Structure of the mining industry

The mining industry is a branch of the national economy that specializes in the extraction (and enrichment) of mineral resources.

The structure of the mining industry:

fuel industry;
mining chemical industry;
mining industry;
extraction of construction raw materials;
extraction of precious and semi-precious stones and metals.

Mining technologies

The modern mining industry uses a variety of methods for extracting minerals:

1. Deposits of minerals located on the surface or in near-surface layers of the Earth's surface are being developed open way by the method of forming pits (quarries) with a depth and area commensurate with the volume of mineral deposits. Limestone, marble, granite, ores (copper, iron and others) are mined in a similar way.
2. Fossils occurring at considerable depths are mined using mine developments. Most often, mine developments are built for the extraction of coal, precious metals and precious stones.
3. Gaseous and liquid raw materials are extracted using wells on the surface of the earth and on the shelf of the seas. Produced compounds reach the surface through pipes laid in the borehole of a drilled well by injecting water or steam into the well.
4. One of the extraction methods (for example, uranium) is leaching. It is based on the introduction with the help of a cluster of wells into uranium-containing rocks solvents, which, after the dissolution of uranium-containing minerals, come to the surface.
5. Another technology that allows the extraction of metal ores is the processing of groundwater containing dissolved metal salts. Also, this technology is used to produce iodine, bromine, lithium, rubidium, cesium, boron, strontium salt and so on.

Currently, technologies are being developed for extracting minerals from the bottom of the seas and oceans, as well as from sea water.

The technologies of the future will also include technologies for the extraction of minerals from extraterrestrial objects.

It appears to be a promising extraction technology chemical elements from any breeds by the method of separating elements and their compounds according to "shelves". With the creation of such a technology, ore geology will cease to exist as an industry and continue to exist as a scientific direction in geology.

The quality of minerals (for example, the composition and properties of iron ore) depends on the method of extraction, as well as the amount and content of impurities.

Main types of mining enterprises

The peculiarity of the mining industry is that in the place of explored deposits of minerals, complex measures are carried out, consisting in:

deposit evaluation;
collection of information for drawing up a project for the development of the deposit;
organization of a mining enterprise at the site of deposits according to the project.

Depending on the type of mineral development, mining enterprises are as follows:

mine - underground mining method;
mine - quarries, pits (sometimes the term "mine" means several quarries or mines united under common management);
quarry - an open-pit mining enterprise (a quarry in which coal is mined is called a cut);
mine - an enterprise that develops alluvial deposits;
oilfield - enterprises specializing in the extraction of oil and gas.

Section 1. History of the mining industry.

mining industry is a set of industries engaged in exploration and production ( mining) minerals, as well as their primary processing and obtaining a semi-finished product (mining processing).

History of the mining industry

In the mining industry, the main groups are distinguished industries: mineral energy raw materials (petroleum industry, gas industry, coal industry, peat industry, oil shale industry, uranium industry, geothermal); ores of ferrous and alloying metals (iron ore industry, manganese ore industry, chromium industry, tungsten industry, molybdenum industry, vanadium industry); non-ferrous ores metals(aluminum industry, copper industry, nickel industry, tin industry, lead-zinc industry, antimony industry); mining and chemical industry (extraction of apatite, potash salts, nepheline, saltpeter, sulfur pyrites, boric ores, phosphate raw materials); non-metallic industrial raw materials and building materials— graphite, asbestos (asbestos industry), gypsum, clay, granite, dolomite, limestone, quartz, kaolin, marl, chalk, feldspar; precious and ornamental stones (diamond industry); hydromineral (mineral groundwater).

The development of the mining industry and its location industries are due to both natural (the presence in the bowels of sufficient mineral resources of the required quality), and socio-economic factors. In pre-socialist formations, the development of the mining industry was spontaneous. Mining industries began to take shape in the 16th-18th centuries. on the basis of the disintegration of medieval handicrafts, the transformation of miners-artisans into hired workers and the emergence of capitalist mining and mining and metallurgical manufactories. For individual branches of the mining industry this ended with the development of capitalist relations (late 18th century through the first half of the 19th century). The industrial revolution of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. served as an incentive to increase the extraction of mineral raw materials, which included until the 2nd half of the 19th century. only solid minerals. With the development of metallurgy, it increased for ore and for coke burning and the use of mineral fuel in the redistribution.

An even bigger purchaser hard coal was steam power. A large amount of coal required railway transport. The demand for precious metals also increased. All this led to the rapid development of the relevant branches of the mining industry. The average annual world production of mining products increased in the 60s. 19th century to 225.3 million tons compared with the average annual production of 17.3 million tons for the first 20 years of the 19th century. During these years, the share of the coal industry accounted for 80-83% of all extracted products of the mining industry.

