Information AboutNorilsk |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT NORILSK | |
| closed cities | |
| settlements established in the 1920s | |
| cities and towns built in the soviet union | |
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Norilsk () is a major ). MMC Norilsk Nickel , a Mining company, is the principal employer in the Norilsk area. The city is served by Norilsk Alykel Airport and Norilsk Valek Airfield . Due to the intense mining, the city is one of the 10 most polluted cities in the world. The most northern Mosque in the world is located in Norilsk. HISTORY The settlement of Norilsk was founded by the end of 1920s; however, the official date of founding is traditionally set to 1935, when Norilsk was expanded as a settlement for the Norilsk mining-metallurgic complex and became the center of the Norillag system of GULAG Labor Camp s. It was granted the status of Urban Settlement in 1939. Norilsk, located between the West Siberian Plain and Central Siberian Plateau at the foot of the 1,700-metre-high Putoran Mountains , is situated on some of the largest Nickel deposits on Earth . Consequently, mining and Smelting ore are the major industries. Norilsk is the center of a region where Nickel , Copper , Cobalt , Platinum , Palladium , and Coal are mined. Mineral deposits in the Siberian Craton had been known for two centuries before Norilsk was founded, but mining began only in 1939, when the buried portions of the Norilsk–Talnakh intrusions were found beneath mountainous terrain. Talnakh is the major mine/enrichment site now from where an enriched ore emulsion is pumped to Norilsk metallurgy plants. To support the new city a Railway to port Dudinka on the Yenisei River was established. From this port enriched nickel and copper are transported to Murmansk by sea and further on to the Monchegorsk enrichment plant on Kola Peninsula, European Russia , more precious content goes up the river to Kransnoyarsk, all during the summer only. Dudinka port is closed and dismantled during spring's ice barrier floods of up to 20m in late May. This is a typical spring occurrence of all Siberian rivers. Another railway was under construction from European coal city Vorkuta via the Salekhard/river Ob where construction stopped after Stalin died. According to the archives of Norillag, 16,806 prisoners died in Norilsk under the conditions of forced labor, starvation, and intense cold throughout the existence of the camp (1935–1956) {Link without Title} . Fatalities were especially high during the war years of 1942–1944 when food supplies were particularly scarce. The prisoners organised a revolt in 1953, suppressed by the police. Unknown but significant numbers of prisoners continued to serve and die in the mines until around 1979. Norilsk–Talknakh continues to be a dangerous mine to work in; according to the mining company, there were 2.4 accidents per thousand workers in 2005. In 2001, Norilsk was decreed a Closed City for foreigners, with travel permits required for Russian citizens as well. This is likely because of the sensitive nature of the nickel-platinum-palladium-copper mining, and the ICBM missile silos nestled in the Putoran Mountains nearby. The economic reason is to prevent the intrusion of esp. Caucasian dealers of any kind into this relatively rich city. The city is also the nearest to the famous Popigai Crater . NORILSK–TALNAKH NICKEL DEPOSITS ).]] The nickel deposits of Norilsk-Talnakh are the largest nickel-copper-palladium deposits in the world. The deposit was formed 250 million years ago during the eruption of the Siberian Traps igneous province (STIP). The STIP erupted over one million cubic kilometres of lava, a large portion of it through a series of flat-lying lava conduits lying below Norilsk and the Talnakh Mountains. The ore was formed when the erupting magma became saturated in Sulfur , forming globules of Pentlandite , Chalcopyrite , and other sulfides. These sulfides were then "washed" by the continuing torrent of erupting magma, and upgraded their tenor with Nickel , Copper , Platinum , and Palladium .http://geopubs.wr.usgs.gov/open-file/of02-074/Resource_Geology/Resource_Geology.pdf Gerald K. Czamanske et. al., ''Petrographic and Geochemical Characterization of Ore-bearing Intrusions of the Noril'sk type, Siberia; With Discussion of Their Origin'', U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 02-74 (91 page PDF file) The current resource known for these mineralised intrusion exceeds 1.8 billion tons. MMC Norilsk Nickel , headquartered in Moscow , is the principle mining operator in Norilsk-Talnakh. The ore is mined underground via several shafts, and a Decline . The ore deposits are currently being extracted at >1,200 m below ground. The ore deposits are drilled from the surface. The deposits are being explored by a Russian Government-controlled company. The company is known to be using Electromagnetic field Geophysics , with loops on surface which are over 1,000 m on a side. They are conclusively able to image the conductive nickel ore at depths in excess of 1,800 m. ENVIRONMENT Pollution problems |
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