmenite. However, there are known finds of diamonds in mountainous areas. Moreover, diamonds of mountainous regions, in contrast to platform ones, have a rounded appearance and are accompanied by other minerals-companions than in kimberlites - gold, platinum, chromite.

Below is a diagram of the location of diamond provinces and diamond finds.

1 - outlines of the main ancient platforms, 2 - kimberlite provinces, 3 - finds of diamonds in placers of orogenic zones, 4 - finds of diamonds in peridotite, 5 - finds of diamonds in eclogites, 6 - finds of diamonds in basalt lavas.
Armenia is also marked on the map with a black hexagon.

Genetically, kimberlite pipes are associated with volcanic cycles. The richest deposits are associated with the Mesozoic volcanic cycles. By the composition of the rocks, the deposits are associated with all kinds of igneous rocks, from the most acidic to the most ultrabasic. but the largest number finds are confined to the most basic rocks - kimberlites. Diamond is found in almost all facies of igneous rocks, but the vast majority of deposits are associated with effusive facies. In mountainous areas, the sources of diamonds are considered to be intrusions of full-crystalline ultrabasic rocks - peridots.

The aforementioned assumptions have given grounds for Armenian geologists since 1948 to predict the possibility of detecting diamonds in ultrabasic rocks of the Sevan-Amasia-Akerin hyperbasite belt, which is located on the north-eastern coast of Lake Sevan. However, the impetus for the first field research was the discovery in 1970 by a student of Moscow State University V.S.Shmakov at the northern portal of an automobile tunnel, under the Pushkin Pass, a fragment of an olivine-containing rock. Grinding this piece, he found in it two grains that did not lend themselves to grinding. They were recovered and identified as diamonds weighing 10.5 and 11 mg, about 2 mm across.
Below are the same diamonds

Immediately after the discovery, under the leadership of R.G. Gevorgyan, systematic prospecting began on the slopes of the Bazum ridge, in the Dzoraget River basin (i.e., the place of discovery) and on the northeastern coast of Lake Sevan in the zone of development of hyperbasites. As a result of the work carried out (in 1971-1974) in the loose sediments of the rivers of the basin of the river. Dzoraget, washing out in the upper reaches of the massifs of hyperbasites, 19 crystals and fragments of diamond crystals were found, another diamond grain was discovered using a screw lock in the immediate vicinity of the Jil massif of serpentinites in Sevan. Along with diamond, in the first case, Cr-spinels, graphite, corundum, moissanite, and gold were encountered; in the second, chrome diopside grains. The sizes of the found diamonds range from 0.1 to 0.3 mm. According to the data of electron microscopic studies, these diamonds belong to crystals close to synthetic, or to the outer zones of natural diamonds in Yakutia.

It is clear that stones with such dimensions and quality are not of jewelry interest. However, the finding of diamond in the sediments of rivers eroding the hyperbasite massifs of Armenia is of great geological importance both for predicting the possibility of finding diamonds in other geological regions, and for elucidating the mechanisms of the origin of diamond deposits.

In the form of a postscript, I will add information from a friend engaged in jewelry that gem-quality diamonds are mined in the Khosrov forest, moreover, under the patronage of the President of the Republic. But I can't believe something and my opinion is that this is from the field folklore, although who knows :-).

Sources of information
Trofimov V.S. The bedrock diamondiferous rocks other than kimberlites // Soviet Geology, 1939, No. 4-5, volume IX.
Trofimov V.S. Natural diamonds // Nature, 1972, no. 3.
Kaminsky F.V., Prokopchuk B.I. New sources of diamonds // Nature, 1974, no. 10.
Pavlenko A.S. and others. On the question of diamond content of the hyperbasite belts of Armenia // Geokhimiya, 1974, no. 3.
Gevorkyan R.G. et al. On the discovery and study of diamond crystals in Armenia // Reports of the Academy of Sciences of the Arm. SSR, 1975, No. 3.
Gevorkyan R.G. and others. Small diamonds from loose deposits of Armenia // Proceedings of the Armenian Geological Society, 1977, no. I.
Kukharenko A. A. Diamonds of the Urals. L., 1955.

