The Conceptual Provisions for the Point-Index Assessment of Ore Resources in the Northern Economic Region of Russia
- DOI
- 10.5922/vestniknat-2026-2-2
- Pages
- 23-41
Abstract
The purpose of the study is the experimental development of a score-index methodology for assessing iron ore and aluminum raw material deposits as components of mineral resources, as well as its testing in the territories comprising the Northern Economic Region of Russia. The study draws upon extensive statistical and factual material contained in regulatory and legal documents, as well as in scholarly sources. The main characteristics of mineral resources are presented as of 2022. It is shown that the score-index assessment methodology is aimed at analyzing a resource as a system of components expressed through various properties of natural bodies. With regard to deposits of iron ore, bauxites, and the nepheline component of complex apatite-nepheline ores, a staged assignment of scores and indices reflecting the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of resources according to special scales is substantiated. The scores obtained in this way are successively summed, and, on the basis of the resulting final value, the efficiency and prospects for the further development of the deposits are determined. It has been established that the most profitable deposits are represented by nepheline ores in the Murmansk Region and bauxites in the Komi Republic, while iron ores located in the Republic of Karelia and the Murmansk Region demonstrate medium profitability. Using the author’s methodology, which takes into account the most important characteristics of mineral resources and the economic-geographical factors affecting the development of the mining industry, the mineral resource potential of the regions was calculated: the Murmansk Region and the Komi Republic possess the highest potential, whereas the Republic of Karelia and the Arkhangelsk Region demonstrate lower values. The obtained results may be used in strategic spatial planning and in managing the regional development of the resource-based economy of the Northern Economic Region of Russia.