Humanity would not have a tenth of its knowledge and wealth, if it had not once learned how to use minerals. Fuel, medicine and weapons are far from a complete list of what even our distant ancestors managed to get from them.
And among their huge diversity apatites stand out. These minerals are so widely used that without them it is already impossible to imagine our civilization.
These are minerals that have a specific crystalline structure. Their very name can be translated as "deception, mirage, " since often apatite can be confused with other minerals. They are also unique because they are located on the very edge that separates living nature from inanimate matter.
So, various phosphorus compounds are apatites. Minerals based on this element are widely used in industry, but it makes up a considerable proportion of our skeleton and teeth.
The considered minerals are formed in almost all types of geological processes, and therefore are found in igneous, metasomatic, and sedimentary rocks. Simply put, everywhere.
For industrial purposes, sedimentary apatites are more often used. Minerals based on them provide 90% of the global production of phosphates.
Most of the deposits are located in Russia, Canada, the USA and Brazil. They are used in the production of fertilizers, livestock food additives, and in the manufacture of gunpowder and medicines. Without them, it is impossible to manufacture fluorescent lamps and some types of lasers.
As you can see, apatites are minerals, without which modern industry would simply rise. In addition, the same phosphorus is familiar to chemists as a powerful catalyst, without which many important reactions do not occur.
Thus, all countries in whose territory there are powerful deposits of the mentioned minerals have an important strategic reserve.
Our country has the largest reserves of apatite ores (along with the United States). There are 20 deposits that geologists estimate at 1.5 billion tons of ore, which is about 8% of all world reserves.
For this year, the number of explored deposits is estimated at 700 million tons. The largest apatite deposit is located in the Murmansk region (more precisely, a complex of seven mining enterprises).
It must be remembered that there are not so pleasant circumstances:
- the quality of domestic raw materials (both already explored and predicted) is rather low;
- extremely negative situation in the field of logistics;
- most of the extracted raw materials are exported, without actually providing domestic agriculture;
- the high cost of fuel, which results in the high cost of the final product during its transportation;
- FAS's complete inability to do anything with the monopolization of the domestic apatite market.
All this leads to the fact that our consumers suffer. Take, for example, all the same agriculture. Farmers in European countries receive several times more mineral fertilizers (including those made from our apatites).
As a result, the grain yield in France is more than 50 centners per hectare, while in our country this figure does not exceed 18 centners.
We hope you learned about what apatity is. A mineral of this kind is an extremely valuable and important resource for mankind.
