A.A. ALEXANDROV. N.A. ORLOV, G.V.CHERNOZUBOV, A.M. MAKAROV, F.D.LARICHKIN, V.S.DIDYK
LLC "PhosAgro-Marketing", FSUE "Arcticmorneftegazrazvedka",IEP KSC RAS

Developing prospecting operation and further exploitation of Arctic Shelf oil & gas deposits brings to light the demand of weighting materials in large volume.

The analysis of Kola region mineral raw material base and infrastructure show us the abilities and expediency of industrial production of weighting materials from local raw materials with high quality but rather cheap costs.

Barite is optimal weighting material for boring, suitable for all demands and parameters of the process. But the price of import barite or Russian analogue is higher than 3000 rubles per ton.(transportation costs from point of production is included). JSC "Khoilinskiy GOK"(Vorkuta region) begins the market deliveries of high quality barite concentrate (particularly for FSUE "Arcticmomeftegazrazvedka"). The price is 3300 rubles per ton (transportation costs and VAT are included).

In Kandalaksha district of the Murmansk region (near Alakurtti) in 1970-80 large barite and rear earth deposit Sallanlatva were explored on research-evaluative stage. Total reserves of barite ores are estimated at 160 million tons, of them about 13 million tons in weathering zone ( more barite content and available for mining without blast-hole drilling). Average content BaSC>4 in ore of weathering crust is 13,2 %.

Technological investigations of ore concentrating were accomplished in different time by the institutes "Mekhanobr", "Giredmet" and Mining Institute of Kola Scientific Centre of Russian Academy of Science. The results demonstrated the principal possibility to obtain standard barite concentrate of boring sorts by magnet-flotation method with application of different reagents. Barite obtained by this way has a whole series of defects in comparing with barite, obtained by other ways without reagent (gravitation, separation and others). Therefore, today Mining Institute of Kola Scientific Center of Russian Academy of Science begins the pilot processing of Sallanlatva barite (core sample 300 kg) by dressing without reagent.

For reducing the cost of waiting material (barite) especially for production drilling the using of combined weighting materials in boring solutions is expedient. Approximate ratio of barite and cheaper titanium-magnetite ore aegirine concentrates may be 1:1 (as in magbar). These concentrates are producing in Central Laboratory of JSC "Apatit" Now laboratory work at optimization of quality of the product (Granulation characteristics, Humidity and others). Creation industrial capacities of production of cheap weighting materials from Kola region local mineral raw materials reduce expenses of boring operation and increase the level of comprehensive processing of apatite-nepheline ores of Khibiny deposits.

ARCTIC SHELF OIL AND GAS CONFERENCE 2004