It occupied a leading position in the extraction of coal and other types of minerals. Between 1820 and 1850, England alone accounted for an average of about 65% of the world's coal and tin ore production, and about 50% of iron, copper, and lead ores. In 1860-70, the share of Europe continued to prevail in the extraction of coal, iron, manganese, lead and tin ores, phosphorites, and native sulfur. In the 70s. 19th century thanks to the rapid development of the countries of Central Europe and US share of products coal industry Britain decreased to 52% of world coal production.

The use of mineral raw materials acquired a huge scale at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, during the transition of industrially developed capitalist countries to imperialism. The predominance of certain types of energy raw materials in the world capitalist economy caused fundamental changes in the structure of the world mining industry. In the 20th century, industrial and gas industries began to develop rapidly. In the mining industries, the concentration of production increases sharply, in the capitalist countries large mining monopolists are created. In 1893, the Rhenish-Westphalian coal syndicate was formed in the Republic of Germany, which in 1910 controlled 94.5% of Ruhr coal production. The mining industry quickly monopolized USA, whose share in world mining production increased from 2.4% at the beginning of the 19th century. up to 42% by the beginning of the 1st World War 1914-18. The expansion of demand for mineral raw materials in the face of increased competition led to an intensive search for new, cheaper sources.

Special attention monopolists imperialist states were attracted by the mineral wealth of the colonial and dependent countries, where there were many untapped mineral reserves and cheap work force. As a result, in period, preceding the 1st World war(1900-13), there has been a tendency to reduce the share Europe in the extraction of traditional minerals. A significant role in this was played by the discovery and development of new deposits of manganese ores in India, phosphorites in North Africa (Algeria, Tunisia), non-ferrous ores metals in countries Latin America(Peruvian Republic, Republic of Chile), development of bauxite mining in USA and complex copper-nickel ores in Canada, bringing large deposits into operation sulfur on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

Since the mid-1920s, at the first stage of the general crisis of capitalism, when the struggle between monopolists imperialist states for sources of raw materials and the most profitable areas for capital investment, there was a further decrease in Europe's share in the world production of iron ores and non-ferrous metal ores (, lead,), this region finally lost its role as the largest supplier of tin and phosphorites. At that time, the share of the United States in the extraction of cuprum ores (due to the development of the copper ore industry in African countries) and bauxite decreased as a result of the development of the American capital large deposits discovered in 1915 in Dutch Guiana (modern) and in 1917 in British Guiana (modern). The share of the countries of the flaming continent, Asia and Africa in the total production of the mining industry has significantly increased. South America getting big supplier black gold (mainly due to the development of rich deposits of the Lake Maracaibo basin in Venezuela), ores cuprum, lead and zinc. The specific gravity is increasing Asia in coal mining (expanding the exploitation of deposits in China, Japan, India), black gold(fields in Indonesia, Iran and Iraq), iron ore(Place of Birth India and China), lead ore (deposits of Burma), graphite (deposits of Korea). On the African continent, exploration work has begun and rich deposits of manganese ores are being developed on the Gold Coast (modern Ghana) and in the Union of South Africa (modern South Africa), extensive industrial development of diamond deposits is being carried out in the Congo and gold Bereg, development of new iron ore deposits in northern, western and southern Africa; deposits of uranium-radium ores were discovered in the Congo. The influence of the monopolists in the mining industry has increased even more. In the early 30s of the 20th century in the United States, one organization united 50% oil production, 4 organizations— 60% of iron ore mining, 6 companies — 90% of anthracite mining. AT Federal Republic of Germany 10 companies concentrated 45% of coal mining. Bauxite mining and aluminum production in the US and Canada were the monopolist of the largest aluminum association of enterprises "Aluminium Comp. of America" ("Alcoa"). AT England, Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and French production aluminum was monopolized by 85-90%, and almost all products belonged in each of these countries to one firms.

At the 2nd stage of the general crisis capitalism, which began in the late 30s - early 40s, there was a further intensification of inter-imperialist contradictions between the United States and Western Europe in the field of providing sources of mineral raw materials. During the 2nd World wars 1939-45 in countries whose territories were not covered by hostilities, there was an increase in the extraction of mineral raw materials (mainly due to the loading of reserve capacities and the involvement in the operation of lower-grade ores). After the war, mining in the leading capitalist states, especially in the United States, began to decline. In 1948, signs of a rapidly growing economic crisis. Coal mining in the capitalist countries decreased in 1948-49 by 12.5%, continuing to decline in subsequent years.

In the coal industry, incomplete work week with a corresponding reduction wages workers. In 1949, many US coal mines only worked 3 days a week. Production in other sectors of the mining industry also declined. Thus, the extraction of iron ore in the USA decreased by 16% in 1949 compared with 1948. 3rd stage of the general crisis capitalism was marked by the collapse of the colonial system, the struggle of developing countries to establish control over their own natural resources. Under the prevailing conditions, the industrially developed capitalist states were forced to change the tactics of exporting raw materials and fuel from the developing countries. They moved on to forms economic coercion, in particular through an extensive network of monopolistic business associations and their affiliates operating in developing countries.

