Mineral Resources of Koryak-Kamchatka Region, Russia , Prospects for Development, and Regulatory Climate

By

Y. Garaschenko, A.F. Litvinov, and I.D. Petrenko (Russian Ministry of Natural Resources)

The Kamchatka Peninsula contains at least $25 billion (USD) in mineral wealth—documented by more than 50 years of mineral exploration. Important mineral resources include those of gold, silver, platinum, nickel, other metallic and non-metallic commoditites. Proven reserves in the high grade Aginskoe, Ametistovoe, Asachinskoe, and Rodnikovoe epithermal deposits contain more that 150 t of gold and about 600 t of silver. An additional twenty (20) promising gold-silver occurrences contain an estimated 1,000 t of gold resources. Most discovered deposits are under licenses to private companies; however, a lack of capital has prevented their development. Platinum is being mined in the Seinav-Gal-moenanski district. These deposits are derived from zoned mafic-ultramafic complexes of the Ural-Alska type. The district contains 50 t of proven PGE reserves; 28 t PGE has been mined since 1994. Copper-nickel (PGE) deposits, are concentrated within the Shanuch deposit and in the Duckuk-Kuvalorog- Kvinum ore district. Kamchatka region contains many industrial minerals,including large and high quality volcanic-hosted zeolite and perlite deposits. Twelve promising oil and gas districts that cover about 200 thousand km2 on land and about 140 thousand km2 on the marine shelf contain an estimated at16 billion m3 of gas. Operating brown coal mines in Kamchatka include Korfski, and Gorelovski, deposits. Geothermal resources in the Mutnovskoe and Koshelevskoe steam fields, the former now under development near Petropavlovsk, can generate up to 250 MW of electric power. A gas pipe line from the west coast to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski is under construction. Resources of fresh, mineral and thermal waters throughout Kamchatka forms a basis for the creation of health centers with international importance. The regulatory and investment climate for the development of Kamchatka’s mineral resources will be discussed during the presentation.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90008©2002 AAPG Pacific Section/SPE Western Region Joint Conference of Geoscientists and Petroleum Engineers, Anchorage, Alaska, May 18–23, 2002.