SCIENTIFIC - MERCURY DEPOSITS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600230674-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 18, 2011
• Sequence Number: 674
• Publication Date: June 24, 1949
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIF1
I i
CAT Wo
REPOR~
11 oRmATlON FRAM
F EtoN oocummwe oR RADio BROADCABTA CU NO.
CENTRAL I
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Soientifi, - Mercury .eposits
HOW-
WHERE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE Russian
Figures are appended,]
N. Kh. Belous
Trust for West Siberian
Light Metal Prospecting
The yell-known Oirot mercury deposits are connected with the S.=ay zone of
mar= mineralization referred to as the depression between the Surat'-Teletsk
and Borotal' ledges. The zone now under consideration to about 70 kilometers
lon~j rud is situated in the Sosh-Agaah region of the Southeast Altai.
eu-veys of the Awes seroyry zone (Figure 1) tetween Ak-T'ceh and Chagan-Uzun
were made by V. A. )I,unetsov in 1934 and by A. S. mukhin in 19.'6. A great deal
of the material ip this article is derived from the latter survey.
The three chief structural elements of this zone are: a beret cf crystallized
ehales'an the southeast, forming the central part of the Euray ridge; the Boro-
tel' burst an the southwest, composed of Algonquin-Cambrian limestone and porphyrite,
forming branobes of tLe Severe-Chap chalk mountains; and a graben between the two
harsts, depressed by a complex of Paleozoic rocks.
n Mdition to great antiolines formed by dislocations forcing masses of
Devonian er4d Silurian rook several kilometers apart, small tectonic blocks of
oarbaaaoeoms rook and lbsozoio effusions are sometime found in the central part
of the anticlines.
thb tectonic bands of not over 600 meters, is very complex, -probably as the
result of overthrust faults connected with the cleavage of the K ray zone.
DATE DIST. -4 J. 1949
NO. OF PAGES 8
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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A. CheM.+n-Uzun Deposit (F~gure 2)
The following old formations were involved in the structure of this deposit
1. A Cambrian limestone porphyrite formation with emall, dark grey lenses of
bituminous limestone
2. Cambrian serpentine rocks
3. Sedimentary Silurian rocks, chiefly: (a) green feldspar and gray-sacks
sandstone; (b) white and grayish finely laminated limestones with Radiolaria;
(a) three types of conglomerates -- broken, breccieted conglomerates with
archaegoyatbic limestone debris, intrafomar tional broken Silurian conglomerates
with limestone debris, and fine gravelly conglomerates with almost no limestone
detritus
4. Devonian sedimentary rook, represented by green earastones and shales with
layers of rose-red effusive rocks.
The alternation of tectonic block formations suggests that the deposit district
formed. part of a complex lamellar overthrust folding, the chief branch of which
shows mineralization (location No 1). The o:e zone appears as a wavy, system of or
beds, and the tectonic rook areas, which ahoy cinnabar mineralization, are considered
are beds.
rook and that its axial surface dips northward at an angle of about 70 degrees.
In the central section, anticlines of old rook, bounded by the tectonic lines
of reverse fault No 1 and normal faults Fo 2 and 3 along the axle of the folding,
are assumed to have developed durin3 the formation of placated structure. The
southeastern part of the antiolina is out by a more recent overthrust, !Go 4, at
an angle of about 45 degrees to the axis of the anticline. The mechanism of
this process is shown in Figure 3.
The rooky of the are-bearing zone wore formed as a result the contact
action of effusive rooky and of the consequent mnteiomatic change.
The most intensive mineralization and carbonization took place at the poini.e
of cmtact,by injection, between mineralized serpentines and finely crystallized
effusive rook. The number of mineral types connected with this period of mintrali-
satim is nee great: chief emorg them are magnesium calcites and ferrous carbonates,
pyrites and oimuabar, and small amounts of antimony, realgar, orpiment and fahlerz
(tetrahedrites).
.According to available material, minerali?e"tim in this area is chiefly relate e
to for- directions of zonal crushing:
1. Ore sense with a strike of 290 to 310 degrees and a steep dip to the
Northeast, the eastern part of the Ain tone being the steepest
2. Ore zones with a strike of 320 to 350 degrees and a northeasterly dip;
the western continuation of the main ore zone forme the largest part of this
series.
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veinsJdiaoesered here in 1944 are not very large but sometSme coi.':r.in considerable
ore sons in the form of ladder veins and veins explained as fillings of fissures
by hydrother al minerals (Figure 4).
This deposit is located On the eastern elope of an old glacial trough filled
with morainic formations washed br the Ak-Taeh springs.
say ax?J -ave.. -..
an the overthrust Surface between rocks of dynamic metemarphic strata m the sub-
aerial side and Silurian eandstome an the under side (Figure 5).
The upper dislocation an the northwestern border of the district has a very
small son* of arroabling with 1w-grade tectonic clay. The lower overtbrust(south-
eastern border) of ore-bearing limes-two on Silurian sandstone is characterized
by a wide sons of fracture (about 5 meters), with tectonic clay and immense rook
freWients on both sides of the fault.
