Prospects for Associated Extraction of Precious Metals from the Ores of Ferruginous Quartzite Deposits in Central Kazakhstan

More than thirty ore occurrences and deposits of ferruginous quartzite are known in the Pre-Paleozoic and Paleozoic deposits of Central Kazakhstan. They make up the Karsakpai, Ulytau zones and the Zhuantobinsky basin of ferruginous quartzites, administratively located in Ulytau, Zhambyl and Kostanay regions. Their nature is determined by the formation of the ocean floor in the period from the Early Precambrian to the Lower Paleozoic. Ferruginous quartzites of the region are confined to various geological formations of the Proterozoic-siliceous- spilite-green slate, porphyroid-shale, carbonate-siliceous-terrigenous, which are represented by various formations. The most iron-bearing are the Balbraun, Burmashinskaya, Shagirlinskaya, Biitskaya in Southern Ulytau, as well as the Suuktalskaya Zhaksykindinsky formations of the Karsakpai series in Northern Ulytau. The Zhuantobinsky basin of ferruginous quartzites is represented by ore-bearing deposits of the Betpakdalinsky series formation of the same name. Separate analytical data on the content of precious metals in ferruginous quartzites and their study in similar formations of the near and far abroad determine their prospects for these elements, which requires a more detailed study.