Siberian natural resources

Siberian natural resources refers to resources found in Russian Siberia, in the North Asian Mainland. The Siberian region is rich in resources, including coal, oil and metal ores.

Contribution to Soviet economy

Siberia’s contribution to the Soviet economy in percent of national output was given in Soviet statistical yearbooks for 1973 (1940 in brackets) as: Coal 33% (23%), Coking coal 30% (17%), Oil 21% (1.6%), Natural gas 8.5% (from 1.5% in 1950), Electric power output 18% (6.6%), Iron ore 6.9% (1.6%), Pig iron 9.5% (10%), Crude steel 8.3% (10%), Rolled steel 10% (9.1%). But regional breakdowns were omitted in the yearbooks from 1973, except for a few 1975 figures.[1]

Energy sources

Coal

In the important Chelyabinsk coalfields, production rose from 390,000 tonnes in 1925 to 3,519,000 tonnes in 1936. The total production for the East Urals was 8,080,000 tonnes in 1937. Reserves for the following coalfields are shown in millions of tonnes:

Kuznetsk Coal Zone

The development of the coal fields of Kuznetsk Basin, (sometimes called the "Kuzbass") transformed the Siberian steppe. The south sector of the Trans-Siberian Railway became a great industrial center because of the activity surrounding the coalfields. These ancient reserves of 13,000,000,000 tonnes grew to 450,658,000,000 tonnes. In 1937, the 50 mines in this area produced a total of 17,300,000 tonnes. The coal production of this zone was comparable with that of all of British India, and half of that produced by Japan. Kuznetsk coal was the best in the USSR, with high energy and low sulphur content. The total anthracite reserve was 54 million tonnes; and was used in the Ural-Kuznetsk Metallurgical Combine. Siberia is also the coldest winters to survive, this includes freezing temperature such as -50 degrees.

Years Millions of Tonnes Percentage
1913 0.799 3%
1928 2.743 8%
1932 7.544 12%
1934 11.974 13%
1936 17.3 14%
1937 20.0 ?

Other coal deposits

Another important reserve is at Karaganda near the Magnitogorsk (Magnet City) Higt Ovens. Production in 1937 was 3,937,200 tonnes. Other important coal deposits are: Minusinsk near Chernogorsk, which joins the mining zone of Chulym-Yenisei at the Yenisei river; the Kansk deposits north of Krasnoyarsk; the Irkutsk deposits, which yielded 3,000,000 tonnes from the Cheremkovo mine in 1937; the Lake Baikal deposits; the Lena sector; the Norilsk sector in Tunguska mining zone; the Sangar Khai founts in the Amur River and Bureya Rivers near Vladivostok, the Artem and Suchan mines with 1937 production of 2,110,000 tonnes and 590,000 tonnes respectively; and the Sakhalin coal deposits in the Pamir and Tian Shan mountains in central Asia.

In the Minusinsk area, the estimated reserves are 20,612,000,000 tonnes; the Chulym-Yenisei mine is estimated at 43,000,000,000 tonnes; the Kansk sources estimated at 42,000,000,000 tonnes; and Cheremkhovo estimated at 79,000,000,000 tonnes. The Kuznets area has excellent coal for coke, chemical and gas production. Production in 1913 was 774,000 tonnes. In 1927, these mines extracted about 2,600,000 tonnes to maintain one extraction of 16,800,000 tonnes. The modernized Prokopyevsk mine has an expected production capacity of about 3,200,000 tonnes. The other sources are in Stalinsk (Kuznets), Lenin-Kuznets, Kemerovo, Anzhero-Sudzhensk, Chernogorsk, and Cheremkhovo

Petroleum

The Siberian petroleum sources follow (in metric tonnes - 1 metric tonne of petroleum is equivalent to 5 or 10 barrels, or 42 gallons, depending on the density)

Table of Total production (for 45 oil well areas)

The most important Siberian petroleum zones are the West Siberian petroleum basin, Central Urals, Sakhalin Island, Nordvyl on the Arctic Siberian coast, and the Kamchatka peninsula. From the Caspian Sea there is one oil pipeline, which continues to the petrol camps of Emba at Orsk and ends in Omsk, in western Siberia. Sakhalin Island has the most important oil reserves in the Russian Far East. In 1936, the Ohka oil wells extracted about 470,000 tonnes; one-third were obtained for Japanese concessionaires. In the Emba River area about 466,000 tonnes were extracted from about 20 pits of a total of 300 yaciments in 1937.

Total USSR oil production was 230,700,000 tonnes and there exist other reserves of 652,000,000 tonnes.

