This work is devoted to the analysis of literary data on the origin of shungite, on the structure of shungite rocks that have been studied by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, Fourier-transformed spectroscopy (FTS) and other methods. The authors present data on electro-physical properties of shungite, its capabilities shielding electromagnetic radiation, active water purification, the impact on the dynamics of hematological, immune, and other indicators of the animal organism.