Armenians are a people rooted in ancient times. Archaeologists and ethnographers consider the Armenians to be the descendants of those who inhabited ancient Urartu. Ethnic group modern population Armenia was formed by the following nationalities:

As well as other peoples who were carriers of the ancient Armenian culture and language.

You also need to know that the territory of Armenia is on modern map does not coincide with the outlines of the area that the great Armenian rulers possessed. There is an opinion that at the peak of its development Great Armenia occupied a huge territory, enclosed between the seas: the Black, Caspian and Mediterranean.

Armenia was a participant huge amount wars, and they became the reason that the composition of the population of the Armenian territories changed greatly with each of them. The peoples inhabiting Armenia assimilated with the Iranian peoples, representatives of the Greek people, bearers of the Turkic languages, representatives of the Arab states and the Seljuk Turks.

As a result of the Turkish war, the Armenians, partly due to circumstances, ended up in other countries, Europe was no exception. Right now in modern world, practically in every state there is a community of Armenians, which is also commonly called a diaspora.

The migration of the population also became the reason that, as a result, Mount Ararat, sacred for the Armenians, ended up outside the borders of their country. At the time when Armenia was part of the Soviet Union, due to industrialization and the beginning of construction projects of the century, a large number of of the Russian-speaking population arrived on the territory of Armenia, in turn, the Armenians also dispersed across the vast territory of the USSR.

But, despite the many complex resettlement schemes, and other processes characteristic of the development of society, the Armenian people have not lost their individuality, here still much attention is paid to traditions Armenian people, the peculiarities of cultural development, and the Armenian language is also very revered.

Population structure of the republic

Armenia, despite the fact that it was a part of the multinational USSR for a long time, has retained such a feature of its republic as a mono-ethnic population. Here, about 98% of the inhabitants are Armenians. The remaining 2% fit Russians, Kurds, Yezidis, Ukrainians, Assyrians, Greeks, Georgians.

The official language of the state is Armenian. The urban population exceeds 64%. The largest number of residents is in Yerevan, Gyumri and Vanadzor.

The main religion is a kind of Christianity - the Armenian Apostolic Church. Muslims also live here.

Population geography

Armenia is characterized by uneven distribution of the population over the territory of the state. This is due to the peculiarities of the country's terrain. Most of the people living in Armenia are concentrated in large settlements and in the Ararat valley. V recent times emigration has increased.

Natural conditions of Armenia

The country is dominated by mountainous terrain. The main part of the country is located more than 1000 meters above sea level. The areas of the plains between the mountain ranges are insignificant. The highest point in the state is Aragats. Its height is 4095 meters.

The country is located in a seismic hazard zone, which negatively affects the economy. Basically, the territory is located in the mountainous continental climate zone, which is characterized by mild summers and frosty winters. The south of the country is located in the subtropics.

The basis of soils is made up of volcanic rocks. But due to the peculiarities of the relief, the soils are distinguished by significant diversity. Here, chernozem and chestnut soils alternate, steppe and semi-desert soils coexist with forest soils. In the mountains, the soil is mainly mountain meadow character. But all soils, without exception, need to be worked out and applied with various enriching substances, for example, fertilizers.

Natural resources of Armenia

Armenia is rich in deposits of ores, both ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Copper, molybdenum, gold-bearing, iron-bearing mines are being developed. As well as deposits where zinc, lead and uranium are mined.

For the Armenian economy great value there are places for the extraction of building materials, as well as deposits where semi-precious ornamental stones are mined.

An important role is played by the so-called recreational resources, which make it possible to develop tourism and health resort business in this country.

