Rhenium and Related Valuable Metals in the Oil Shales of the Volga Basin

Abstract

The results of a study on the concentrations of rhenium and other valuable metals in oil shales from the Volga basin are presented. New data on the precise determination of Re, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, U, and other metals by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry are presented. The test metal contents were compared with clarke values in carbonaceous shales. The association of metals (Mo, U, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Se, Ag, and Sb) with rhenium in oil shales was identified. The organic matter of oil shales acts as a concentrator of rhenium and, apparently, Mo and U. The preferred petrographic type of oil shales for the concentration of rhenium in them is the colloalginite–vitrinite–clay type. The rhenium and metal content of the Volga shales is compared with the concentrations of rhenium and a number of other valuable metals in the dictyonema shales of the Baltic sedimentary basin.