MOLYBDENUM DEPOSITS IN THE USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700080377-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 9, 2011
• Sequence Number: 377
• Publication Date: September 15, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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C11SSIFICATION cO!?Fn rri,^,I,
PCURPPY lr1:uoPUiA'rLO
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION I'ROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Economic - Ferrous metals, molybdenum
i IOYY
PUBLISHED Books
V HERE
PUBLISHED t'.occc t; r burg
DATE
PUBLISHED 1946 - Feb 1951
LANGUAGE Ruusi:.n; Gc.-cn
RFPnPT
CD NO.
DATE OF
DATE DIST. J5' Sep 1952
NO. OF PAGES 4
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
MOI;iEDE tJM DEPOSITS IN TRR USSR
ttembers in parentheses refer to appended 3ources_7
Ctene_-al
Molybdenum has come into wide use only in the present century. Production
in 1913 was 162.2 m fmetric tons compared with 14,835 m [etric ton3!7 in 193a
The rapidly increasing use of molybdenum in industry is a direct result of its
capacity to Increase the mechanical qualities of manufactured products. Broad
application of molybdenum steel is made in the military, automotive, aviation,
instrument, chemical, electrical, and ocher industries.
The increasing demand for molybdenum is satisfied at present .9467 from
various types of deposits, both of pure molybdenum and of complexes. Therefore,
the industrial content of the meta;. in ores varies within wide limits. To the
category of high-grade ores belong those having a molybdenum content of '2-3 per-
cent. More abundant and more widely exploited deposits contain about 0.6-1
percent. Complex deposits permit a recovery with a content of 0.2-0.3 percent.
Finally, in the copper ores of the impregnated type, where molybdenum is a sec-
ondary Mineral, its content varies from hundredths to thousandths of one percent.
All molybdenum ores undergo enrichment through smelting. Flotation permits
a concentration with a content of 95 percent molybderrjm flash.(l)
Molybdenum is found in many places in the USSR. The most important de-
posits are situated in the Transbaykal, in the Ithibinak tundra on the Rol'skiy
Peninsula in western Georgia, in the I1'men Mountains (Urals), and in other
places.(2j
BydrothermaLl deposits of molybdenum are at present Li94J almost the total
source of extracted molybdenum. A large part of the hydrothermal deposits con-
sist of the hypo'thermal typd; but several are -transitional from hypothermal to
mezothertssal.
CLASSIFICATION
11 STATE )( -
ARMY IAIR FBI .
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 Among the hypothermal deposits the fcllo:ring types predominate:
a. A complex molybdenum-tungsten type of mineralization, combined with
sk?rn. The industrial significance of this type is becoming apparent as a re-
sult of the prospecting work of recent years. Representative of this type are
the Tyrny-Fuz deposit in the Northern Caucasus, the Lyanga: deposit in Central
Asia, an: the A.segur deposit in Biarokko.
b. The second type of' deposit, for example that found at Boshche-lail'
and Koucrad in :iazaklrctan, and Agarak and Pirdouan in the Transcauousus (Ar-
menia), yields molybdonite as an impurity.
Geographic Distribution of Deposits in the USSR
The opening of new types of industrial deposits of molybdenum as a result
of prospecting during recent years has introduced a substantial change in as-
sessr.entc of the economic potential of various regions of the USSR.
Thus, the deposits of the Eastern Transbaykal and the neighboring regions
of Chita Oblast and Prlmorokiy Kray, which during the years of the First Fivc-
Year Plan were the sole sources of molybdenum, now have secondary significance
in the balance of supply. The chief industrial types of mineralization here are
the quartz-molybdenum vein deposits, for e: aple, at Gutayc,. and the Uanl'ta on
the :ie~j waters of the Burei River (Far Bast) . (1)
One of the greatest achievements of geological prospecting work of the Gec-
ond Five-Year Plan was the discovery and investigation of the Tyrny-Auz molyb-
denum-tungsten deposit in the Northern Caucasus. As a result of intensive geo-
logical investigation, the known reserves in the deposit have been increased
more and more each year, and nor constitute one of the most ii?portant molytdenum-
tungsten deposits of the USSR. (2) As a source of molybdenum, this deposit is
among the largest in the world. However, the prospects of the Caucasus are not
confined to the Tyrny-Auz deposit alone. The Agarak and Pirdoudan (Transcauca-
sue) copper deposits of the secondary quartz type contain molybdenum, and show
promise of becoming one of the chief sources for the extraction of this metal.