A special place in this network was occupied by multinational corporations (MNCs), which created a kind of "non-colonial empire" of the international capital. They practically control the extraction, processing, and especially the international trade of many important minerals. American and Anglo-Dutch occupies key positions in the IOC, Japanese organizations have also become a major depositor in the mining industry. As the structure of American, Japanese and British investments in developing countries shows, these are directed primarily to oil production, ores of non-ferrous metals, iron or in the development of those types of minerals whose reserves are limited. This creates the prerequisites for obtaining high profits, especially in the case of predatory exploitation of concession areas without taking into account the natural possibilities of deposits, as well as an extremely low level of deductions in favor of the true owners of the subsoil.

Foreign firms, interested in the export of certain types of raw materials and fuel, in every possible way hold back the industrial growth of developing countries. For many years they pursued a policy aimed at breaking the unified technological process production of ferrous and non-ferrous metals, oil products, chemical goods, concentrating enterprises for the production of finished products in developed consumer countries. The entry of developing countries on the path of creating the foundations of an independent economy, expanding the positions of the public sector and limiting the scope of foreign capital as a result of nationalization and other measures enable these countries to more resolutely advocate for the establishment of a fair level of prices for minerals mined in their territories, for the revision of the terms of agreements with monopolists about exploitation natural resources. An example would be the activity oil exporting countries united in the company of black gold exporting countries, which in the early 70s. carried out a successful offensive against the positions of the oil cartel. The effectiveness of other organizations that unite commodity exporters from developing countries, in particular SIPEC (Intergovernmental Council of Exporting Countries cuprum) and IABS (International Bauxite Mining Countries).

The aggravation of the energy crisis, the main culprits of which were the oil monopolists, who sought through deliberate limitation supplies black gold to increase their profits, demonstrated the instability of the development of the leading capitalist countries, their inability to solve the most important problems of international economic relations. In their desire to replace sources of raw materials that are getting out of control in the territories of developing countries, as well as to exert political and economic pressure on these states, large monopoly trust USA, European countries economic community and Japan at the present stage, they rely on the development of the fuel industry in Canada, Australia, South Africa, Greenland, Alaska, Northern Scandinavia, the North Sea, as well as in developing countries with the smallest scope of the national liberation movement, i.e. in areas with a "politically stable climate" where they can count on the security of their investment. Orientation towards the accelerated development of mining in Canada and australia led to the creation of a powerful mining industry in them, which increased the share of these countries in the total cost mining products of the capitalist world from 4.5% in 1950 to 7.1% in 1982, i.e. more than 1.5 times. At the same time, the share of these states in the extraction of minerals, excluding energy raw materials, amounted to in the early 80s. about 20%. The current structure of the production of the world mining industry is characterized by a clear predominance (in value terms) of fuel and energy raw materials.

Cumulative price mining products (excluding socialist countries) was distributed between certain types mineral raw materials as follows (%): energy raw materials - 61.64, 13.44, coal 10.43, lignite 0.64, uranium 0.59; ores of ferrous and alloying metals - iron 2.18, molybdenum 0.27, manganese 0.16, tungsten 0.13, chromium 0.1; non-ferrous metal ores - copper 2.8, gold 1.78, tin 1.19, silver 0.43, lead 0.42, zinc 0.42, bauxite 0.42, nickel 0.32, platinum 0.18; non-metallic industrial raw materials - phosphorites 0.67, salt 0.52, potassium salt 0.4, asbestos 0.28, sulfur 0.27, kaolin 0.19, boron ore 0.12, talc 0.1, pyrites 0.05; precious stones - diamonds 0.47. These species account for about 98-99% total cost mined mineral raw materials, and for the rest - only 1-2%, although many of them are of no small importance for the development of scientific and technological progress and new areas of technology. The cost of mineral raw materials mined in 1982 increased compared to 1950 at current prices by 20 times, at constant prices ( , 1978) - by 8 times, and the volume of production (t) increased by the considered period almost 4 times. Thus, the average annual growth rate was determined at 4.5%, and in 1973-82 there was a decrease in this indicator to 1.7% per year. The extraction of the main types of mineral raw materials in 1950-78 is characterized by high growth rates of this indicator for non-metallic raw materials (% per year, in brackets - in 1973-78) - non-metallic minerals 5.3 (3.6), mineral energy raw materials 4.9 (2), metal ores 3.4 (0.1).