TAe northeastern flange of the are deposit field Is bounded by a system of.
intersecting dislocations.
All the limestone in the ore field is more or less mineralized. Exploitable
mineralizaticos are related to ancient zone. of crumbling in limestone with a strike
of 310 to 530 degrees nd a northeasterly dip of 70 to 80 degrees. Its width varies
from 2 to $.estere. Deposition is still continuing. In the central part of the
are bodies 0.2- to 0.,4-mater strips of limestone breccias are found to contain
almost no cinnabar or ether hydrothermal minerals. Io+ is often found here.
The we sores are fairly close together; are does not completely disappear
in the oru bled limestone between zones, but merely becc-re poorer. The ore
badiee have no definite bounde'ies and the exploitable portions are found only
by prospecting.
Inside the are zones mineralization is unequally elstributed in pockets.
Transition from pockets of rich breooiated ores to poor ores oocura within
diett__~cr of a few oentireters.
Mineralisation decreases gradually on tae under side of the ore-bearing lime
stones. This indicates a screening of ore-bearing solutions by shales on the
subeerial side of this ore sores. A similar soreanin?m occurred under blocks of
"a;ion? rocke intrudad in the limestone. If these structures determine the
focrostion of ri" we pockets with a mercury content 50 to 80 timeo that of the
average content of the deposit, then tue small pre-are dislocation, with
tectonic clay extending about 0.5 to 1 centimeter, contributed to increasing
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a, The great ore bodies in the chief ore-bearit y zone are related, for
the met part, to washed out sections in the dip of the fracture
b. Both cinnabar and carbonate mineralizations e'e greater along pre-ore
'assure with a strike of 10 to 30 degrees and a northeasterly dip of from 70 to
80 degrees; the columnar ore bodies enriched with cinnabar in the central part of
the deposit belong to theses structures
only in sandstone on the under Side of the ore zone and as a;^ noti Bull, c10nc.1,Y
investigated.
The following pattern in the distribution of mineralization should be noted,
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the mercury Content about ten times an the under aide. The coefficient of variation
for the average mercury content in individual ore zones fluctuates from 135 to 261
percent.
The mineralogical composition of the ore bodies in this district is simple
and homogeneous.
-is depriit is located 1 to 1.5 kilometers vest of the Ak-Tash deposit on the
steep southern slope of the f'urey ridge. It is divided by a smell "log" 200 meters
wide into West I, near the Ak-Tash deposit, and West II, farther east of it.
In West II, surface prospecting uncovered rich brecaieted ores in one zone
and poor or average mineralization of others. Mining operations below the surface
in these zones shoved only poor and scattered impregnations c,. ;innabar.
West I has been more thoroughly prospected, but so little mining Y a been done
that the morphology of the ore bodies here croon 3e adequately explained.
2]e fold with Its intruded diorites is intersected by a system of zones of
cru bled rooks diagonal to the axis of the fold. They were probably ore-bearing
channels and still play the role of ore-bearing zones with poor or average
mineral!. satins.
Crumbling layers of limestone collected ore-bearing solutions and also carried
the richer area. The dimensions of such strata or peculiar saddle-shaped veins
have not yet been determined, but judged by the scale of the anticline they may
be of importance.
This deposit lies on the southern slope of the Moray ridge, northeast of the
AL-Sy settlement.
According to A. S. llnkbin and V. I.?Ku&netsov, who prospected here, the ore
field of this deposit forms part of an antiolinal fold, compounded of Silurian
limestone and "tufagenie" effusive rooks, broken by granite block-,. Tie fold
has a strike of 300 degrees. Its northern wall was broken by an overthrust
of shale belonging to a dynamic metamorphic stratum with a northwesterly strike
and a dip of 30 degrees. The overthrust outcrop-on the old surface has a complex,
calcareous character.
The are bodies are, in gen rai, uteeply sloping veins and zones of crumbling
rock. Aeomrd ng to V. I. Ehf~itsov, cinnabar i' usually rolated to fissures around
effusive rooks or in direct prcminity to them -- most frequently at their points
of contact with other rooks. Such eeleotive mineralization is explained by their
more regular structure and steeper angles of lip and possibly by their greater
depth.
The o11 mineralization oonr.eeted with diorite in:rueion is shown by veins
of epldote bad quartz hematite. In general, the younger ore-bearing mineralization
had two phase.: (1) quartz, chlorite, antimony and cinnabar, and (2) brown
carbonates and oinnabr.
Because of the poor quality of the ore beds, this deposit was not considered
commercially profitable.
Oax;srison with other deposits in the bray znm:'e dhows tht:.'. this deposit
cosbbines features of the Ak.?ash and West deposits.
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0
04
We agree with L. D. Staroverov that this region is on a higher denudation
horizon than the Ak-Taeh anticline.
It seems to us that the unfavorable estimate of the deposit is somewhat
premature and needs revision. It would also be advisable to carry on vertical
mining operations on the saddle-shaped veins.
This deposit is located on the left aide of the Ryzh "Log" in the >ihray River
system. The ore field is covered by diluvium, and the individual rock outcroppings
do not give a clear idea of its structure.