As another source of prospective supplies, Kazakh SSR runs the Northern
Caucasus a close second. Very large copper deposits of the secondary quartz
type containing molybdenum (Kounrad and Eoshche-Kul'), the exploitation of which
makes possible the side-extraction of molybdenum, are located here.
For some time past large deposits in the form of a molybdenite-quartz vein
have been exploited in the region of Eascern Kounrad (Kazakhctan).(1)
Great prospects in regard to molybdenum and tungsten are also in evidence
in the southeastern part of the Altffy Kray and in parts of the Oyrot ASSR adja-
cent to it, i.e., the Chndagatuy deposit (Eastern Kazakhstan Obl.ast).(2)
Still other sources of molybdenum are the copper mines of Dzhida, Xl'.atoma,
and Davenda (Transbaykal)?(3)
Description of the Dposits
1. The Tyrny-Auz molybdenum-tungsten deposit is a basic industrial item in
the Tyrny-Auz ore-bearing region, where in addition deposits of tin, antimony,
and other metals occur. So far as molybdenum is concerned, It is one of the
largest producers in the iror]d. The region is situated in the Northern Caucasus
in the Kabarda-Balkar ASSR in the mountainous area on the left side of the Bak-
san River gorge and is connected wt.tb. the Nal'chik highway, which passes through
the gorge to the foot of the Elbrus. The absolute height here reaches 3,600
meters, but the relative height (over the Baksan River channel) is 2,300 meters.
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The geological structure of --he whsle ore field is described an fol-
lows: The very large, old rocks are pre-Cambric and their outcroppings, pre-
Cambrian granite and granodicrite. Rocks bound the ore-bearing region on the
north and on *be south. Between the rocks lies a stratum of Paleozoic sedimen-
tary rock, which is carbonaceous and in part Devonian and Permian. It ccneiotn
of clayey slate, sandstone, tuff, congiomera+e, and marble, and is divirled into
foss foreatlons: the Tyrny-Auz, northern, central, and marble formations. Ig-
reous rocks of the came age (trontenite, peridotite. nrl, quartz porphyry) ere
present in smaller quantities.,
The lower Jurassic deposit -- clayey elate and sandstcne of the Iulculnn
formations -- is of lancer incortancc in comparison with the carbonaceous rocks.
The entire stratum of ecdiLeatary rock 1s interspersed with a varicty
of rock ccmplexec of unite calm, which contain porphyritic granite (the Il'-
d.hurtinsk Massif), granite-porphyry, granite-aplite, labradorite-aplite, lip-
arite, and vitrophyre.
In its structural relation the region represents a zone of breaks, with
a northwesterly trend 5 kilometers in width, within the limits of which are lo-
cated all the ore deposits.
The rolyod^_nun-tungsten mineralization is situated in the central part
of tL~: o_- _efica. Uz cr the inf.luauce of the FJ'dzhurtinsk Granite Massif
here, all the rock is subjected to an intensive metamorphosis, resulting in the
formation of skarne in the marble and in the transformation of the clayey slate
and the tuff into pyroxenic chert. A very considerable growth of skarns is
noted on the watershed of the Tyrny-Auz Range, where they form the main body of
ore. The ore body has a horseshoe-shaped form in the plan, is anticlinal in
profile, and has the structure of a typical ukarn complex, consisting of gran-
ite, pyroxene, vesuvianite, wollastonite, quarts;, fluorite, pyrite, pyrrhotine,
ehaleopyrite, magnetite, zinc blends, and so on. Included in the composition
of the skarn are several quantities of echeelite. The complex form of the main
ore lode depends upon the configuration cf the structural contact between the
marble and the clayey shale, which acts as a feeder for the emanation of the
granite magma.
