– The conference “Earth Sciences: Challenges for the Young” is a traditional science school of utmost importance for us. Along with another conference of young scientists honoring the memory of O.K. Kratz, it is a talent factory, where we can both share our knowledge and test and refine the works of our young colleagues, – remarked Sergey Svetov, Director of the Institute of Geology KarRC RAS.
Director of the Institute of Geology KarRC RAS Sergey Svetov
The director says that it is in conferences that graduate and postgraduate students can evaluate their role in this field and decide on which direction to take: to engage in practical, applied geology or research and science. The conferences are also often attended by potential employers - representatives of enterprises and heads of research areas, who are “on the lookout for personnel". To wit, the conference organization this year was supported by the mining company Polymetal, which provided gifts for the participants and prize winners.
The keynote talk at the conference was delivered by Vasily Kalmykov, a production geologist and CEO of mining enterprises. Prefacing the lecture, he mentioned that he started to study geology in 1973, having picked it as an elective at school as a ninth-grader. Since 1989, his professional specialization has been block stone. This is a hot topic for Karelia. According to the data for 2023 quoted by the geologist, 59.4% of natural facing stone extraction in Russia takes place in the North- Western Federal District, our republic alone producing 46.5%. As of 2024, 119 out of 197 deposits open in the North-West Federal District are located in Karelia. For comparison, there are 137 deposits in the Ural Federal District and 475 in the Russian Federation in total.
– As of the beginning of 2025, Karelia already has 129 registered deposits of facing materials. This upward trend is due to the geological situation. In order to study and prospect for block stone, the site has to be accessible. This is facilitated by the region's evolutionary history: at first, glacial activity tore off loose rocks and then, as the glacier retreated, they were partially covered by moraine deposits, making part of the territory easily accessible for exploration. Moreover, the potential for discovering construction material, including facing stone, in the Republic of Karelia and launching its mining is still far from being exhausted, - informed Vasily Kalmykov.
Presentations by young conference participants were devoted to the study of ancient Precambrian rocks such as ferruginous quartzites, granites or quartzite-sandstones, glacial events and Quaternary sediments, geophysical exploration, including seismic studies.
KarRC RAS Doctoral Student Arsenii Lezzhov took the second place in paper competition
The winner of the paper competition at the conference is Yakov Ignatyev, 3rd year BSc Student of the Petrozavodsk University’s Institute of Forestry, Mining and Construction Sciences (IFM&CS), the second place was taken by Arsenii Lezzhov, 1st year Doctoral Student of the Karelian Research Centre RAS, and the third place by Tatyana Lebedeva, 1st year BSc Student of IFM&CS.
The scientific conference “Earth Sciences: Challenges for the Young” was co-organized by the Department of Earth Sciences and Geotechnologies of the Institute of Forestry, Mining and Construction Sciences of the Petrozavodsk State University and the Institute of Geology KarRC RAS.
