Pre-Visean Bauxites and Iron-Aluminum Ores Deposit of the KMA and Prospects for Development

Data on geology of bauxite deposits associated with rich iron ores of the weathering crust of Precambrian ferruginous-siliceous shale formation within the Kursk Magnetic Anomaly (KMA) are summarized. High -grade iron ores and bauxites occur under a predominantly Paleozoic sedimentary cover at depths of over 400 m. The main potential of iron–aluminum raw materials in the region is concentrated in Bolshetroitskoe, Vislovskoe, Olimpiyskoye and Melikhovo-Shebekinskoe deposits. Bauxite and ferralite deposits were formed during pre-Visean time after phyllitic shales of Yakovlev and Korobkovsky Formations. They consist mainly of boehmite with hematite impregnation, often with a significant admixture of kaolinite and chlorite. Average content (%) is usually Al 2 O 3 ~50.1, SiO 2 ~6.0, Fe tot . ~14.0. The total bauxite potential of KMA is 1201.7 mln t (P 1 + C 1 + C 2 + B). Subsurface mining even with small projected capacity of 1.0–2.5 mln t/year would cover the deficit of alumina presently covered through import.