Considerably later, after the formation of the labradorite-aplite, which
concludes the volcanic process, in the skarr zone, apparently along the same
structural seam, together with the quartz almost the total amount of molybdenita
and the basic mass of scheelite was formed. In the fissured skarns a large qu-n.
tity of small quart,a veins and pockets filled with the above-mentioned minerals
were formed sometimes together with chalcopyrite. Thus, the whole skarn is an
ore anss.
Because of intensive erosion the processes of secondary change have
been very slight. Of the secondary minerals molybdenum, ocher, and nowellite are
present.
Besides the basic type of molybdenum-tungsten mineralization, which is
subordinate to skern, there are known ore lodes of other form and composition in
the region. Thus, to the northwest of the Tyrnyy-Auz deposit, there is a quartz
vein with molybdenite. In addition, an impregnation of molybdenite has devel-
oped in a block of granite-porphyr, breaking the skarn zone.
The prospecting work being carried on at present fl-9467 on the deposit
has penetrated to a depth of several hundred meters from the summit of the range,
which indicates the extraordinary power of the ore-development process.
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 P. The Gutsy (Chi.koy) deposit 's a typical exe~-pl.e of quartzmolybdenum
mineralization., It is situated within the boundaries of the Buryat-Mongol ASSR
on thi right bank of the Chikoy River. The Chil%oy flows into the Selenga River.
Tha region in which the deposit in located has been built up from a
metamorphic stratum of the pre-Cambrian era consisting of gneiss and amphibole.
To the north and east the metamerphic stratum is changed by the intrusion of
granite. In a southeaster].,, direction the ice ar_q the avnhibole are over-
lapped by a paleccoic cedia.utary stratum.
The deposit has been described as a cyatem of ci,iilarly oriented. veins
running in a north-northeact direction dipping to the east at an angle of 35-50
degrees, and of inferior setesaorphic strata. The ore veins have an insignifi-
cant width of 2 to 30 centimeters.
The mineralogical composition of the Icinosit is described as quartz,
calcite, and molybdenite. On the lover levels the deposit contains email gtwn-
tities of pyrite and bismuthinite. Mol.yadenite ir, usually arranged in streaks
and cut by pockets along the selvage of the veins, but the quartz and the cal-
cite make up the internal par` of the vein. The trace of the vein along the dip
chews that the moat intensive mineralization has adapted itself to the gneiss
and the amphibolite. Thus the drift, proceeding at a height of 120 meters above
the level of the river, opens veins with rich mineralization. In the treneit+_on
to t ho veins ahcw u much lower content of molybdenum and they finally
play out. The change of the wall. rock is described as a slight pyritization.
This genetic quartz-molybdenum mineralization is combined with granite which has
broken through the metamorphic stratum.(1)
1. Tamarinva, P. M., and Bemekhmina, A. G. (eds.) Kura Mestorozhdeniy polo-
z0.Ykh Yakcpavemvkh (Course in Mineral Depositsj. Moscow, Gosudexstvennoye
rauchno-Tekhnirheskoye Iadatel'stvo Neftyanoy i Gorno-Toplivnoy Literatury,
1946, pp 147-154.
2. Yakovlev, A. A., Mineralo iya 1 Veekh (Mineralogy for ,ell). Moscow, Iz-
datel'etvo P?._demii Kauk BSSR, 1947, pp 227-230.
3. Wirtachaftsdierat, Vol 74CSI, No 2, Feb 1951, published by Hamburgiechno
Welt-Wirtachafts-archiv.
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