By the end of the 70s. the share of industrially developed capitalist countries in the total value of mining products in the capitalist world amounted to about 45%; their share in the production of energy raw materials in 1978 (%) - 41, incl. coal 94, lignite 96, natural gas 82, uranium 81, black gold 22. They accounted for about 63% of the extraction of metal ores, including over 99% of platinum group metals, 90-95% of ilmenite, rutile, zircon, gold, about 80% of manganese ore, about 70% lead, zinc, iron ores, 45-50% chromites, bauxites, ores of tungsten, cuprum, silver, about 70% of non-metallic raw materials. Developing countries are characterized high share in ore mining tin(90%), black gold (about 80%), diamonds (about 70%), a number of non-ferrous and rare metals. The output of the mining industry in these countries in 1950-78 (tons) increased 7 times, and its value (billion dollars) - 14.5 times; for energy raw materials, the increase was 8 and 19.5 times, respectively, and for other minerals, 2.5 and 3.8 times.

The development of established trends in the mining industry of the world (excluding the socialist countries) led to the fact that by the end of the 70s. the main producers of mineral raw materials were steel (in parentheses, the value of mining products in 1978, billion rubles). dollars): USA (73.9), (39.3), Iran(25.1), (14.7), England (12.3), Iraq (12), Libya (10.7), Republic of Venezuela (10.4), Germany (10), Nigeria (9.9) , Kuwait (9.8), Indonesia (9), South Africa (8.1), (7.4), Australia(7.3), UAE (7.2), Algeria (6.8), (6.4), France(2.8), (2.7). Among the leading producers of mineral energy raw materials are states in which production in 1978 amounted to billions of tons. dollars(share in brackets in world capitalist production,%): USA 65.1 (22.6), Saudi Arabia 39,3 (13,6), Iran 24.9 (8.6), Britain 12 (4.2), Iraq 12 (4.2), Libya 10.7 (3.7), Canada 10.3 (3.5), Republic of Venezuela 10.2 (3.5), Nigeria 9.9 (3.4), Kuwait 9.8 (3.43), Germany 9.4 (3.3), Indonesia 8.6 (3), United Arab Emirates 7, 2 (2.5), Algeria 6.7 (2.3). Among the countries that are large producers of non-energy minerals, the first 15 places (in the same indicators) are occupied by: USA 8.8 (20), South Africa 6.8 (15.4), Canada 4.4 (10), 3.1 (7) Republic of Chile 1,5 (3,4), 1,4 (3,2), Republic of Peru 1 (2,3), 1 (2,3), Mexico 0.9 (2), Zaire 0.9 (2), France 0.8 (1.8), Zambia 0.7 (1.6), Malaysia 0.7 (1.6), Morocco 0.6 (1.4), Germany 0.6 (1.4).

The uneven distribution of mining industries across individual continents and regions has led to varying degrees of self-sufficiency in mineral raw materials and fuel, as well as products of their processing, and thus led to the development of an active international trade in this region. Thus, the group of industrially developed capitalist countries as a whole by the beginning of the 80s. ensured the satisfaction of its needs (%) in energy and other minerals by about 60; while the corresponding figures for Australia were 108 and 162, for South Africa 91 and 100, for the USA and Canada 78 and 78, for Japan 6 and 6, for Western European countries 41 and 40. Developing countries extract mineral raw material several times more than they consume: on average, for this group of states, the degree of self-sufficiency in energy raw materials, metal ores, and others was at the end of the 70s. (%): 294, 381 and 299, incl. for African countries 556, 878 and 589; Asia 396, 239 and 385; Latin America 112, 402 and 133. B international trade Mining products account for the highest share of mineral energy raw materials (about 92% of the total value in 1981); metal ores and other raw materials account for 8%. The largest exporters of mineral raw materials in the world market the developing countries, which in 1981 accounted for 75% of world exports of these products (not counting the socialist countries), including 77% of energy minerals, come forward.

Mineral raw materials rank 1st in terms of tonnage in world trade. More than 150 million tons of coal are exported annually (without the socialist countries) (the volume exporting constantly growing), about 300 million tons of iron ores, tens of millions of tons of bauxite and alumina, phosphate raw materials, several million tons of manganese ores, chromites and other metal raw materials, and the total volume of the annual exporting approaching 2.5 billion tons. Significant volumes of transportation of raw materials and fuel between countries required the creation of an appropriate freight navy and above all tanker, the tonnage of which in 1981 was 346 million deadweight tons. In the 70s. the need for supertankers with a displacement of 150-200 thousand tons to 500 thousand tons and more increased. In the early 80s. increased demand on ships (with a displacement of 60-80 thousand tons) for the combined transportation of black gold, ore and other general cargo (ore-bulk-oil) - oil-ballers. The carrying capacity of special ships designed to transport ore (primarily iron ore) has increased to 180-250 thousand tons. Creation of a large-tonnage fleet, large volume transportation of mineral raw materials and fuel led to the construction of large specialized oil (several tens and hundreds of million tons) and ore ports (20-80 million tons). Along with the development of maritime transport, the role of pipeline transport, intended for the intracontinental supply of raw materials within one country and between countries, has sharply increased.

