by Yuri KALININ, Dr. Sc. (Tech.), Director General of the Scientific Production Complex "Carbon-Shungite", Vladimir KOVALEVSKY, Dr. Sc. (Geol. & Mineral.), Head of the Shungite Laboratory, Institute of Geology of the RAS Karelian Scientific Center (Petrozavodsk, Republic of Karelia) Ancient carbon-bearing formations of Karelia are unique natural formations of the Proterozoic (about 2 bln years), which have no equals in the geological history of our Earth. The composition of these formations is characterized by a variety of carbon-bearing rocks--from the minimal content to appropriate carbon concentrations, meaning, first of all, shungites. They have been thoroughly studied for over 50 years at the RAS Karelian Scientific Center--the homeland of the mineral-using modern research methods. For these years, the mineral has revealed its secrets, has become known all over the world, proved to be a promising material and, at the same time, has remained unknown in many aspects, offering new breakthroughs. Shungite rocks* have been actively studied by scientists for over two hundred years. The first fragmentary reports on "black lands" in the Olonets Territory was published in 1792 by the famous Russian natu- * See: Yu. Kalinin, "Ecological Potential of Shungite", Science in Russia, No. 6, 2008.-Ed. ral scientist Nikolai Ozeretskovsky, a member of the Petersburg AS. A half century later, in 1848, Nikolai Komarov, staff-captain of the corps of mining engineers, made public some other data after discovering large scale accumulations of a "resinous rock" near the settlement of Shunga, Medvezhyegorsk District. Sys- стр. 66 tematic studies of the ancient carbon formations were commenced in 1879 by Alexander Inostrantsev, Professor of the St. Petersburg University. It was he who proposed to name this mineral by the place of its first discovery and classified it as the last in a series of natural non-crystalline carbon rocks not attribu ... Читать далее