In the northern Fennoscandian Shield, vanadium mineralization occurs in the Paleoproterozoic Pechenga–Imandra-Varzuga (PIV) riftogenic structure. It is localized in sulfide ores hosted by sheared basic and ultrabasic metavolcanics in the Pyrrhotite Ravine and Bragino areas and was formed at the latest stages of the Lapland–Kola orogeny 1.90–1.86 Ga ago. An additional formation of vanadium minerals was derived from contact metamorphism and metasomatism produced by the Devonian Khibiny alkaline massif in the Pyrrhotite Ravine area. Vanadium forms its own rare minerals (karelianite, coulsonite, kyzylkumite, goldmanite, mukhinite, etc.), as well as occurring as an isomorphic admixture in rutile, ilmenite, crichtonite group, micas, chlorites, and other minerals. Vanadium is inferred to have originated from two sources: (1) basic and ultrabasic volcanics initially enriched in vanadium; and (2) metasomatizing fluids that circulated along shear zones. The crystallization of vanadium and vanadium-bearing minerals was accompanied by chromium and scandium mineralization. Vanadium mineralization in Paleoproterozoic formations throughout the world is briefly considered. The simultaneous development of vanadium, chromium and scandium mineralizations is a unique feature of the Kola sulfide ores. In other regions, sulfide ores contain only two of these three mineralizations produced by one ore-forming process.

The article presents the results of the first study stage aimed at analyzing the luminescent properties of the main and minor minerals composing the apatite–nepheline ores and host rocks in the deposits of the Khibiny rock massif (Kola Peninsula, Russia). The main purpose of the work was a search of a stable identification feature providing fast and safe determination of fluorapatite in the mineral mixture of apatite–nepheline ores and solving technological tasks, namely sampling the borehole walls in open pits. The first stage includes studies carried out on pure mono-fractions of four minerals occurring in fluorapatite deposits and possessing obvious luminescent properties: fluorapatite, nepheline, calcite, and sodalite. The authors have revealed luminescence spectra of these minerals and established correlation of their spectral characteristics with the literature data and their consistency. However, the high intensity of sodalite luminescence in a wide band can complicate identification of fluorapatite by the luminescence spectrum in many cases. Therefore, it is reasonable to use the color and intensity of luminescence rather than spectral characteristics.

The paper considers the results of the application of dry magnetic separation on samples of ferruginous quartzites of the Kostomuksha ore field, represented by refractory ore, free-milling ore, and their mixture. The assessment of the influence of the ore texture on the technological parameters of dry magnetic separation indicates their insignificant changes: the yield of the non-magnetic product varies from 12.4 to 13.5%, and the Fetotal content in the magnetic product increases by 1.11–1.14 times. A decrease of at least 15% in the number of harmful impurities was found: S by 16.2–17.3%, SiO2 by 15.5–21.1%, and Al2O3 by 39.1–48.4%. The authors have performed a comparative assessment of the granularity of the initial ore and the magnetic product with the measurement of energy consumption, as well as an analysis of the magnetite liberation on particle sizes of less than 2 mm. It was found that due to the release of a non-magnetic product in the amount of 12.3–14.5%, represented by non-magnetite or weakly mineralized rock varieties, energy consumption for the crushing process is reduced by at least 5%. The mineral liberation assessment showed that mainly free magnetite is contained in the −0.4 mm fineness class. It was found that in the magnetic separation product of the refractory ore sample, the amount of liberated magnetite in the size class −1 + 0 mm increases by 12.1% compared to the initial ore sample. For the free-milling ore sample, the opposite trend is observed: a decrease in the amount of free magnetite by 30.9% in the magnetic product. Analysis of the magnetite liberation in the mixture indicates deterioration in the results obtained during the separate crushing of refractory and free-milling ore and a decrease in the amount of liberated magnetite in the magnetic product by 60% compared to the initial ore.