In terms of the scale of production, the mining industry of the capitalist world is one of the largest branches of industry. Thus, in capitalist and developing countries, about 90% of the extraction of 22 types of the most important minerals, excluding fuel and energy raw materials, falls on enterprises processing more than 150 thousand tons of ore annually. In the capitalist world in 1984 there were 668 large mines (including 193 with a capacity of 150-300 thousand tons, 125 - 300-500 thousand tons, 150 - 500-1000 thousand tons, 132 - 1-3 million tons, 68 - over 3 million tons) and 525 quarries (including 68 with a capacity of 150-300 thousand tons, 60 - 300-500 thousand tons, 85 - 500-1000 thousand tons, 118 - 1-3 million tons, 194 - over 3 million tons). The largest number of the largest mining enterprises concentrated in Canada, the USA, South Africa - about 50% of all mines and quarries with an annual capacity of 1-3 million tons or more.

In the 80s. the development of the mining industry is associated with a predominant transition to open-pit mining of deposits of solid minerals. Of the 1200 largest mining enterprises in the world, about 530 mine ore deposits in an open way, about 670 underground.

The ever-increasing demand for minerals raw material leads to the use of increasingly poorer raw materials, an increase in the volume of processed rock mass, the depths of mountain works and others that require improvement in the methods of extraction and processing technology of raw materials. In the oil industry of the mining industry, the depth of operating oil productive wells (the total number is about 600,000) has increased to 5-6 km or more. In the USA alone, more than 10,000 exploratory wells with a total length of 18-20 million meters are drilled annually. At the same time, hundreds of wells are drilled to a depth of more than 5 km, and some - up to 8-9 km; the cost of drilling one deep or ultra-deep well is several million dollars. The scale of construction of special drilling platforms and vessels for the production of geological exploration works and offshore oil and gas production. In order to increase the oil recovery factor, secondary, and in some cases, tertiary methods of oil production are widely used. Modern processes primary processing or enrichment of mineral metal and non-metallic raw materials made it possible to raise the level of enrichment enterprises to highly efficient production of marketable ore or concentrate. Every year the scale of active industrialization of the mining industry is expanding. The nature of the development of the mining industry and its relationship with other areas of the world economy affect the constant growth of mining production costs, the intensity of their increase, on the one hand, is constrained by the development of technology and technology, on the other hand, it is intensified by the tightening of environmental protection measures, the increasing limitation of new areas for prospecting for mineral deposits, increasing the energy intensity of production and the cost of energy. In this regard, the progress of the mining industry is mainly associated with the further development of traditional methods of extraction and primary processing of raw materials, which allow increasing the scale and degree of extraction, and with the introduction of fundamentally new technological schemes and technical solutions, for example, the creation of complexes for the development of ferromanganese nodules on the ocean floor, relatively inexpensive methods for extracting metals from sea waters, etc.

Mining industry is

Man began the development of the natural resources of the planet in ancient times. That is why the mining industry is the oldest branch of the world economy. The extraction and processing of various minerals allowed a person to discover a new world unlimited possibilities. Now this industry is the basis of all world production and brings the states the highest revenues to the budget.

A little about the main thing: description, features, characteristics

The global mining industry is a complex branch of the world economy, which is responsible for the extraction and enrichment various kinds mineral raw materials.

If we classify the industry by type of extracted minerals, we can distinguish the following areas:

mining and processing of metals (in turn divided into non-ferrous and ferrous metallurgy);
fuel industry (this includes all minerals that can serve as a source of energy: oil, gas, coal, oil shale);
mining and processing of non-metallic mineral raw materials (it also has many areas, for example, the chemical industry, the extraction of building materials, and so on);

Despite the fact that this industry occupies a small percentage in the structure of the world economy (about 8%), the mining industry is the main source of income for many states. This is due to the fact that the distribution of minerals on the planet is not the same, which means that some countries have an excess of mineral raw materials, while others experience a significant shortage. Trade between states makes it possible to obtain the necessary raw materials for the development of the economy and meet the needs of the population, as well as replenish the state budget through the sale of excess minerals.

Despite its profitability, this industry is quite difficult to master. The path from the extraction of raw materials to its sale is very complicated and depends on many conditions, both economic and natural. The location of the mining industry is influenced by three main factors:

Raw materials. The extraction and processing of mineral raw materials is accompanied by a huge amount of waste. So, for example, from several tens of tons of rock, you can get up to 5-10 kg pure product. Thus, transportation of rock to the place of processing will be a very costly and economically unprofitable procedure, and therefore all enterprises for the extraction, enrichment and processing of minerals are located directly near the deposits. This will avoid transport costs and significantly reduce the cost of the product.
Economic. This factor is aimed at the ratio of invested capital for the development of the industry and the expected profit.
Consumer. This factor is aimed at finding potential buyers who will be sold finished products. It is important to take into account that some types of raw materials are very difficult and costly to transport over long distances, which means that enterprises should be located directly closer to potential and real consumers.

