SCIENTIFIC-METALS, ZIRCONIUM, ZIRCONIUM MINERALS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700210138-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 10, 2002
• Sequence Number: 138
• Publication Date: March 13, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2002/08/06 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700210138-1
MAR 1952 51-4C
CLASSIFICATIQ, J
-:ATIeNJ
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO. BROADCASTS
COUNTRY
SUBJECT
HOW
Scientific - Metals, zirconium,
'zirconium miner .e
PUBLISHED Pamphlet
WHERE
PUBLISHED
Moacow/%eningrad
DATE
PUBLISHED 1947
LANGUAGE
REPORT NO
CD NO.
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1947
DATE DIST. !3 Mar 1952
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
toll DOCUNINT CONTAIN[ I11r0N11.TION ALICTIND 1..[ NATIONAL p[.INSI
01 To[ UNITED [TAT[/, NITN IN To"""I'D 01 TITLE 11. [[CTI......
AND TSO. 0, To[ U.S. Cool. AS A.t.010. ITS TN0N........ ON .[Y[.
LATION 01 ITS CONTt.75 TO ON S0C[I.T AT AN UNAUTHDA1210 PERSON If
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
Trebovan ya aromyshlennosti k kacheatvu mineral'nogo ayr'ya Vvnuek 45,
Tai,, Vseaoyuznyy Nauchno-Iealedovatel'akiy Inetitut Mineral'nogo
Syr yn.
USSR ZIRCONIUM RESOURCES
P. G. Verkholantsev
Na,:ural compounds of.zirconium may be divided into three groupat
nn
1. Zirconium dioxide, Zr02,'of'various modifigations --ba4d4cyi?Cc.
of zirconium dioxide..vith e4lica,.ZrSJ04 -- zircon and
its varieties.
tantallumComplex and other zirconium
elements -- et~i~tea,,i catapleiit~,e. columbium,
Only two zirconium-containing minerals, baddeleyite and zircon, now have
industrial significance. Eudciolite is not used in industry because of a?low
content of ZrO2 and because the presence of iron a1,: titanium. hampers the tech..
nological prociee of separating zirconium dioxide.
Badleleyite is the beat zirconium-containing raw material, the richest
in zirconium and the simplest in chemical composition. Therefore, search for
deposits of this mineral must be encouraged by all means.
Rocks containing zircon an an accessory mineral, such as granites,
diorites, and syenitee, are widely distributed in the earth's cruet. Professor
P. Pyatnitrkiy prenenta the following data in his book (Zirconium and the Laws
of Its Distribution in Minerals and Rocks Kharkov, 1939): Thirteen out of
5 analyses of granites showed a,oontent of zirconium oxide higher than 0.10%,
and ai.% of these 13 rnalyeea gave results from 0.42 to 8.10%. In syenitlc rocks,
might out of 42 analyses showed higher than a 0.10% content of zirconium oxide,
including three analyses with figures from 0.38 to 1-30%- In rocks belonging to
O LL
25X1A
25X1A
ILLEGIB
Approved For Release 2002/08/06 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700210138-1
 Approved For Release 2002/08/06 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700210138-1
25X1A
II I EGIR
nephelinic and leucitic syenites, eight out of 34 analyses revealed concen-
tration of zirconium oxide from 1.57 to 4.396. Here the zirconium-containing
mineral is represented in most cases by eudeiolite but in certain cases by
zircon as, for example, in deposits near Mariupol' in the USSR. These deposits
represent zircon-enriched zones of nephelinic syenite called by the local name
"mariupolit."
Magmatic deposits of eudelolite are known in many countries, including
deposits on the Kola Peninsula in the USSR. Eudeiolite deposits have no
practical significance, but they are of certain interest as primary deposits
from which secondary rich deposits of baddeleyite are formed.
Zirconium ores are unsuitable for direct processing, always requiring a
preliminary beneficiation for obtaining sufficiently rich concentrates.
There are no definitely established requirements on the quality of
zirconium ores. On the basis of a number of investigations and practical data,
it may be assumed that exploitation of even large deposits of eudeiolitic ores
is not expedient, since, at present, resources of zircon ores are adequate.
As for zircon ores, they may be of industrial interest even in cases of
a comparatively low zirconium oxide content. This is particularly true in
respect to the ores easily adaptable to concentration. In any event, ores with
a Zr02 content of 0.3-0.5% must already attract the attention of geologists.
Slimes with this content obtained in exploitation of placers for other metals,
for instance, gold, require consideration as a potential source of zirconium.
Side recovery of zirconium during exploitation of other mineral deposits
may be worthwhile even when its content in ores amounts merely to hundredths of
one percent.
The content of zircon in concentrates usually has to attain 90%. No other
requirements are obligatory. However, in the process of beneficiation, all
efforts are usually made to'obtain zirconium concentrates with a minimum content
of iron, aluminum, calcium, silicon, and titanium, because the presence of these
elements complicates the processing of concentrates. Besides, the high content
of iron and aluminum, decreasing the refractory and acid-proof properties of
zircon, makes the concentrates unsuitable for use as a refractory material and
enamel opacifier.
The entire history of zirconium production and application on an industrial
scale numbers only 35-40 years. For this period, the world's annual output of
zirconium raw materials rose from tens of tons to ten-thousands of tons in the
recent decade.
In the USSR, the use of domestic zirconium products was initiated prior to
the war, mainly in the form of iron-free zircon as an opacifying agent for enam-
els.
During the war and postwar periods the zirconium industry in the USSR has
shown considerable progress, increasing the variety of products and developing
new fields of application, such as refractory production, electrical engineering,
ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy, etc.
Approved For Release 2002/08/06 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000700210138-1