Technical and Economic Assessment of the Raw Material Base of the Phosphate Fertilizer Industry in Western Siberia

V. B. Buran

At present, only nitrogen fertilizers are produced in Western Siberia; phosphatic and potash fertilizers are brought in from the European part of the USSR and the Urals. Calculated per hectare of sown area, fertilizer output reaches 50 kg of standard fertilizers. However, the overwhelming share of them is shipped out of the region, and agriculture in Western Siberia uses less than one-tenth of the mineral fertilizers produced.

Deliveries of phosphatic and potash fertilizers from other economic regions make it possible to improve somewhat the provision of fertilizers for agriculture in the region. At the same time, the need for them is covered only slightly. In 1964, in the West Siberian economic region (excluding Tyumen Oblast), an average of 2 kg of fertilizer, calculated as nutrient substance, or 10 kg in standard fertilizers, was applied per 1 ha of arable land. The need of agriculture for mineral fertilizers was satisfied by less than 10%. This circumstance could not fail to affect the fact that, while possessing 16.5% of the sown areas under grain crops in the Russian Federation, the economic region produced only 10.5% of the republic’s gross grain harvest. The situation is similar for sugar beet production: the corresponding ratios are 4 and 1.6; for vegetables, 7.1 and 6.1.

The further development of agricultural production in Western Siberia is closely connected with solving the problem of supplying it with mineral fertilizers, especially phosphatic ones, since the land fund of the region is represented mainly by podzolic soils, in increasing the fertility of which phosphatic fertilizer plays a special role.

At present, all deposits of phosphate raw materials that are being exploited or prepared for exploitation are located in the European part of the USSR, as well as in the Aktyubinsk and Dzhambul oblasts of Kazakhstan. At the same time, more than 80% of soluble phosphatic fertilizers are produced from apatite concentrate of the Khibiny apatite-nepheline ores.

In the long term, relying only on the apatites of the Kola Peninsula for the further development of the phosphate-fertilizer industry is unlikely to be justified, since their resources are limited.

Under these conditions, the techno-economic assessment of the development of phosphate resources in the eastern regions of the Union, in particular the Siberian phosphorite deposits, is of definite interest.

The balance reserves of phosphate raw material identified in Siberia amount to no more than 1.1% of Union reserves; however, the prospects for reserve growth are very encouraging. In addition, more than 50% of the Union reserves of phosphate raw material contained in complex ores are concentrated in Siberia, from which apatite concentrate can be obtained as a by-product of beneficiation.

The exploitation of only three phosphate raw-material deposits of Eastern Siberia—the Beloziminskoye, Seybinskoye, and Kruchininskoye deposits—makes it possible to meet the prospective phosphorus requirements of Eastern Siberia and the Far East [2]. Consequently, the phosphorus requirements of Western Siberia can be met through exploitation of the West Siberian phosphorite deposits (Belkinskoye and Verkhuzasskoye) and of the Tamalyk and Obladzhanskoye deposits of Eastern Siberia, which are located in close proximity to the border of Western Siberia.

A substantial influence on the supply of phosphate raw material in Western Siberia may be exerted by the processing of brown ironstones in ferrous metallurgy that contain phosphorus. The prospects for the development of ferrous metallurgy in Western Siberia are associated with the development of phosphoritic iron ores of the Lisakovskoye, Ayatskoye, and, in the longer term, Bakcharskoye deposits. The ore of the Bakcharskoye deposit contains 1.36% \(P_2O_5\). According to geological forecasts, the reserves of iron ore in the West Siberian iron-ore basin are estimated at 110 billion tons. Consequently, the reserves of phosphate raw material, recalculated to 100% \(P_2O_5\), in the iron ore of the West Siberian iron-ore basin amount to about 1.5 billion tons.

A comparison of phosphorus requirements and the capacity of the phosphate raw-material base makes it possible to characterize the supply of Western Siberia with phosphate raw material (Table 1).

The data in Table 1 indicate the possibility of meeting Western Siberia’s demand for phosphate raw material from local resources in the near and more distant future. The fertilizer requirement under 1970 conditions can be met through exploitation of the Belkinskoye and Verkhuzasskoye karst phosphorites.

For 1980, the growing demand for phosphate raw material may be met by one of the following variants: 1) either through mining both bedded and karst phosphorites of the Belkinskoye deposit; 2) or through mining only the karst phosphorites of the Belkinskoye and Verkhuzasskoye deposits, with the supply of phosphate slags and the import of Tamalyk and Obladzhanskoye phosphate raw material from Eastern Siberia.

In the longer term, the region’s requirements for phosphate raw material can be covered from local resources only on condition that the bedded and karst phosphorites of the Belkinskoye deposit are mined, together with either simultaneous mining of the Verkhuzasskoye deposit or the supply of phosphate slags to agriculture.

In the near future, the raw-material possibilities of the region will generally permit phosphate raw-material requirements to be met from local sources, with some supplies of raw material from Eastern Siberia. The choice of variants for supplying the West Siberian economic region with phosphate raw material depends on the techno-economic indicators of bringing into economic circulation the raw-material bases of the phosphate-fertilizer industry that have been considered.

