Institute of Geology of Karelian Research Centre of RAS (Petrozavodsk, Russia):

Danilevskaya L. A., Senior Researcher, Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences, e-mail: danilevs@krc.karelia.ru

Quartz raw materials are one of the most important strategic types of raw materials. Recently, the necessity of high-pure quartz concentrates constantly grows for production of fused silicon oxide. Fused silicon is used in fiber optics, lighting engineering, microelectronics and solar power. Demand in raw materials for production of poly-and single-crystal silicon also increased. In Russia, the deficiency of these types of the quartz raw materials is observed. The existing mineral resources of quartz can provide the enterprises for only several years.

There is presented a general data of quartz raw materials` researches in Karelia. There are shown the results of complex mineralogical and technological investigations of a number of prospective quartz deposits, which are carried out during last 15 years. The main emphasis of the article is on non-traditional sources of quarts raw material. It is established that using direction influence, the impurity content in original and low quality quartz extremely decreases in the process of selection of beatification technologies. Quartz concentrates with sum impurity content (lower than 35 ppm.) are obtained during the process of deep beatification. It is shown that the most prospective localities of quartz raw materials of various applications on this stage of study are the following: quartz zone of Melomais locality, vein gold ore quartz of Mayskoye deposit, compact quartzites of Stepanovo Ozero locality, muscovite quartzites of Eastern Hizovaara deposit, quartzites of Metchangyarvi deposit. The article presents schemes of multiple use of a number of quartz objects.

1. Danilevskaya L. A., Skamnitskaya L. S., Shchiptsov V. V. Kvartsevoe syre Karelii (Quartz raw materials of Karelia). Petrozavodsk : Karelian Scientific Center of Russian Academy of Sciences, 2004, 224 p.

2. Gosudarstvennyy balans zapasov poleznykh iskopaemykh. Kvarts i kvartsity (Quartz and Quartzites. State Register of raw material reserves). Moscow : Rosgeolfond, 2011.

3. Danilevskaya L. A., Shchiptsov V. V. Razvedka i okhrana nedr − Prospect and protection of mineral resources. 2007, No. 7, pp. 33−36.

4. Shchiptsov V. V., Skamnitskaya L. S., Bubnova T. P., Danilevskaya L. A., Rodionov V. S. Geologiya i poleznye iskopaemye Karelii − Geology and mineral resources of Karelia. 2003, Vol. 6, pp. 67−77.

5. Volfson A. A. Geologo-geneticheskie osobennosti zolotokvartsevogo mestorozhdeniya Maiskoe (Severnaya Kareliya) : dissertatsiya....kandidata geologo-mineralogicheskikh nauk (Geological and genetic peculiarities of golden-quartz deposit Maiskoye (North Karelia) : dissertation....of Candidate of Geological and Mineralogical Sciences). Moscow, 2004, 165 p.