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Nature »
Minerals
Minerals
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Magnetite - iron ore
of Kovdor deposit |
Our region is called "Peninsula of treasures" because of the different minerals in its depths. Michail Lomonosov predicted:"I conclude on a lot of evidences that in the northern depths the nature reigns constantly and richly". Minerals of developed deposits of the Murmansk region are divided into two groups depending on its content and fields of implementation:
Ore minerals, containing metals: magnetite ores of Kovdor and ferriferous quartzites of Olenegorsk: copper nickel ores of Pechenga; rare-metal ores of Lovozero.
Nonmetallic minerals: apatite and nepheline of the Khibiny deposits; shale-muscovite, phlogopite and vermiculite of the Kovdor deposits, fire proof row materials.
Besides that a lot of unreclaimed minerals are in state reserve. It is necessary to remember that minerals are exhaustible nature resources, in the other words, they cannot be recreated in the nature conditions.
Facing stones
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| Granite of Vinga deposit |
Facing stones are mining rocks having decorative features: unusual colours, original ornament. We have a lot of stones: red and rose coloured granite with blue quartz, green khibinites, grey amphibolites with crystals of red granat-almandine, pyroxenites and gabbro of black colour with different tints, which on their quality are not inferior to famous facing stones of Karelia and Leningrad region. Khibiny deposits "Ikuaivenchorr" are used in forming of interiors of buildings (Moscow), kuzrechensk granites are used in incrustation of Arctica hotel (Murmansk), building of Presidium of Kola scientific centre RAS (Apatity), in the interiors of Monchegorsk executive committee, administration of "Severonickel" plant (Monchegorsk). There are 17 deposits of decorative stones in the Murmansk region. Thanks to distribution of rare and unique rocks the Murmansk region has great undiscovered resources of facing and decorative stones.
Minerals
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| Lemmleinite-К |
Academic Alexander Fersman called the Kola Peninsula as mineralogical museum under the open sky. On the territory less then 1/1000 of land geologists discovered and more then 700 minerals, consisting of minerals of all the world. There are more then 100 unknown minerals, many of which were not discovered anywhere in the other places of the world. New minerals are called after geologists-pioneers (fersmanit, labuntzovit, belovit, ramzait) or after the place of their discovering (murmanit, khibinsnit, kovdorskit, lovozerit).
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| Astrophilite from Khibiny tundra |
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