The Zhuravlinyi Log eluvial kaolin deposit,Chelyabinsk District,Russia

The Zhuravlinyi Log deposit is located 12 km southeast of Plast City. The deposit was initially prospected in 1951 and 1952 under the supervision of V.G. Lyulicheva. The prospecting revealed the presence of kaolin of quality surpassing the raw material in the Eleninsk and Kyshtym deposits. Although a positive assessment was given, new prospecting and appraisal works were carried out under the supervision of V.I. Kakorin in the vicinity of the previously discovered deposit in 1985 taking into consideration recommendations given by the VNIIgeolnerud (renamed TsNIIgeolnerud) Federal State Unitary Enterprise. The results revealed several separate white and pale kaolin deposits. Exploitation of the deposit was started even before its exploration. Construction of the Plast-Rifey dressing plant was completed during the exploitation of the central ore body. Follow-up exploration of the deposit completed in 2006 confirmed that the dry kaolin equivalent reserves of categories B + C₁ according to the Russian classification (approximately corresponding to the measured + indicated reserve in the western classification) and category C₂ (approximately corresponding to the inferred reserve) are estimated at 11.05 and 5.55 Mt, respectively. The Zhuravlinyi Log deposit is a major supplier of kaolin products fitting the standards of paper, fine ceramics, fiberglass, chemical reagents, and others. The present paper based on the exploration data attempts to show specific features of the geological setting of this deposit, as well as the mineral composition and properties of kaolin therein.