All over the planet. Geography of industries

The geography of the mining industry is due to the uneven distribution of minerals on the Earth. The difference between the countries of the North and the South is especially noticeable:

Nordic countries (states North America and northern part of Eurasia). These territories can almost completely satisfy their needs for raw materials, this also applies to mineral minerals and fuels.
The southern countries are predominantly rich in one or two types of minerals (the exceptions are the countries of Africa and Australia). The island states are in a particularly bad situation, they often do not have any reserves of raw materials at all. Such countries are forced to meet their needs through trade.

Also, mining areas are classified according to the level of development of countries. For example, the highly developed countries of the world with stable and prosperous economies specialize in metal mining. And both black and rare and precious. Lead, chromium, molybdenum, zinc and, of course, gold stand out in particular.

Developing countries are doing well in the extraction of oil, tin, bauxite, copper and other minerals. It is noteworthy that after the "energy crisis" that shook Europe in the 1950s, many developed countries changed their policy on the extraction and development of their own deposits and switched to austerity. They fulfilled their needs at the expense of third world states, because they did not have the opportunity to develop their own bowels on their own. The attraction of foreign capital made it possible to begin the development of huge mineral deposits, which in turn led to significant economic growth and the creation of new jobs.

Palm tree. Leading countries in resource extraction

The essence of the world economy is that there is no identical development of the same industry in different countries. The mining industry is no exception. While some states hold the palm in the extraction of a particular resource and even have the opportunity to export the surplus, others can only hardly meet the needs of their country and are forced to buy the necessary raw materials.

Thus, 5 leaders have formed in the world, which extract about 70% of all the resources of our planet. Huge deposits of various minerals are concentrated on the territory of these countries (sometimes even the entire periodic table), but often the state specializes in only one or two types of raw materials. Also, production volumes do not depend on the territory, the country can be large and have many promising deposits, but the low level of the economy and undeveloped infrastructure do not allow them to start developing. But back to the leading countries:

Australia;
Canada;
China;
Russia.

As we can see, the first three countries are economically developed states, and the last two follow the path of post-socialism. In addition to the leaders, there are countries of the "second echelon", they have huge reserves of raw materials on their territory, but so far I do not have the opportunity to master them in full. However, they are diligently moving forward in this matter, mainly by attracting foreign capital and introducing private investment. These include Brazil, Kazakhstan, India, South Africa, Indonesia, Ukraine and Mexico.

Completing the list of leaders of the "third tier" countries, they can boast of one, maximum two mining industries: Saudi Arabia, Chile, Kuwait, Morocco, Zambia, Jamaica, Peru, Guinea.

And now a detailed list of minerals and leading countries in the extraction of one or another type of raw material:

Copper. The mining industry in Africa is based on this type of raw material, the largest deposits are concentrated in Zambia. Also leaders are Chile and Peru.
Tin. Huge deposits of this metal are concentrated in Southeast Asia, Malaysia and Indonesia are in the lead. And in South America Peru is in the lead.
bauxites. The leaders in production are the Caribbean country of Jamaica and the African state of Guinea.
Phosphorites. Most of the reserves are concentrated in Morocco, China, and also America.
Oil. There should definitely be the Persian Gulf countries - Iran and Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela also entered the top three.
Gas. Russia remains the absolute leader, but Iran and Qatar are in no way inferior to it.
Potassium. America, as well as neighboring Canada, is the leader in the extraction of this valuable mineral raw material. Russia has fairly good reserves of potassium salts.

Order matters everywhere. Branches and structure of the mining industry

The mining industry has its own structure, so it is much easier to classify industries, depending on the type of raw material being mined. The fact is that each mineral is mined in a special and specific way, but some of them have similar stages, for example, at the stage of development or enrichment. This allows you to clearly distinguish between types of activities by type of raw material, which is a very important aspect in the training of qualified personnel, as well as the design and creation of special equipment.

Consider the main sectors of the mining industry:

Fuel industry. This includes all types of raw materials, by burning which you can get the most valuable resource for humanity - energy. First of all, we are talking about oil and gas, because these are the best combustible minerals. More affordable types of fuel are coal (both hard and brown), various types of shale and, of course, peat.
Mining and chemical industry. Specializes in non-metallic raw materials. Basically, these are minerals that can be used as chemical or pharmaceutical raw materials. We are talking about such minerals as phosphorus, sulfur, arsenic, various types of salts, soda.
Mining industry. The most difficult and expensive industry, it is engaged in the extraction of metals, both ferrous and non-ferrous.
Extraction of building materials. Most often, waste from other industries is used as raw materials, but some types of minerals are developed independently. Basically, it is cement, shell rock, lime, basalt and all kinds of granite. The latter is used as finishing material.
Precious metals and stones, as well as the extraction of semi-precious minerals. This is the most elite branch of the mining industry. We are talking about diamonds, rubies, sapphires and other stones. From metals, naturally, gold, silver and, of course, platinum stand out.

