1 - Cherkashin V.I., 2 -Bogush I.A., 1 - Yusupov A.R.

1 - Institute of Geology, Dagestan Scientific Center of RAS 75 M. Yaragskiy str., 367030 Makhachkala, Dagestan E-mail: dangeo@mail.ru

2 - South Russian State Polytechnical University (SPI) 132 Prosvesheniya str., 346428 Novocherkassk, Rostov oblast E-mail: i_bogush@mail.ru

Precious metal deposits of the North Caucasus region have been studied and developed since 1930’s, the period when placer gold deposits in the river valleys of Bolshaya and Malaya Laba, Kuban, Urup, Beskes and Baksan had been covered by the first gold prospecting works.

At that time the gold used to be extracted from placer deposits located in the valleys of the Urup, Bolshaya, Malaya Laba, Vlasenchilkha from the Aziatsky, Rojkao and Urup goldmines, as well as from gossans of Major Urup and Vlasenchikha copper-pyrite deposits. Gold prospecting works in 1950’s resulted in a discovery of large Urup, Vlasenchikha and Khudes copper-pyrite deposits. Prospector and governmental development of the schlich gold in the Urup region have been completed in 1951 due to the depletion  of commercial deposits (Shilo, 2000).

In Dagestan gold and silver deposits have been found during exploration of pyrite and vein quartz-sulfide ores. Single findings of schich gold had taken place in soft river valley sediments in the northern- eastern slope of the East Caucasus in the Kubachi area (Ulluchay river basin), Vachi, Kuli (Gazikumukh Koysu basin) and lower reach tributaries of the Sulak river. However, having no evidences on hand, the researchers presumed that such precious metal occurrences in terrigenous sediments are tied with the bedrocks, and studies on terrigenous gold and silver had been discontinued. Beginning from 1990’s the Institute of Geology of the Daagestan Scientific Centre of RAS started investigations of the heavy fraction mineralogy on the material of selective schlich sampling of streamflow and Caspian seashore sediments, as well as from Mesozoic-Cenozoic rock, mostly, poorly cemented Chokrakian and Karaganian quartz sandstones.

Keywords: North Caucasus, precious metals, placers, mineralogy, morphology