Residents of the Trud i Znanie village, Zverinogolovsky District of Kurgan Region visited the Uksyanskoe village and JSC Dalur

The Trud i Znanie village is located to the area of future development of uranium deposit Dobrovolnoye closer than the other settlements. Therefore, it is natural that the village had a lot of questions on the safety of works for themselves and the environment. The specialists of JSC Dalur and the village of Uksyanskoye completely dispelled all doubts.

We shall recall that JSC Dalur obtained the right to use this section of the subsoil of federal significance (the Dobrovolnoye uranium deposit in Zverinogolovsky District) pursuant to Order No. 1131-p of the Government of the Russian Federation. The Federal Agency for Subsurface Use has issued the corresponding license to the enterprise. Currently, the enterprise develops two fields in the region – Dalmatovskoye deposit in the same district and Khokhlovskoye field in Shumikhinskiy district. At year-end 2016, 591 tonnes of uranium were mined, which corresponds to the indicator of 2015. Phased commissioning of the Dobrovolnoye deposit will allow the company increasing the production volume annually to 700 tones of metal needed by the Russian nuclear industry by 2025.

The guests visited social infrastructure facilities built in the Uksyanskoye village, an in-situ leaching landfill, a local sorption plant and, of course, the main production building of the enterprise. The specialists explained the village of Trud i Znanie the uranium production process in detail focusing the topics which previously discussed by the residents of Zverinogolovsky District.

“The wells construction and production, geological and hydrogeological conditions of the deposit, first of all, a depth of occurrence and isolation of ore-bearing formations from the overlying beds exclude ingress of productive solutions in the River Tobol and the round waters. The productive (leaching) solution used for deposits development is not a concentrated sulfuric acid as somebody can imagine. Sulfuric acid content in the solution is 0.5-0.6% or 5-6 g/l in total. For understanding: This solution may be practically fearlessly spill, for example, on the hand. No eating effect. If there is a scratch on the hand – bite for a while. Indeed, this should not be done. However, it is not even a solution containing, for instance, in batteries (when spillage, trousers will be eaten), but much weaker. It must be talked of one more important feature of the method of downhole in-situ leaching. Studies carried out during 13 years at the Irkol deposit in Southern Kazakhstan proved that: residual solutions are neutralized for a minimum period. It can be even said that the nature sets an additional (except for existing rocks and clay) barrier against their further spread. Going beyond the limits of the uranium deposit, the productive solution turns into gypsum. And inside the ore-bearing horizon, the natural hydrogeochemical medium is self-recovered after the completion of the deposit development, residual solutions are demineralized,” said Denis Yezhurov, Production Director of JSC Dalur.

The specialists of the enterprise arranged a short geological excursion on the structure of all three deposits including Dobrovolnoye, uranium deposit in the Kurgan Region. All of them are located in the bed of the river flowing here 140 million years ago. The river bottom and banks are a crystalline rock foundation that almost held and holds water and any other liquid. And directly over the deposit there is a layer of brick clay of 100-120 m thick. Thus, the uranium deposits are, in fact, completely isolated from the aquifers. The field is confined by rocks from bottom and sides, and capped with water-resistant clays on the top.

At the round-table meeting the executives and employees of JSC Dalur answered the remaining questions of the village of the Trud i Znanie. Therefore, it was explained to the guests that uranium mining will not affect the medical properties of Gorkoe Lake located near the village of the Sosnovaya Roshcha (Pine Grove) health resort. The surface production and processing plant will not have such impact due to minimum production waste and emissions, the absence of dumps, slurry storage and a sufficiently great (20 km) distance to the lake, and the process of downhole in-situ leaching - due to the absence of the connection between the ore-bearing horizon and surface waters.

“For a long time I worked as a hydrogeologist at the mining enterprises of our country. However, I have never been at such a modern and environmentally safe enterprise as JSC Dalur. Here people really care for the environment protection. I would like to say for all the participants in the excursion - we have no doubts about the safety of the works at the Dobrovolnoye deposit, and many, and I among them, would like to work for the deposit development,” said the resident of the Trud i Znanie village, retired Natalia Vladislavovna Tarasova.