· Metallic minerals · Other minerals · · Related articles · · Notes & middot

Iron

Iron ore deposits are located in the central, northern and southeastern regions of the country. Known deposits:

• Abovianskoe (Kaputanskoe) - the explored reserves of apatite-magnetite ores are 244 million tons, the Fe content in the ore is 28%. At the Abovyan deposit, iron ore lies under a blanket of basalt and andesite-basalt lavas, the thickness of which is 50-180 m. These rocks have been explored in detail, and reserves of 64 million m have been approved as building materials.
• Hrazdanskoe - magnetite ores with reserves of 50 million tons. The content of Fe in the ore ranges from 32 to 40%. Special steels and alloys from the ore of the Hrazdan deposit are characterized by very high properties, which is explained by the purity of the ores and the presence of a number of rare earth elements. The deposit has favorable conditions for opencast mining: the ore body is represented by a gently sloping bed body; has direct access to the earth's surface. When it is worked out for the entire depth of propagation (up to 300 m), the average aperture ratio will be only 0.6 m / t.
• Svarantskoye - preliminary reserves are estimated at 1,500 million tons. The Fe content in the ore is 20%.

Molybdenum

Molybdenum deposits in Armenia are represented by copper-molybdenum ores. Armenia owns 5.1% of the total (estimated) and 7.6% of the approved world reserves of molybdenum.

The largest copper-molybdenum deposits:

• The Kajaran copper-molybdenum deposit is one of the largest deposits of molybdenum in the world. The Kajaran deposit is a stockwork with veinlet-disseminated copper-molybdenum ores, which simultaneously contain rhenium, selenium, tellurium, and bismuth. Ore reserves in Kajaran are estimated at more than 1 billion tons. The reserves of pure molybdenum are estimated at approximately 550 thousand tons, pure copper - approximately 2.1 million tons. The content of molybdenum in the ore is 0.055%, and that of copper is 0.21%.
• Teghut copper-molybdenum deposit - the projected reserves of copper-molybdenum ore at the deposit are estimated at 450 million tons; the approved reserves of molybdenum at the deposit are about 100 thousand tons, copper - 1.6 million tons. The content of molybdenum in the ore is 0.02%, the copper content is 0.4%
• Agarak copper-molybdenum deposit - the approved reserves of molybdenum amount to 9.6 thousand tons.
• Hankavan copper-molybdenum deposit - approved ore reserves are 110 million tons, molybdenum - 45 thousand tons.

Copper

Most of Armenia's copper reserves are concentrated in molybdenum-copper-porphyry deposits. Other copper deposits: Kafanskoe, Shamlugskoe, Alaverdskoe, Lichkskoe.

Gold and non-ferrous metals

Armenia is rich in gold deposits. In 2005, the estimate of gold deposits in explored gold deposits containing 15-16 million tons of gold ore (information for 2000) amounted to about 268 tons. In 2009, 476,200 tons of gold ore were mined in Armenia, from which 25,000 ounces of gold (about 0.8 tons) were produced. For 2011, it is planned to produce about 150 thousand ounces (about 4.5 tons) ..

Notable gold mines:

In the gold ores of these deposits, mainly, the main useful components are: gold (average grade 2.6 g / t), silver (50.0 g / t), zinc (2.4%), copper (0.6% ), lead (0.15%).

There are a number of deposits and occurrences of non-ferrous and noble metals in Syunik region, which may be of industrial interest.

Other

Polymetallic ores. There are deposits of polymetallic ores on the territory of Armenia. The main ones are Akhtalskoe deposit, which contains barite-polymetallic ores and Gladzor deposit (contains lead-zinc ores). The ore reserves of the Kapan polymetallic deposit are estimated at 1,836.4 million tons.The gold content in it ranges from 0.37 to 1.68 g / t, silver - from 6.5 to 20.87 g / t, copper - 0.09 - 0.19%, zinc - 0.32 - 0.83%.

