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  3. Mineral Resource Data System (MRDS)

Gaya Mine

Producer in Russia with commodities Copper, Zinc
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Sections on this page
  1. Identification information
  2. Geographic coordinates
  3. Site location context
  4. Geographic areas
  5. Commodities
  6. Materials information
  7. Nearby scientific data
  8. Ore body information
  9. Economic information about the deposit and operations
  10. Mineral rights holdings
  11. Ownership information
  12. Production statistics
  13. Links to other databases
  14. Bibliographic references
  15. Reporter information

Geologic information

Identification information

Deposit ID 10254985
MAS/MILS ID 4520000088
Record type Site
Current site name Gaya Mine
Alternate or previous names Ghaiskoye, Gaya O/P, Gay, Gai, Gaya

Geographic coordinates

Point of reference Ore Body
Geographic coordinates: 58.5013, 51.46467 (WGS84)
Location accuracy 5000(meters)

Site location context

Political divisions (FIPS codes)

Russia(country)

Europe(continent)

Land(continent)

Geographic areas

Country
Russia

Comments on the location information

  • THE GAYA DEPOSIT IS LOCATED IN THE SOUTHERN URALS, USSR.

Commodities

Commodity Importance
Copper Primary
Zinc Critical Primary

Materials information

Materials Type of material
Chalcopyrite Unknown
Pyrite Unknown
Sphalerite Unknown

Nearby scientific data

Ore Body (1) 58.5013, 51.46467
ListMap

Economic information

Ore body information

  • Field Value
    MAS Matrix # 1
    MAS Column # 1
    Type of Orebody #1 MASS SULFIDE
    Shape of Orebody #1 LENTICULAR
    Type of Orebody #2 DISSEMINATED
    Shape of Orebody #2 IRREGULAR
    Primary mode of Origin CONT METASOMATIC
    Date of Last Modification 921202

Economic information about the deposit and operations

Operation type Surface-Underground
Development status Producer
Commodity type Metallic
Significant Yes
Year of first production 1961

Mineral rights holdings

Type of mineral rights Unknown

Ownership information

  • Type Owner
    Owner Government Of Russia.
    Interest 100
    Home office Russia
    Year 1992
  • Type Operator
    Owner Gai Mining And Concentrating Enterprise
    Home office Russia
    Year 1992

Production statistics

  • Year 1988
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Ore Throughput @ 1.5% Cu & 1.4% Zn 4535000 Metric Tons (Estimated).
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Zinc Zinc 1wt-pct
    Major Ore Copper Copper 2wt-pct
  • Year 1989
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Ore Throughput @ 1.6% Cu & 1.4% Zn 4940000 Metric Tons (Estimated).
  • Year 1990
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Ore Throughput @ 1.5% Cu & 1.3% Zn 3570000 Metric Tons (Estimated).
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Zinc Zinc 1wt-pct
    Major Ore Copper Copper 2wt-pct
  • Year 1991
    Accuracy Estimate
    Description Ore Throughput @ 1.5% Cu & 1.3% Zn 4210000 Metric Tons (Estimated).
    Importance Item Commodity Group Amount recovered Grade Recovery percentage
    Major Ore Zinc Zinc 1wt-pct
    Major Ore Copper Copper 2wt-pct

Comments on the production information

  • MINE PRODUCTION COMMENCED IN 1961 FROM A SINGLE OPEN PIT MINE. A SECOND OPEN PIT AND SOME ASSOCIATED UNDERGROUND WORKINGS WERE DEVELOPED LATER. IN 1990, AND EXPANSION PROGRAM WAS COMPLETED WHICH INCREASED THE UNDERGROUND MINING CAPACITY BY 31 PERCENT. ALL OPEN PIT MINING IS DUE TO CEASE IN 1992 TO 1993. AS FOR ANY EXPANSION PLANS, THE IMMEDIATE PRIORITY IS THE COMPLETION OF THE UNDERGROUND MINE DEVELOPMENT. ORE PRODUCTION IS EXPECTED TO APPROACH 5 MILLION METRIC TONS PER YEAR BY THE MID 1990S. THERE ARE SIX PROVEN ORE BODIES WITHIN A RADIUS OF 80 KILOMETERS, ONE OF WHICH IS ALREADY BEING DEVELOPED. THERE IS NO INFORMATION ON THEIR SIZE AND GRADE, BUT THEY ARE THOUGHT TO BE MUCH SMALLER THAN THE GAI DEPOSIT.

Comments on the reserve resource information

  • RESERVES ARE SUFFICIENT FOR A FURTHER 90 YEARS OF PRODUCTION, WHICH AMOUNTS TO A RESERVE TOTAL IN EXCESS OF 350 MILLION METRIC TONS AT THE CURRENT RATE OF PRODUCTION. ORE GRADES ARE EXPECTED TO DECLINE AS MINING MOVES INTO DEEPER AREAS. THE CUT-OFF GRADES ARE 0.6 PERCENT COPPER AND 1.0 PERCENT ZINC. RESERVES HAVE BEEN PROVED DOWN TO A DEPTH OF 950 METERS. RESERVES ARE REPORTED TO BE 4.2% OF CIS RESERVES. MINE PRODUCES 5.2% OF CIS COPPER IN 1990.

