ORE BEARING OF THE NOVOVYSUNSKA SITE

Abstract

Information on the geological structure and ore-bearing capacity of the Novovysunska site, which is located within the western part of the West-Ingulets interblock zone near the village of Nova Vysun, Bashtan district, Mykolaiv region, is provided. The Novovysunska site is confined to the massif of crystalline basement rocks of the same name. The ore-bearing of the area is represented by deposits of ilmenite, apatite, zircon and vermiculite in various petrotypes of crystalline basement rocks, their weathering crusts and clay deposits of the Lower-Upper Pliocene of marine genesis. On the basis of the geological reports, a target database was created (coordinates, description and results of testing wells for ilmenite, apatite, zircon) on the basis of which cartographic constructions were made. The structural (relief of the top and of the bottom surface, thickness) and material (lateral and vertical distribution of ilmenite, apatite, zircon) parameters of the ore-bearing rocks of the crystalline basement, weathered crust and redbrown clays of the Lower-Upper Pliocene were studied. The direction and strength of correlations between minerals and structural parameters of ore-bearing rocks have been clarified. The distribution of the content of ilmenite, apatite and zircon in the vertical section of wells that revealed the weathering crust of crystalline rocks of various petrotypes (hornblendites, gabro-monzonites, pyroxenites, porphyry granites) was studied, and the direction and strength of the correlations of the content of these minerals were determined. It was established that the correlations between the structural parameters in the rocks of the crystalline foundation, of the weathering crust and of the red-brown clays of the Neogene are direct and mostly strong, whereas there are correlations of different directions and strengths between the minerals in the studied rocks. As a result of the research, it was found that the main minerals of practical interest are ilmenite and apatite in the montmorillonite-hydromica zone of the weathering crust of the crystalline rocks of the foundation of the basic and ultrabasic composition. The research results indicate that the Novovysunska site, after additional geological exploration, may be of interest as an object of the second stage of exploitation. The obtained results can serve as a basis for evaluating the ore-bearing potential of similar geological objects with an emphasis on the ore-bearing potential of the montmorillonite-hydromica zone of the weathering crust.