Aluminum, barite. The country has industrial reserves of aluminum nepheline syenite, and, in addition, barite with an admixture of gold and silver, deposits of lead, zinc, manganese, gold, platinum, antimony, mercury, arsenic.

Rare earth metals. The following rare earth metals are found: tungsten, uranium, bismuth, gallium, indium, selenium, thallium, tellurium, rhenium. The state balance of Armenia takes into account rhenium, selenium, tellurium, bismuth, indium, gallium, cadmium. In ores and products of their processing, there are: for ores of copper-molybdenum formation - bismuth, vanadium, iron and titanium, scandium, platinoids, radiogenic osmium, for gold-polymetallic - germanium, antimony, arsenic and others.

Uranus... Uranium deposits have been discovered in Armenia. Their reserves are estimated at over 100,000 tons. The deposits were discovered in the Syunik region, between the villages of Pkhrut and Lernadzor.

Platinoids. According to preliminary data, the expected reserves of platinoids in the ores of the Kajaran deposit are about 130 tons. In addition, platinoids (0.1-1 g / t) have been found in the black shale formation of Armenia; they are of interest for industrial development.

Technogenic deposits of metals. Technogenic metal deposits are an important raw material for processing. Thus, in the tailings of the ore dressing of the Kajaran copper-molybdenum deposit, vanadium passes into dressing wastes and magnetite concentrates. In the copper-electrolyte sludge of the Alaverdi MMC, the concentration of platinoids is: palladium - up to 60-90 g / t, platinum - 20-50 g / t, rhodium - 0.5-2.5 g / t.

Interview with former boss subdivision of geology and nonferrous metallurgy of the State Planning Committee of the Armenian SSR Boris Gevorkyan.

- Mr. Gevorkyan, it is generally accepted that Armenia is poor in mineral resources. Is this opinion valid?- During the Soviet years, a powerful mining and industrial complex operated in Armenia, which played a significant role in the economy of the USSR. The geological prospectors of Armenia created a significant mineral resource base of the republic. The annual output of the Alaverdi Mining and Metallurgical Combine alone amounted to 90 - 95 million rubles. At the same time, 170,000 tons of sulfuric acid, 40,000 tons of copper sulfate, 40,000 tons of blister copper, 10,000 tons of cathode copper were obtained. Suffice it to say that Armenia accounted for 25% of the molybdenum concentrate produced in the USSR. In general, in the nonferrous metallurgy industry, we occupied one of the leading places among the republics of the USSR. For the exploration of minerals in Armenia, 40 million rubles were annually allocated, which were distributed among six geological organizations of the republic. Numerous deposits of non-ferrous metals, non-metallic raw materials, fresh and mineral waters, quartz-semi-precious raw materials were explored in detail, the terms of provision with reserves of these deposits were increased. The reserves of the Kajaran copper-molybdenum deposit are calculated for 150 years. The reserves of many minerals in Armenia allow long-term exploitation.

- Can it be considered that the natural resources of Armenia are fully explored?- Some deposits and their reserves have not been fully explored. So far, many years of searching for such important raw materials as manganese, mercury, titanium, rare and scattered chemical elements, coal, oil, and gas have not yielded tangible results. This is due to both organizational shortcomings and poor technical equipment of a few geological organizations, as well as not entirely justified choice of directions and methods of search.

- After all, what riches do the bowels of Armenia possess?- For 2009 the balance of minerals included 6 proper gold deposits, 6 gold-polymetallic, 9 gold-bearing complex deposits, including copper-molybdenum, copper-ore, lead-zinc. These deposits contain rare and trace elements - cadmium, bismuth, rhenium, selenium, tellurium, gallium, indium, germanium, thallium. At the same time, when ore is processed, 67 - 68% of rhenium, 0.7 - 4.2% of selenium, 2.5% of rhenium, etc. are transferred to molybdenum concentrate. Up to 68% tellurium, up to 80% bismuth and up to 97% germanium go into the tailings. The "Remet" project developed by "Armniprotsvetmet" for organizing the production of rare metal products in Armenia remained unclaimed, which leads to huge losses of expensive rare and trace elements.

