Jargal, L.Erdenetsogt, B.

School of Geography and GeologyNational University of Mongolia

Introduction Survey history

Oil shale basins 13 basins in Mongolia

Stratigraphy Generalized information (Lower Creataceous)

Oil shale quality Brief information of some oil shale deposits

Resources

Oil shale and shale oil resources

Conclusions

The first information on oil shale was written by Tenner in 1931 at Uvurjargalant

Geological survey started since 1940s

1980s lab analysis in Estonia

1990s lab analysis in Japan

In 1994, classification of oil shale bearing basins (Bat-Erdene and Jargal)

Some domestic and foreign companies MAK and Genie Oil Shale Mongolia LLC

13 Oil Shale Bearing Basins

Lake Valey

Gobi-Altai

Ongi River

Tugrug

South Gobi

Middle Gobi

Ugi Lake

Uvurjargalant

Nyalga

Choibalsan

Tamsag

East Gobi

Sukhbaatar

Total area is 312,000 sq km.

Andkhudag Formation (150-700 m) Intercalated mudstone and

sandstone, shale with marl lenses and shale with sandstone layers

Khulsiin gol Formation (110-600 m) Coaly shale, coal

seam, siltstone and sandstone (Shuvalov, 1975)

ZuunbayanGroup is composed of 3 formations (Bat-Erdene, 1992) Maximum thickness is 1800 m

Oil shale-bearing Formation (<780m) The lower part - sandy conglomerates The upper part - mudstone with subordinate

sandstone, limestone, siderite nodules, dolomite, marl and siltstone with thick oil shale seams.

Coal-bearing Formation (<770m) Conglomerate, gross bedded

sandstone, siltstone, coaly shale with coal measures.

Sandy Conglomerate Formation (<250 m) Sandstone with conglomerate, fine grained

sediments and tuffaceous sediments

Middle Gobi Basin

Eedemt (Khuut) deposit

Bayanjargalan soum, Dundgobi aimag

Oil shale bearing unit is 160 m thick

Oil shale thickness is >10 m

Shale oil yield is <20% (average is ~5%)

Sulfur content is ~0.6%

Nyalga basin

Khumuult deposit

Bayanjargalan, Tuv aimag

Oil shale bearing unit can be divided into 3 members

Marl- siltstone member

Oil shale member (8 shale seams, cum. thickness is 127 m

Mudstone member

Shale oil yield is <15% (average is 4.4%)

Sulfur contents <1.85%

Choibalsan basin

Sumiin Nuur (Melkhii Bulag)

Gurvanzagal, Dornod aimag

Oil shale seams (thickness is <30 m)

Average shale oil yield is 6.6%

Oil shale resources was estimated to be 787.5 billion tones

Resources was estimated in only 19.2% of total area of oil shale bearing basins because of lack of survey

Khugshin Gol deposit in Ugi Lake basin ▪ >28 oil shale seams ▪ Thickness is < 11.5 m

Bayanjargalan deposit in Nyalga basin▪ Thickness of oil shale seam is <70.4 m

Tugrug deposit in Nyalga▪ >10 seams ▪ Thickness is <14.0 m

Bayan-Erkhet in Nyalga▪ Thickness of oil shale is <127.9 m

Shavart-Ovoo deposit in Middle Gobi basin ▪ >16 seams ▪ Up to 100.0 m thick

12.5

57.5

143

107.

6

102

312

15

0.6

35.4

0.5

0.4 14.6 16 0.9

3 0.0

3

1.1

0.0

6

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

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Go

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Alt

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On

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iver

Tug

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Mid

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Go

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Nya

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Ug

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Ch

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Uvu

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Su

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Ovo

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Tsag

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Billion tonnes

Oil shale resources Shale Oil resources

Shale oil resources 22.7 billion tones

7.8% of total area of oil shale bearing basins

Lack of survey

Shale oil resources

Basins/subbasins Shale oil

yeld, %

Resources (billion

tones)

Oil shale Shale oil

Middle Gobi basin

-North subbasin

-Undurshil subbasin

6.8

3.0

39.9

68.1

2.7

1.9

Nyalga basin

-Ulaankhooloin Gobi subbasin

-Nyalga subbasin

16.2

5.3

3.9

289.3

0.6

15.3

Ugi Lake basin 6.2 15.0 0.9

Uvurjargalant basin 3.1 35.0 1.1

Tsagaannuur basin 6.2 1.0 0.06

Choibalsan basin

-Sumiin nuur subbasin 5.0 0.6 0.03

Total 22.7

Oil shale is hosted in Lower Cretaceous rocks, which was accumulated in rift valley

Shale oil yield of some deposits are quite high, for example Suman Undur deposit in Tamsag basin – 22% Eedemt deposit in Middle Gobi basin – 19.6% Uvdug Khooloin Gashuun in Middle Gobi basin – 11.7%

Shale oil resources was estimated to be 22.7 billion tones (only 7.8% of total known area)

Level of survey is very low. Further survey is required.

Thanks for your attention