Mineralization has been discovered in two adjacent zones, with a strike of
330 degrees and a southeasterly dip of 60 to 70 degrees, which interaWct the anti-
clinal fold of limestone, Their character, direr `ion and ore content are very like
thosa of the Ak-Tash deposit, which definitely makes this deposit interesting.
A. S. Bhkhin found an outcropping of brocctated limestone with an impregnation
of zinc blonde and zinc glance, as well as gasses of the ease containing cinnabar.
This has aroused interest in th, deposit since it Is possible to show an interrelation
between mercury and polymetallic mineralization.
This deposit i located on the steep slope of the Aygulak ridge, 8 kilometers
northwest of,Ak-Taeh_ Here there are two known outcroppings of cinnabar rocks.
Mineralization is connected with dark gray Cambrian limestones in contact on the
north with metamorphic shales.
The rooky are related to a limestone block about 3 meters wide, squeezed
between two dislocations. Cinnabar (except for various lithelogical compounds)
is located mainly in horizontal veins or veins with a eloping dip, recalling the
mineralization of the eastern part of the Chagen-IIzun deposit about 70 kilometers
from the Chubsk-kcal' deposit.
There are also many points where cinnabar mineralization is known In the
ariglaal outcroppings between Ak-Tash and Chagan-Uzun.
Mercury mineralizati'xd is probably connoted with the Laramie phase of
Cc-Arian teotogenesis and, according to mineralogical analysis of the ores, owed
its angels to opitherme.
In prospecting for enlo:table mercury concentrations in the mercury zone,
it is ne:seasery in m, opinion to follow the antioline of the plicated zone
dependent on dislocations, rather than the overthrust line on which minerali-
sation is nomhsre fixed.
The great development of cinnabar in slicks is evidence of the gr.
prospects in this sans for mercury siner,slisation as a whole. The connection
between mineralization and anticlines is a great aid to prospecting. It
inoressas the opportunities for opening now deposits and parallel mineralization
sows along antiolinal banks or --ails.
Opening the saddle-shaped veins and blahket deposits without outcroppings
on the surface requires the organization of careful prospecting and structural
analysis of probable areas.
,[ igc ee fow_v7
MY IAL
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ChaRan-Utunekiy
Bx.1.ch of the
Karayekly Zone
Figure 1. Structural Diagram of the Karay Zone
1 Borst of crystallized shales; 2 - Borotal' horet of limestones and porpbyritee,
Am biboles; 4- Eyperbaeio rooks; 5 - Djnamic-metvnorphic formation; 6 - Rhmy
faimatien and axes of great entiolinee in it; 7 - Devonian formation; 8 - Carbon-
iferous forsation; 9 - Mesozoic effusions; 10 - ?orphyrites.
,2C 1 UM-2 M3 CE 4 ER 5 EM6 ? 7X
.)'!gale 2. Structural Diagram of the Chagan-Uzun Deposit
1 - $srp*tias b,perbsaic rock; 2 - Limestone-pqrphyrite rock formation;
*iea1.csWlaaeratss; 4 - Limestones; 5 - Intlpformaticnal conglomerates;
s
8sodstaost; 7 - Sandstones and Devonian shales; 8 - Ore zone. Dislocations
o 1 to 4t.To 1 and 4, reverse and overthrust fault; No 2 and 3, normal faults.
-6-
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2 M23E 4 EEY, 90 6
Figure T. Diagrr.;i of the Chief Phase of Dislocations
a -- General Geological c'tuation (Chegan-Uzun Deposit): 1 - Hyperbasie rocks;
2 Berotel? borer:; 3 - Tectonic complex of the Chagan-UZ\m branch of the Surey
mercury zone and site an of the chief disjunctive dltilnce+ one. b and o,
d-iagrams of dislocations: b- Rhomboid; c- Elliptical: L i;'r'c`.ion similar
to that of zone of di"pering and richest mineralizat;on; 5 - Direction of
overthrust fold; 6 - Direction of shearing similar to the dir.3ct`on of columnar
mineralization and oi certain v"'nos in the mercury'de.poait area.
b
S 270/-74c A ,.
~c
270/-700
I 1 '"-'= 12
?L5
Figure 4. Diagram of the Site and Formation of "Horizon" Rode
a - Dreition in 'he Field of'$orizon" Beds Projected on a Piers o' "verage Strike:
i - Jmsoti.p Lnerauele (columns of the northeastern strive): '= - A-f'izoa" beds;
b - Position tin Cros Section of zone) of ladder Veins, Series/of 4i3ich Create
a "Horizon" Bed: 3 - Transformed serpentires; 4 - O.?e zones and position of
veins with oitnabar; 5 - Sandstones; c - Diagram of the Formation of Flee=es
Airing Compression.
,.!
AMMA~wwf
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011 =2 ?3 1R4 ?5
Figure 5. Structural Diagram of the Ak-Taeh Deposit
1 - Shales of dynamic metamorphic formatlon"supra-ore" layer; 2 - Ore-containing
lfinestoaeej 3 - "Infra-ore" sandstones and limestones; 4 - Blocks of "alien"
rook) 5 - Ore-bearing zmee; 6 - M,raino.
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