Methods for the extraction of mineral raw materials. Industry technologies

Speaking about the mining industry of the world, one cannot fail to mention the main methods of extracting raw materials. The method of development depends on the type of deposit, as well as the technical capabilities of the country. Consider the most basic:

If the fossil lies on the surface or in the uppermost layers of the earth's crust, then its extraction can be carried out in the simplest and cheapest way - open. To extract raw materials from the bowels, pits or quarries are formed that cover the entire area of the deposit. Most often, building materials are mined this way, sometimes coal and iron.
For the extraction of minerals located in the deeper layers of the crust, the mine method is used. Basically, this is the development of deposits of coal, rare metals and precious stones.
If the mineral has a liquid or gaseous form, then mining is carried out through wells. Most often, this is the development of oil and gas reserves on the ocean shelves.
Many rare or radioactive elements can only be obtained by electrolysis or leaching, such minerals include uranium.
Many minerals are found in solution in sea or groundwater. In this way, it is possible to extract from water not only minerals such as iodine, rubidium, bromine, lithium, strontium, cesium, but also rare non-ferrous metals.

Now there is more active development of new types of extraction of minerals, for example, from sea water or from the bottom of the ocean. In the future, it is planned to extract minerals from extraterrestrial objects - on other planets, on satellites and asteroids, and even in outer space.

From extraction to processing. Mining enterprises

The peculiarity of this area of industry is that in the places of occurrence of explored minerals, not only mining is carried out, but also a number of complex measures. All work is as follows:

assessment of the capacity and reserves of the deposit;
collection of useful theoretical information, which is necessary for drawing up a detailed project of the field;
organization of a special enterprise at the site of deposits;

Thus, depending on the type of development of the feedstock, mining enterprises can be as follows:

mine - a classic method of underground mining;
mine - usually quarries or pits (sometimes it is a complex of various enterprises under a single management;
quarry - an enterprise where mining is carried out in an open way (if we are talking about coal, then a quarry is called a cut);
mine - an enterprise specializing in the extraction of placer minerals ( rare metals and stones)
fishing - this is usually called a complex of oil and gas wells.

And now let's dwell separately on the largest and most developed sectors of the mining industry.

The oldest and most profitable branch of the industry is ferrous metallurgy

The unequivocal leader of the mining industry is ferrous metallurgy. Look around, because we are surrounded by a huge amount of metal. It is already impossible to imagine a world in which there is no iron. Buildings, transport, equipment, household items - this metal is found almost everywhere. Separately, I would like to single out the leaders of this mining industry:

The largest basins are concentrated in Russia, Ukraine, as well as China and South Africa.
Russia, Germany, Japan, Ukraine and China are leading in the production and export of ferrous metals.
If we specifically consider the production of steel, then the first place is occupied by China and the union of the EU countries. But the largest corporation is located specifically in Luxembourg.

Valuable and rare. Metallurgy of non-ferrous metals

The second largest industry in the structure of the mining industry in the world. Let us dwell in more detail on the types of raw materials and countries that are leaders in extraction or processing:

bauxites. All the largest deposits of raw materials for the aluminum industry are concentrated in South America, namely: Guinea, Brazil and Jamaica. Australia can also be singled out separately.
Zinc. It is very rarely found in free form, most often it occurs as part of complex ores. Canada, the USA, Peru, India and China hold the lead in the smelting of this metal.
Lead. It also comes as one of the components of polymetallic conglomerates. The leading countries in mining and smelting are America and China.
Chile, Indonesia, Russia, the USA and Australia are involved in copper. You can also highlight Peru and China.
Nickel is mined in New Caledonia and smelted in Indonesia, Australia, Russia and Canada.
China is rich in tungsten (up to 70% of world volumes).
Gold is mined and smelted by countries on all continents: South Africa, Canada, China, Russia, Peru, USA.

Energy is the basis of production. Oil and gas

Another valuable and important resources mining industry are oil and gas. At present, there is a strong struggle for the possession of these types of fuel. Oil prices significantly affect the exchange rates of different countries, the political situation in the world, and even the specifics of relations between countries. The absolute leaders in this industry are all the countries located in the Persian Gulf, but Saudi Arabia and Iraq are firmly entrenched at the top of the list.

As for gas, this resource forms the basis of the mining industry in Russia and Qatar, which means that these countries dictate their own rules in the international arena for the sale and export of this fuel.