Electrical power generation

The third source of energy is electricity. There has been investigation into the Pamir Tien-Shan and East Siberian sources. The total count of these energy producing and disposes in 50% of time raised in about 280.690 gigawatts (GW), between of theirs based in one disposition of 95% stay 58 GW.

To increase output, studies were made of the Lena, Yenisei and Ob river systems. In the Lenin Program in 1920, proposed construction of power systems in the Urals, Yenisei, Angara River and Lake Baikal. Some of these projects are similar to the Grand Coulee Dam in the Columbia River.

A major hydroelectric powerplant was constructed in 1932 on the Dnieper River, at a high latitude in Zaporozhe. But it was destroyed in 1941 by retreating Soviet forces during World War II. The plant had a production capacity of 900 MW, was about 2,500 feet long, and rose 125 feet above water level. In 1940 the total production capacity was 2.5 GW. The new plan proposed plants on a gigantic scale, on the Angara river. Planned output was 9 GW, with four other plants in high Yenisei producing about 4 GW more.

Iron deposits

Siberian iron sources were more assorted. They are at Magnitogorsk, Nizhni Tagil deposits in the south of Kuznetsk, the Angara River reserves, and Russian Far East mines.

The mines of the Urals have been known since 1702: Magnitogorsk with annual extraction of 6,000,000 tonnes in 1931, minerals being magnetite and secondarily martite, with 55% or 66% of iron content. The other and oldest center was in Ninshi-Tagil. The total Ural iron reserves were 1,390,670,000 tonnes, of which one-third are limonite and about 450,000,000 correspond directly at Magnitogorsk. When the deposits in Kuznets began to be exploited, in 1930 recent discovered the Mountainous Shoria iron deposits, with reserves calculated as 292,412,000 tonnes, 45% iron content, and the Karaganda deposits. The other important founts stay in Petrovsk-Zabaikal near Baikal Lake, and the Little Khingan Mountains in the Soviet side of the frontier.

Other iron resources in East Siberia are the Angara and Ilim river areas northwest of Baikal Lake, with production of 420,850,000 tonnes. No less than 30% of USSR iron production in the USSR was obtained in the Kuznets zone in 1937.

Iron deposits:

Other minerals

Other general mineral observations in Siberia

The Mineral Richest of Siberia is situated in second place together with local Agriculture. The mineral distribution reflect more near your local geology, divided into three great mineral regions:

  1. Altai Ranges (Kirgiz Highlands of West Siberia) with copper, gold, silver, etc.
  2. Ancient Asiatic badge; a very important region which covers the Baikal lake zone, with coal, iron, gold, etc.
  3. East Siberia Mountain lands, notably the High Amur river area, for their easy access – of major importance.

Coal

The existence of coal, estimated at 400,000,000,000 tonnes, was about a quarter of the Asian total, or half of the European reserves. The principal coal mining valleys and basins are:

During the interwar years, major production was in the Kuznetsk Basin; the Carboniferous Basin of Irkutsk extends joining at Transiberian railway, in 480 km, and the Maritime province near the Vladivostok area.

Petrol

Petrol is encounter on north section of Sakhalin island, and their exploitation are accord topic between Japanese and Russians. Other sources are in the Kamchatka or Ohkostk coasts, but the rest of Siberia did not promise much, with the exception of petrol pits in Central Asia or the Urals. These last (referring to the Turkestan zone) are one extension of Caucasian petrol zone and the mentioned Ural petrol sources.

Gold

Gold is often found in Siberia; currently the principal mining districts are in the Olekma-Vitim region of the Lena Valley. During the period 1910-1914, the Siberian gold mines extracted an average of 46,655 kg and employed 57,000 workers. Exploited deposits are of placer gold. The joint British Russian Company, Lena Gold Mining Joint Stock Company (Lenzoloto), owned and operated the "Lena Goldfields" -- much of the region's gold production. Their mistreatment of workers ultimately led to the Lena massacre which ignited the Russian Revolution; the British shareholders secured compensation from the Soviet government in 1935. Russia remains the second biggest gold producer in the world, while using modern workplace standards.

Copper

Especially important in the Kirguises Steppes, in the Altai ranges and the Yenisei river basin.

Zinc, lead and silver

Zinc is a natural resource.

Iron

Stay more distributed and are exploited. The most important are Telbes Mine (Kuznetsk coal basin), Minusinsk, Yenisei valley, Olga territory (Maritime Province) and the Irkutsk area.

Other minerals

Other mineral resources are tin, manganese, platinum, iridium, osmium and other nonmetallic minerals. The USSR was nearly self-sufficient with respect to mineral needs.

References

  1. ↑ Theodore Shabad and Victor L. Mote: Gateway to Siberian Resources (The BAM) p. 54 (Halstead Press/John Wiley, New York, 1977) ISBN 0-470-99040-6
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