MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. An Antonov An-24 from Yakutia’s capital, Yakutsk, takes shift workers to the northern Anabar District, where diamond mines are 100 km away from the aerodrome.
In spring and autumn high-water seasons, workers are taken by a Mil Mi-8 helicopter. The flight takes about half an hour. Shifts are usually four months' long. Through the window, you can see the endless tundra, the Anabar River and many lakes. On the way back, the plane will take those, whose shift is over.
In summer, workers get to the mine by the river. A bus brings them to the shore, and then they take hovercrafts.
Alluvial diamond mining in Yakutia’s Anabar District began in 1998. The division works 24 hours year-round. The Diamonds of Anabar (Almazy Anabara) is a division of the Arlrosa diamond producing company.
About 700 people work there in winter and about 1,200-1,300 people in summer.
A TASS correspondent managed to visit the hard-to-reach Arctic camp and learned how people live and work there and how they produce diamonds in conditions of minus 50 degrees temperatures and of the polar nights.
Life in "Pentagon"
We are brought to a settlement in the tundra. The locals have nicknamed it as Pentagon — it is one of the four shift camps at the mining division. The nickname comes from the building’s form. "Actually, it is a hexagon, but the locals call it a Pentagon," the mine’s deputy director, Sakhayan Potapov, said. It may accommodate 500-600 people. The building comprises accommodation facilities, a canteen, a leisure center, an office, a gym and a sauna. It is the most comfortable facility at the division.
"Every working shift is eleven hours long," he continued. "For example, a worker in the morning receives a task, has breakfast, works the shift, has dinner and goes to bed — repeating it every day. Some cannot stand this life for more than two or three months and prefer to leave. About 80% get adapted and enjoy being here."
The big complex is ideal for extreme conditions of the Far North and for 24-hours’ work. Local climate is very rough, the seasons change very quickly. Air temperatures in winter drop to minus 60 and jump to plus 35 in summer.
In minus 60 degrees, people and equipment do not work. "This happens very rarely," the company’s deputy director said.
Other negative conditions in the tundra are strong winds and snowstorms, when the snow blanket covers everything around. "Anabar’s clear advantage is the Northern Lights, which are there nearly all the time," he added.
The leisure center’s representative Vladimir Syromyatnikov takes us around the building.
The library offers local newspapers, books. After a sauna, workers may read or go to the gym or may prefer to see a movie.
The shift camps have satellite Internet and diesel power plants. About 30,000 tonnes of diesel fuel is brought to the mine every year. In summer, ships bring it from Arkhangelsk and Yakutsk, and in winter — from Yakutsk by snow roads, which are formed of pressed snow. There is also a snow route along the Anabar River — trucks are moving on ice.
On the way back, dry-cargo vessels take scrap metal. In 2019 alone, under the Clean Arctic project, about 1,500 tonnes of ferrous metal have been collected.
The living conditions are great, a worker told TASS. After a shift the latter plays tennis at the leisure center.
"Laundry machines are in every block," he continued. "In summer, we have football competitions."
The North is an addiction
Caring for people is the company’s priority, the mining company’s representative Alexander Ignatkin told TASS.
"We offer at all times fresh fruit and vegetables. We buy fish and deer meat from local producers, and sometimes we offer frozen fish to make stroganina (raw, thin, long-sliced frozen fish)," the technologist said.
"Right now, more than 436 people are working here, and over a fortnight they eat 900 kg of deer meat alone," he pointed out. "We also eat beef, pork and foal meat. A full man works well."
All the workers, whom I’ve met, tell me the North is an addiction.
"The North is like a magnet. Once you come to work here, the North is addictive. As for me, I’ve been addicted with the nature. When I return to Yakutsk for a week-long break, my soul is striving to return. One week off is enough for me. Everything is so quick here. The seasons change instantly. The Northern Lights are beyond words. It was weird to get used to the polar night. Morning and day — the darkness, at night — again the darkness. In summer, the nights are white. It was really strange at the beginning. But then, I’ve got used, all this is mine now," Ignatkin went on.
Another motivating factor is the money. "The salaries are among the highest in Yakutia," a truck driver Sergei Maslov told TASS. He has been working for the fifth season. "The team is good. Everyone has the goal of making good money, supporting the family. Everyone is working well. We want to live in the Pentagon — the conditions there are the best. Everything there meets people's needs."
The biggest problem for Sergei is the polar nights, which are three months' long. "We bring vitamins," he said. "Here, we get enough meat. This helps. We wear warm clothes: they give us everything, except for hats."
Equipment can barely stand the freezing temperatures. "Sometimes, hoses would break," he continued. "But the mechanics here are great, they fix everything in no time."
The mine’s deputy director, Sakhayan Potapov, for the first time came to work a shift back in 2008. He used to be a sorter, then a miner, and then a team leader.
"People should have vision, should be full of initiative. They should have what we call an unconventional approach. We watch how a person progresses. A career growth is possible," he said. "Diamonds of Anabar (Almazy Anabara) keeps doors open for capable people, who are enterprising."