Lead and zinc ores are an impor­tant source of lead and zinc, which are wide­ly used in met­al­lur­gy, alloy pro­duc­tion, and oth­er indus­tri­al sec­tors. Ukraine pos­sess­es sig­nif­i­cant deposits of these ores, which have con­sid­er­able eco­nom­ic impor­tance. This sec­tion exam­ines the char­ac­ter­is­tics, clas­si­fi­ca­tion, and main direc­tions of uti­liza­tion of lead-zinc ores.

Lead and zinc ores is includ­ed in the list of min­er­als of nation­al impor­tance, approved by Res­o­lu­tion of the Cab­i­net of Min­is­ters of Ukraine No. 827 of Decem­ber 12, 1994, as non-fer­rous met­al ores.

Physicochemical properties

Lead is a soft, mal­leable met­al of bluish-gray col­or with a high den­si­ty (11.34 g/cm³). Its melt­ing point is 327.5°C, mak­ing it one of the most eas­i­ly fusible heavy met­als. It is eas­i­ly machin­able but has low elec­tri­cal con­duc­tiv­i­ty. In air, lead oxi­dizes, form­ing a pro­tec­tive film that pre­vents fur­ther oxi­da­tion. Under nor­mal con­di­tions, it does not react with hydrochlo­ric or sul­fu­ric acids, but it does react with nitric acid, hot alka­lis, and oxi­diz­ing agents. Lead has a high capac­i­ty for absorb­ing ion­iz­ing radi­a­tion, which makes it valu­able for radi­a­tion shield­ing.

Zinc is a sil­very-white met­al with a char­ac­ter­is­tic lus­ter. Its den­si­ty is 7.14 g/cm³, and its melt­ing point is 419.5°C. Up to 100°C, zinc is duc­tile and eas­i­ly deformed, but at high­er tem­per­a­tures it becomes brit­tle. It is a good con­duc­tor of elec­tric­i­ty. In air, zinc forms a pro­tec­tive oxide film that pre­vents fur­ther oxi­da­tion. Zinc active­ly reacts with acids with the release of hydro­gen, and also reacts with alka­lis, ammo­nia and ammo­ni­um salts. Its chem­i­cal activ­i­ty increas­es when heat­ed. Zinc is an impor­tant trace ele­ment vital for many bio­log­i­cal process­es.

Lead and zinc minerals

Zinc occurs in the Earth­’s crust at an aver­age con­cen­tra­tion of about 0.0083%. The prin­ci­pal min­er­al is spha­lerite (ZnS), which is the main source of indus­tri­al zinc pro­duc­tion. Oth­er impor­tant min­er­als include smith­sonite (ZnCO₃), hemi­mor­phite (Zn₄Si₂O₇(OH)₂·H₂O), wurtzite, and zincite. These min­er­als form in both mag­mat­ic and sed­i­men­ta­ry envi­ron­ments and often accom­pa­ny lead, cop­per, and sil­ver deposits. They occur as mas­sive, vein-type, and dis­sem­i­nat­ed accu­mu­la­tions in poly­metal­lic deposits.

The aver­age con­tent of lead in the Earth­’s crust is about 0.0016%. The most com­mon lead min­er­als are gale­na (PbS), angle­site (PbSO₄), cerus­site (PbCO₃), as well as pyro­mor­phite, vana­di­nite, and mimetite. The main indus­tri­al reserves are asso­ci­at­ed with sul­fide ores, where gale­na is the dom­i­nant min­er­al. Lead also occurs in sul­fos­alts, phos­phates, sil­i­cates, and car­bon­ates, often in asso­ci­a­tion with zinc and sil­ver in poly­metal­lic ores.

Applications of lead and zinc

Lead prod­ucts are of excep­tion­al impor­tance for many indus­tri­al sec­tors. The largest share of this met­al is used in the pro­duc­tion of bat­ter­ies, where it serves as a key com­po­nent of elec­trodes that ensure reli­able ener­gy stor­age and trans­fer. In the cable indus­try, lead is used to cre­ate durable insu­la­tion that pro­tects wires from mois­ture and mechan­i­cal dam­age. Its chem­i­cal com­pounds are includ­ed in paints, plas­tic sta­bi­liz­ers, and fuel addi­tives that improve engine per­for­mance.

In con­struc­tion, lead is used as a mate­r­i­al for radi­a­tion shield­ing, par­tic­u­lar­ly in med­ical and nuclear facil­i­ties, as well as in the pro­duc­tion of sheets and gas­kets. Due to its soft­ness and high den­si­ty, it is also used in sol­ders, antifric­tion alloys, and even ammu­ni­tion, where it ensures accu­ra­cy and effec­tive­ness.

Zinc, in turn, is equal­ly impor­tant. Its unique abil­i­ty to pro­tect steel from cor­ro­sion makes it indis­pens­able in the gal­va­niza­tion process, sig­nif­i­cant­ly extend­ing the ser­vice life of met­al struc­tures in aggres­sive envi­ron­ments. In met­al­lur­gy, zinc serves as a base for pro­duc­ing tech­ni­cal alloys such as brass, bronze, and zinc-alu­minum mate­ri­als, which are wide­ly used in engi­neer­ing, auto­mo­tive man­u­fac­tur­ing, and house­hold appli­ances.

In the chem­i­cal indus­try, zinc is essen­tial for pro­duc­ing var­i­ous compounds—from zinc oxide, used in rub­ber, paints, and creams, to zinc sul­fate, which is applied in agri­cul­ture. In med­i­cine, zinc is val­ued for its abil­i­ty to sup­port the immune sys­tem and accel­er­ate heal­ing, which is why it is includ­ed in tablets, oint­ments, and anti­sep­tic prod­ucts. Its role in elec­tron­ics is also significant—as a mate­r­i­al for elec­trodes in bat­ter­ies and pow­er sources, ensur­ing sta­ble elec­tro­chem­i­cal process­es.

Main Lead and Zinc Deposits in Ukraine

Lead and zinc deposits are impor­tant indus­tri­al resources that play a key role in met­al­lur­gy and oth­er sec­tors of indus­try. In Ukraine, they have sig­nif­i­cant devel­op­ment poten­tial, espe­cial­ly con­sid­er­ing the exist­ing reserves and tech­no­log­i­cal capa­bil­i­ties for their extrac­tion and pro­cess­ing. The ratio­nal use of these deposits will con­tribute to sup­ply­ing the domes­tic mar­ket and sup­port­ing exports, as well as fos­ter­ing the devel­op­ment of relat­ed indus­tries, there­by enhanc­ing the eco­nom­ic sta­bil­i­ty of min­ing regions. At the same time, it is impor­tant to take envi­ron­men­tal aspects into account, imple­ment mod­ern tech­nolo­gies to min­i­mize neg­a­tive impacts on the envi­ron­ment, and ensure the sus­tain­able devel­op­ment of the indus­try.