But on the other hand. The impact of the mining industry on the environment

Unfortunately, the development of the resources of our planet does not go unnoticed. The depletion of the Earth's interior causes irreparable damage to the stability of natural ecosystems. This is the main problem of the mining industry, which, although the leaders of the countries are trying, they still cannot finally solve. There is an active scientific and engineering activity, people are trying to come up with new ways of mining that could minimize the damage to the earth's crust. Work is constantly underway to find alternative sources of mineral raw materials and energy. But for now, all this is only possible in the future.

And on this moment The mining industry is the main direction of the world economy, on which the economies of most countries of the world are based.

The mining industry ensures the extraction of mineral fuels, ores of ferrous, non-ferrous, rare and precious metals, as well as non-metallic raw materials. The nomenclature of this industry includes dozens of types of fuel and raw materials. But it is based on the extraction of such fuels as oil, natural gas and coal, such types of ore raw materials as iron, manganese, copper, polymetallic, aluminum ores, such types of non-metallic raw materials as table, potash salts, phosphorites. In terms of production, coal, oil, and iron ore stand out, the world production of each of which exceeds 1 billion tons. Over 100 million tons of bauxite and phosphorites are mined, manganese ores - 25 million tons, and other types of ore raw materials - much less. For example, the world production of gold in recent years has been at the level of 2.5 thousand tons.

Between the countries of the North and the South, the extraction of various types of mineral raw materials is distributed unequally.

The countries of the North fully or almost completely meet their needs in coal, natural gas, polymetals, uranium, a number of alloying metals, gold, platinum, and potash salts. Consequently, the cargo flows of these types of mineral raw materials are mainly within this group of countries. For example, uranium suppliers are Canada, Australia, South Africa, potassium salts - Canada, Germany.

Along with this, the countries of the North only half meet their needs for iron, copper, manganese ores, chromites, bauxites, diamonds, importing the missing raw materials from the countries of the South. An example of this kind is iron ore, the extraction of which is approximately equally distributed among economically developed countries. (USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Sweden, Russia, Ukraine) and developing (China, Brazil, India, Venezuela, Liberia) countries. Every year, about 450 million tons of iron ore enter world trade, and the idea of the main "iron ore bridges" that have developed to date is as follows:

Australia → Japan

Australia → Western Europe

Brazil → Japan

Brazil → Western Europe

Canada → Western Europe.

Finally, a very strong dependence of the countries of the North on supplies from the countries of the South of oil, tin, cobalt and some other types of raw materials remains.

The international geographical division of labor in the mining industry has led to the fact that 8 major "mining powers", which account for more than 2/3 of the total production of raw materials and fuel. Four of them belong to the economically developed countries of the West - USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, two - to post-socialist and socialist countries - Russia and China, and two to developing Brazil and India. The mining industry has also developed in many other developed and developing countries. But for the most part they specialize in the extraction of one or two types of mineral raw materials: for example, Poland- coal, Chile- copper ore, Malaysia- tin ore.

mining industry- the most important primary sector, includes the extraction, processing and enrichment of mineral raw materials - energy, ore, mining and chemical, building materials. Its share in total industrial production and countries with economies in transition is 8-10% (in Australia, Norway and Canada 15-20%), in many - 30-50%, in some - over 80%, for example, the countries of the Persian Gulf, Zambia). The export quota of mining products in developed countries usually does not exceed 5% (the exceptions are the above-mentioned developed countries and South Africa), in developing countries from 15-20 to 80% or more.

In the 1970s there was a peak in the growth of prices for mineral raw materials, especially in 1973-1975. during the global commodity crisis. This affected the slowdown in the pace of developed countries and prompted them to revise the technological concept of production with the traditional use of significant volumes of raw materials. As a result, material and energy-saving technologies appeared, and in the 1980s. the developed world has significantly reduced the consumption of ore raw materials. This could not but affect the overall downward trend in the dynamics of prices for many types of metals, which persists at the present time.

The general trend in the development of the mining industry can be considered the deepening of the degree of processing of raw materials in the places of its extraction.

The extraction and use of energy resources is the most essential element of the productive forces. To a large extent, the presence fuel resources is the most important prerequisite for progressive and sustainable economic growth. In the world consumption of energy sources, the leading place belongs to oil (47%), the second - to coal (26%), the third - to natural gas (22%).

The oil and, especially, gas industry is the most dynamic among the extractive industries. The export quota in the oil industry averages 40-50% (in Russia - 30%), in the gas industry - 40%. Oil and gas consumption in developed countries is significantly dependent on imports from other countries and regions: in the EU - by 60%, in the USA and Canada - by 25%, in Japan - by more than 90%. The current period is marked by an increase in energy prices, especially oil, which is due to an increase in energy consumption in the US, the EU, China and Southeast Asia, as well as the military-political situation in the Persian Gulf.

Materials used in the mining industry. Global Mining Industry: Industries, Resources, Placement