5/2019
Summary
The Bukhovo-Seslav uranium ore field is located in the central part of the Balkan Mountains. The first uranium minerals (otunite, torurnite) have been known since 1925. They have been identified by geologists at Sofia University via samples supplied by Bukhov resident Stoinev, taken from a quarry located on the southeast slope of Goten Peak. Until 1940, the exploration and extraction of uranium was carried out by German companies. Systematic prospecting and extraction works during the period 1946-1958 were carried out by a mixed Soviet-Bulgarian Mining Enterprise (SBGS), and after 1958 to 1992 by the State Fund for Rare Metals. Significant volumes of medium- and large-scale geological and geophysical mapping, drilling and mining exploration have been conducted. Detailed mineralogical-petrographic and chemical-technological investigations have been carried out. In the 1970s and 1980s, particular attention was paid to the material composition of uranium ores. Industry-proven technologies have been developed to extract a number of associated elements (Pb, Zn, Cu, Au, Th, etc.) from complex ore deposits.
Keywords: radioactivity, isotope elements, radioactive decay, radioactive family – α-, β-, γ – radiation
Prof. eng. Ivan Bedrinov has fully connected his work experience and scientific interests with the problems of radiogeological science and practice in Bulgaria. He began work in 1951 as a geophysicist. He continues as a geological engineer and head of prospecting and exploration units in the Central Rhodope ore area. He is also the leader of a number of thematic research groups within the Rare Metals system. The main topic of his research is uranium-containing and uranium-accompanying colored, earth mineralization and minerals in the Central Rhodope ore region. Most of the authors’ and co-authors’ works, in the form of annual and stage reports, have been published in the Rare Metals GeoFund. Over one hundred articles and reports on original scientific topics have been published in Bulgarian and foreign journals. In 2007, he was elected a full member of the International Academy of Environmental Sciences and Safety in Russia.