Comments on other economic factors

  • THE GAI MINE IS THE LARGEST UNDERGROUND BASE METAL MINE IN THE URALS AND ONE OF THE LARGEST UNDERGROUND MINES IN THE SOVIET UNION. THE DEPOSIT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED IN THREE STAGES. THE FIRST STAGE, NOW COMPLETE, WAS OPEN PIT MINING TO THE 260 METER LEVEL. THE SECOND STAGE, NOW NEARING COMPLETION, IS A COMBINATION OF OPEN PIT AND UNDERGROUND MINING TO THE 440 METER LEVEL. THE THIRD STAGE, NOW IN PROGRESS, IS UNDERGROUND MINING BELOW THE 440 METER LEVEL. THERE ARE SIX MAIN SHAFTS TO A DEPTH OF 826 METERS AND TWO UP-CAST VENTILATION SHAFTS, 685 METERS DEEP. FOUR OF THE SHAFTS ARE 7.5 METERS IN DIAMETER. TWO PRODUCTION SHAFTS WILL BE DEEPENED TO 1,100 METERS BY 1993. THE SKIP SHAFT HAS TWIN 40 METRIC TON SKIPS. UNDERGROUND MINING BETWEEN THE 440 AND THE 685 METER LEVELS IS BY SUB-LEVEL OPEN STOPING, WITH REGULAR PILLARS ON A CHECKER BOARD PATTERN EXTRACTED AFTER BACKFILLING OF THE ADJACENT STOPES. STOPE AND PILLAR DIMENSIONS ARE 20 METERS ALONG STRIKE, 20 TO 35 METERS THICK AND 80 METERS HIGH. A JAW CRUSHER IS LOCATED ON THE 685 METER LEVEL. BACKFILL GENERALLY CONSISTS OF SAND, SLAG, AND CEMENT. APPROXIMATELY 300,000 TONS PER YEAR OF BLAST FURNACE SLAG IS USED IN BACKFILL. MINING RECOVERY IS ABOUT 95 PERCENT AND DILUTION IS ABOUT 10 PERCENT. THE MINE WORKS THREE SHIFTS PER DAY, SIX DAYS PER WEEK, WITH BLASTING ON SUNDAYS. THE MINE IS SUBSTANTIALLY MECHANISED AND THERE IS A DECLINE FROM SURFACE TO THE 752 METER LEVEL.
  • ORE IS DELIVERED BY ROAD TO THE GAI CONCENTRATOR, 2 KILOMETERS FROM THE GAYA MINE. THE CONCENTRATOR HAS INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY TO COPE WITH THE FULL MINE OUTPUT. CONSEQUENTLY IN 1990, APPROXIMATELY 750,000 METRIC TONS OF ORE WAS SHIPPED TO OTHER CONCENTRATORS IN THE URALS, NOTABLY: UCHALI, 303,000 METRIC TONS; SREDNEURALSK, 350,000 METRIC TONS; AND KIROVGRAD, 105,000 METRIC TONS. IN 1991, ORE WAS DELIVERED TO THE SIBAI CONCENTRATOR.

Reference information

Bibliographic references

  • Deposit

    GEOEXPLORERS PROPERTY LIST 1992.

  • Deposit

    STRISHKOV, E. M. THE COPPER INDUSTRY OF THE USSR. MINING

  • Deposit

    MAGAZINE, MAY 1979, P. 430-433.

  • Deposit

    SAMONOV, I. Z., AND POZHARISKY, I. F. DEPOSITS OF COPPER.

  • Deposit

    SMIRNOV, V. I., ED. ORE DEPOSITS OF THE USSR VOLUME 2.

  • Deposit

    PITMAN PUBLISHING, LONDON, 1977, V. 2, P. 151-158.

  • Deposit

    SUTULOV, A. MINERAL RESOURCES AND THE ECONOMY OF THE USSR.

  • Deposit

    MCGRAW-HILL PUBLICATION, NEW YORK, 1973, P. 137, 140-141.

  • Deposit

    COMMODITIES RESEARCH UNIT LIMITED, LONDON, THE COPPER,

  • Deposit

    LEAD, AND ZINC INDUSTRIES OF THE FORMER USSR, VOL. 2,

  • Deposit

    PP. 87-88 (1992).

Reporter information

Type Date Name Affiliation Comment
Reporter 16-APR-93 Porter, Kenneth E. U.S. Bureau of Mines

Beyond USGS

Supplemental information added by qvyshift.com. Not part of the original USGS MRDS record.

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