* 
990 
MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1978-79 
 
designed annual capacity of the plant will be 1 million tons. The first blast
furnace is to go into operation in the mid-1980's. 
 Lead and Zinc.—The Soviet lead and zinc industry is probably the
second
largest in the world. Estimated primary production in 1980 was 530,000 tons
of lead and 775,000 tons of zinc. Reportedly, under the 1979-80 2-year contract,
Cyprus Anvil Mining was to supply about 15,000 tons each of lead and zinc
concentrates. The wholesale price of lead in the U.S.S.R. is from 530 to
675 rubles per ton. 
 During the 1966-77 period, output of zinc increased by 80%, but neither
lead nor zinc output quotas were reached in 1979 nor in previous years, owing
to the slow construction of new facilities and low metal recoveries.~' Over
10% of the total lead and zinc production was recovered as a byproduct in
1979. 
 Over two-thirds of ore reserves are located in Kazakhstan, chiefly in the
Altay region and in the district of KarE-Tau. There are also large reserves
of zinc in the Urals. Exploration of the Uchkulach lead and zinc deposit
in Uzbekistan, Chekmar' in Kazakhstan, and Kholodninskoye in Buryat A.S.S.R.
continued in 1979. An exploration shaft was being sunk at the Achisay polymetallic
complex in Kazakhstan. 
 Kazakbstán continues to be the leading lead and zinc producer,
followed
by the Urals, Uzbekistan, Siberia, North Caucasus, and the Ukraine. Production
of zinc in Kazakhstan increased by 80% and that of lead by 32% during the
1967-76 period. It was planned to increase production of zinc in Kazakhstan
by 8.8% in 1978 and that of lead by 3.1%. The planned quotas for lead and
zinc production in Kazakhstan for the 1976-79 period were not met.5°
The planned increase in zinc and lead output for 1978-79 was based on increased
production at the Leninogorsk, Zyryanov, and Tekeli complexes, as well as
on the completion of the first stage of the Kargayly complex. 
 The Achisay complex in Kazakhstan, with its three main groups of mines,
produced about 70,000 tons of lead, an unspecified quantity of silver, and
an unknown quantity of barite in 1978. The Achisay ore contains from 1.5%
to 2.0% lead, 13% to 15% barite, and 0.5 ounce of silver per ton. 
 In other mine and plant developments, the first stage of the Kargayly lead-zinc
concentrator in Kazakhstan was completed in June 1978. It will supply raw
material to the Chimkent lead plant and other plants. A lead section of the
Solnechnyy tin concen 
trator in the Soviet Far East was commissioned in August 1978. In accordance
with the plan for complex utilization of raw materials, a metallurgical plant
is under construction at Solnechnyy. The complex is to be put into operation
at the beginning of the 1981-85 5-year plan period, and its shops will extract
blister lead and copper. Designing of the Ozernoye polymetallic mining and
concentration complex in Buryat A.S.S.R. was completed in August 1978. A
new shaft-smelting furnace was commissioned at the Chimkent lead plant in
Kazakhstan in 1979. Because of ore shortages, production of concentrate at
the Leninogorsk polymetallic complex decreased by 50% during the 1970-79
period.~1 
 The future development of the ore base of the Altay region in East Kazakhstan
is a serious concern to Soviet officials: The output of polymetallic ores
has increased fourfold in the past 10 years, but grades have dropped by 40%.
A 20% increase in the output of mined ore was reported at the Zyryanovsk
complex with a 25% drop in lead-zinc content. 
 It is expected that the startup of the Nikolayevsk open pit will somewhat
improve the situation, but that overall ore shortages will hold back lead
and zinc production during the 11th 5-year plan period of 1981~85.52 In order
to compensate for the lack of incoming ore, the Ust'Kamenogorsk lead-zinc
complex has begun to process large quantities of metallurgical wastes. Dust
and slags from the Pyshminsk and Irtysh copper smelting plants, cakes and
clinker from the Ust'Kamenogorsk zinc shop, and slags from old dumps have
been treated in the smelting furnaces.~~ 
 In the Urals, the second largest zincproducing region, the problem of zinc
and gold recovery from the copper-pyrite ores remains unsolved. Slow development
of the mines in the Urals has resulted in shortages at the concentrators.
There are also shortages of lead-zinc reserves at the Sadonsk deposit in
North Caucasus. This is the main supplier to the Elektrotsink zinc plant
in Ordzhonikidze. 
 Magnesium.—Five magnesium plants, with an estimated combined annual
capacity of 80,000 tons, were in operation in 197879. Production and consumption
of rolled metal in the U.S.S.R. is small. Reportedly, over the years of the
9th 5-year plan (197175), the output of magnesium and its alloys increased
20%. According to the 1976-80 plan, output of magnesium and its alloys was
to increase by 24% to 74,000 tons,