Resources of quartz raw materials, Gargan block, East Sayan quartzite-bearing area

Abstract

The evaluation (according to structural and geochemical rock properties ) of the quartzites from the East Sayan quartzite-bearing area as a potential source of quartz raw material for crystalline silicon and optical glass manufacturing can significantly expand the forecast resources of this type of raw materials. The geological structure of the Irkut Formation, productive of high-purity quartzites is specified within the Oka-Urik, Urengenur and Urdagargan quartz-bearing areas; geological, mineralogical-petrographic and geochemical characteristics of the main quartzite types are given, the main morphological features of productive high-purity quartzite bodies are specified to predict their occurrence at depth. The major factors in the formation of high-purity quartzite bodies include: 1) quartzites are accumulated in the siliceous-carbonate sequence of the Middle Riphean Irkut Formation within a broad but isolated basin; 2) high-purity quartzite bodies are produced as a result of dynamic recrystallization due to the deformation of primary microquartzites resulting from the collision of the Dunzhugar island arc with the Gargan microcontinent margin. Within the western part of the East-Sayan quartz-bearing area, quartzite reserves as a potential source for silicon metallurgy and production of optical glass were estimated as 134 mln tons.