The licenses for the development of mines in Hrazdan, Abovyan and Svarantz are owned by the Nagin company. How rich are these deposits in iron ore? - The Hrazdan deposit was explored back in the late 1960s. Its balance reserves amounted to 50.8 million tons, and off-balance reserves - 23.1 million tons with an average iron content of 32%. Excellent results were obtained at the Yerevan Research Institute of Mining Metallurgy when enriching the ores of the Hrazdan deposit - a concentrate with an iron content of up to more than 68%. Together with Russian scientists, research was carried out to develop a technology for producing iron from ore concentrates from the Hrazdan deposit. 5 tons of spongy iron was obtained, which, in terms of its chemical composition, was distinguished by high purity and was at the level the best varieties electrolytic iron. In this regard, in 1976. a pilot industrial enterprise with a design capacity of 8 thousand tons of pure iron per year was created in Armenia. In the future, it was planned to create a plant with a production volume of up to 100 thousand tons of pure iron and 25 thousand tons of special steels and alloys per year. However, this pilot plant was not able to provide process gas, and it was transferred to the production of products not related to the use of iron ore.

The reserves of the Abovyanskoye field have also been explored and amount to 243.8 million tons. But the Abovyanskoye field was not involved in development due to the large volume of overburden operations. The reserves of the Svarantskoye deposit are estimated at 800 million tons with an average iron content of up to 23%. This ore lends itself to magnetic enrichment, and the tailings can serve as a raw material for the production of cermet products and the production of magnesium oxide. The ores of the Svarants deposit contain a significant amount of titanium, vanadium and magnesium, therefore, when organizing their extraction, the value of this deposit increases significantly. Vanadium is used for alloying cast iron and steel, increasing their hardness, elasticity and tensile strength.

- Was it worth giving these deposits to Chinese companies?- Although the Chinese entrepreneurs assure that the development of the fields will be carried out strictly in accordance with the norms of environmental safety, I think that the Hrazdan field should not be transferred to them for development.

- And why exactly Hrazdanskoe, and not Abovianskoe? After all, the Abovyan deposit is 5 times richer?- The overburden of the Hrazdan deposit can be used in the construction of the Vanadzor - Fioletovo railway. And what is also very important, the construction of a mine near the center of Hrazdan will further worsen the ecology of the city. I think that Chinese companies should have been offered to explore the Svarantskoye deposit, where there are more iron reserves containing titanium, vanadium, magnesium, and this significantly reduces the cost of exploration, and the overburden of the Svarantskoye deposit can be used in the construction of the projected railroad Armenia - Iran.

- Are other ore deposits known as well?- In total, about 16 occurrences of iron ore have been identified in Armenia. Of these, the Haghartsin and Ijevan manifestations deserve attention.

- It is known that Armenia is very rich in nonmetallic raw materials. How efficiently are these resources being used?- There are 40 types of nonmetallic raw materials in Armenia. A significant part of these minerals are building materials - tuff, basalt, carbonate rocks and facing materials, felsites, marbles, volcanic slags, perlites, etc. With the efficient use of non-metallic resources, Armenia can not only replace a significant part of the imported raw materials with local ones, but also export dolomite, zeolite, bentonite, diatomite, obsidian, mineral paints, marble onyx, etc. During the Soviet years, the Ijevan Bentonite Combine supplied the oil industry with its products. Bentonites were used in drilling operations, as well as in ferrous metallurgy, oil refining industry, and foundry. But these resources are used to a minimum. It would be worthwhile to study the experience of developed countries, for example, the United States, where more than 80% of non-metallic raw materials, in particular bentonite, are used to produce more than 40 types of finished products in the form of powders, pastes, and granules used in various industries. Other non-metallic minerals also have great prospects. Thus, the zeolite tuffs of the Noyemberyan deposit are competitive in the world market. They can be used to improve the quality of soils, increase the flowability of mineral fertilizers, and in the production of animal feed.