To determine the degree of efficiency in the use of phosphate raw material in Western Siberia, it is necessary to compare the technical-and-economic indicators for development of the West Siberian phosphate base with the indicators

Table 1

Supply of phosphate raw material for the phosphate-fertilizer industry of Western Siberia

for developing phosphate-raw-material deposits in Eastern Siberia, Kazakhstan, and the Northwest—the Khibiny deposit of apatite-nepheline ores.

Phosphorite concentrate in Western Siberia may be obtained by beneficiating the bedded phosphorites of the Belkinskoye deposit; in Eastern Siberia, by beneficiating the granular-shell phosphorite ores of the Guryevskoye deposit and the phosphorites of the Tamalykskoye and Seybinskoye deposits. Production of apatite concentrate in Siberia can be organized only at the East Siberian apatite deposits—Slyudyanskoye and Oshurkovskoye—and by beneficiating the complex ores of the Beloziminskoye and Kruchininskoye deposits, also located in Eastern Siberia. According to studies carried out at NIUIF and GIGKhS, the concentrates obtained from the raw material of the deposits considered are suitable for the production of soluble fertilizers.

The technical-and-economic indicators for producing apatite and phosphorite concentrate from the raw material of different deposits are not the same, owing to differences in mining-and-geological conditions, the content of \(P_2O_5\) in the ore, the degree of beneficiability, and the scale of production. In terms of technical-and-economic indicators, Belkinskoye phosphoconcentrate is inferior to the Tamalykskoye and Seybinskoye concentrates, as well as to the Oshurkovskoye, Beloziminskoye, and Kruchininskoye apatite concentrates. Only the production of Guryevskoye phosphoconcentrate and Slyudyanskoye apatite concentrate is more expensive (Table 2).

Table 2

Reduced national-economic costs per 1 t of \(P_2O_5\) in apatite and phosphorite concentrate in Siberia, Kazakhstan, and the North-West
(calculated according to data from LenNIIGiprohim, NIUIF, the Kola Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and the Krasnoyarsk Geological Administration)

The data in Table 2 also indicate that the production of Belka phosphoconcentrate costs 3.6 times more than the production of Kirov apatite concentrate from rich ores, and 2 times more than from

Table 3

Reduced national-economic costs per 1 t of \(P_2O_5\) in karst phosphorites of Siberia, Kazakhstan, and the Urals
(calculation performed according to data from LenGiprokhim, NIUIF, and the Krasnoyarsk Geological Administration)

poor ores, and 60.6% more expensive than the production of phosphoconcentrate in Kazakhstan from the Karatau phosphorites.

The Tamalyk deposit, located in immediate proximity to the border of Western Siberia, has more favorable technical and economic indicators for the production of phosphoconcentrate than the Belka deposit. In particular, the reduced national-economic costs for producing Tamalyk phosphoconcentrate under the conditions of Eastern Siberia are only 9.9% higher than those for producing Karatau phosphoconcentrate in Kazakhstan. Consequently, the Tamalyk deposit represents an effective reserve for strengthening the phosphate raw-material base of Western Siberia.

Of particular interest are the karst phosphorites of Western Siberia, which are suitable in their natural form for producing phosphorus by the electrothermal method. In Siberia, the resources of karst phosphorites are represented by the Belka, Seiba, Tamalyk, Telek, Obladzhan, and Sarma deposits, as well as by the Bogradskoe, Teploklyuchevskoe, and Byrosinskoe deposits, which are still under study.

In terms of reduced national-economic costs, the development of the Belka karst phosphorites provides significant savings in comparison with all East Siberian deposits, except for the Obladzhan deposit (Table 3).

Development of the Belka deposit for karst phosphorites is 1.6–1.9 times cheaper than development of all East Siberian deposits except Obladzhan, where the reduced national-economic costs are 14.4% lower. In comparison with the Karatau phosphorites, the Belka karst phosphorites are 1.5 times cheaper; in comparison with the Aktyubinsk phosphorites, 3.4 times cheaper; and in comparison with the Verkhnekamsk phosphorites, 1.8 times cheaper.

Thus, Western Siberia possesses highly efficient resources of karst phosphorites and substantial resources of less efficient bedded phosphorites. The raw-material base of the phosphate-fertilizer industry of Western Siberia can be strengthened through the joint exploitation, alongside the West Siberian series, of East Siberian deposits located at an insignificant distance from the Belka deposit. Among them are:

1. The Tamalyk deposit, which, in comparison with the Belka deposit of bedded phosphorites, makes it possible to obtain phosphate concentrate with lower national-economic costs.

2. The Obladzhan deposit, whose development for karst phosphorites, in comparison with development of the Belka deposit for karst phosphorites, makes it possible to obtain ore at lower cost.

REFERENCES

1. M. K. Mazurov. Economic prerequisites and prospects for the industrial development of nepheline ores of the Khibiny massif. In: Materials of the conference devoted to the raw-material base of the apatite industry on the Kola Peninsula, March 12–13, 1964. Moscow, 1965, p. 167.

2. M. A. Tarakanov. Technical and economic assessment of the phosphate raw materials of Eastern Siberia and their significance for the regions of Siberia and the Far East. In: Proceedings of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Economics Series, No. 5, issue 2, 1966.