- What results have been yielded by the exploration of energy carriers carried out for many years?- A number of coal deposits have been discovered - Jermanis, Ijevan, Jajur. The Ijevan coal deposit and the Jajur brown coal deposit have the greatest development prospects. The Ijevan deposit has the largest reserves - 10 million tons, and prospective resources - 80 million tons. The coal seams there are the most powerful, and the coal is of high quality. Since 1951 exploration work for oil and gas was carried out. In 1984. the well "Shorakhpyur" No. 1 was drilled with a depth of 3595 m. 1 ton of oil of sufficiently high quality was obtained. I think oil and gas exploration work should be continued.

Armenia is rich in minerals, but these resources must be used rationally and without waste. The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources should strengthen geological control over the exploitation of ore deposits, prevent their predatory use, organize monitoring of non-metallic deposits, and restore the exploitation of the most promising of them. And what is also very important - it is necessary to regulate the issues of tax deductions from the exploitation of ore deposits by private companies.

Armenia is poor in fuel resources. Until recently, it was classified as one of the countries in which there are practically no prospects for the discovery of oil reserves.

Meanwhile, here until the 1990s. large-scale geological exploration work was carried out, which made it possible to estimate the predicted oil reserves at 35 million tons, and natural gas at 80 billion m3. True, all these reserves were found at depths exceeding 5 km. Now the search for oil continues. In 1995, several small coal deposits were found in Armenia. The largest of them, Jajur, is located 15 km northeast of Gyumri and has proven reserves of 200 thousand tons. It is mined by open pit mining.

Theoretically, iron ore reserves in three deposits - Svarantsky, Abovyansky and Rozdanekom - may be of industrial importance. They are estimated at about 1 billion tons with an average iron content of 28%.

Armenia has significant industrial reserves of copper-molybdenum ore and several dozen already explored deposits of these valuable metals. The largest of them are Agarak, Tekh u t. Lichk, Dastikert and Kajaran. Of the copper pyrite deposits, the most significant are Kafap. Shaumyan, Alaverdi, Shamlug. The total copper reserves in the country are estimated at about 6.5 million tons with an average grade of 0.29% in ore. The same ores contain rhenium in industrial concentrations.

The country has industrial reserves of silver and gold in several deposits. Among them, the most interesting are Zodskoe (Sotka) and M e grad. In addition, there are polymetallic ores in Akhtala and poorly studied deposits of zinc and lead, in the ores of which, together with them, rare and multi-colored metals are present.

Armenia is rich in non-metallic minerals. These are rock salt, gypsum, ceramic and porcelain raw materials, bentonite and refractory clays, perlites, diatomites, natural zeolites, colored and semiprecious stones(agates, obsidian, onyx, jasper, rock crystal, amethyst, petrified wood, tuffs and more). The country is especially rich in pumice reserves (from 500 million m3 to 1 billion m3), according to which it occupies a leading position in the world. At the same time, the degree of production security is very high (2500 years each). The reserves of bentonite clays are estimated at 500 million tons, natural zeolites - about 1 billion tons, diatomites - about 500 million m3, perlite - about 1 billion m3.

V last years explored new deposits of gems - turquoise, nephritoid, Sevan jade. These deposits can be of great economic importance, since the jewelry industry is well developed in Armenia.

Numerous deposits of facing stone are known (various tuffs, colored marble, granitoids, etc.). With the availability of funds, these materials can (but the degree of provision of reserves) be mined in unlimited quantities.

Various deposits of minerals in Armenia are partially already being developed or prepared for development, but in general they create the preconditions for the deployment of a mining industry in the country, including an export orientation.