YAKUTSK, August 23. /TASS Correspondent Dmitry Osipov/. Yakutia’s Anabar Diamonds Company (a part of Alrosa - a leading diamond producer) expands the geography in the Arctic. Geologists explore gold-bearing areas not only in Yakutia’s north, but also on the Taimyr Peninsula in the Krasnoyarsk Region, the company’s project head at the Geology Department Maxim Odintsov told TASS.
Three drilling teams will be working on the Taimyr Peninsula in the current year. "Since 2020, Anabar Diamonds owns two licenses in the Krasnoyarsk Region," he said. "Together with the team and other personnel we are about to leave Saskylakh village (Yakutia’s Anabar District - TASS) for the Taimyr Peninsula, which is 700 kilometers away.
Cargo and fuel for the geology team are delivered by the Northern Sea Route. Vessels are unloaded onto unequipped shore at the border between the Kara Sea and the Laptev Sea on Cape Chelyuskin - Russia’s northernmost point. "The strait is constantly stuck with ice. Nuclear icebreakers keep working to lead caravans," he added. "It is a harsh and little-studied region. I can say, the results [of geology exploration] are not bad, very promising."
For the company, this project is not just to expand the mining works: the project will offer new jobs and promises a good industrial growth.
Where fancy colored diamonds are found
Anabar Diamonds is a key subsidiary of Alrosa. It leads in diamond production at placer deposits. Yakutia’s Anabar District, where the Dolgans and Evenks live (low-numbered indigenous peoples), is a key area for the company. The production is amid the tundra and forest tundra, where shift towns and mining sites are located.
For example, the Ebelakh deposit of the Mayat mine is the leader in terms of mineral extraction. At the deposit, diamond-bearing sands are washed in the bed of the Anabar River and its tributaries. Unique fancy colored diamonds are also found there.
"In 2019, the biggest in the Russian history diamond was found here - its weight is 27.85 carats," Chief Engineer Viktor Shamayev said. "The diamond cut of it was named "The Spirit of the Rose" (after Vaslav Nijinsky’s legendary ballet Le Spectre de la rose); it was sold at the Sotheby’s auction for record $26.6 million."
The company produces also gold and rare earth metals. For example, in 2022 the company plans to extract more than 220 kilograms of gold. Work continues year round: in winter and spring they make drilling, blasting, and storing of rocks. The washing season lasts from May to September - until the water starts to freeze.
Work till minus-55-degrees frosts
A hovercraft, which can easily pass shallow water and any obstacles, is the transport to get to the remote Hara Mas division in the Olenyok District along the Anabar River. The division is amid hundreds of kilometers of uninhabited forest tundra and tundra, where only wild animals live - reindeer, wolves, arctic foxes.
The Hara Mas mountain division is located in the tundra zone. The area is open, and the wind speed may reach 20 meters per second.
"The hardest time is in winter, when the wind is stormy and the temperature drops below 50 degrees: in such weather, to get outdoors, we have to wear protective masks that completely cover faces," the division’s head Oleg Yakovlev said. "When the temperature drops below 55 degrees, we have to stop the work as the equipment cannot stand it. But such days are few - about a week per season."
The Anabar River takes to Yakutia’s southwestern point - Yuryung-Khay village near the Laptev Sea coast. Here, the company has a transshipment base. This year, the region expects to receive 42,000 tonnes of fuel and about 10,000 tonnes of various cargo, where, 500 tonnes would be shipped for the Anabar District.
All equipment, machinery, and food for shift towns are delivered during the short northern navigation, as well as within the severe northern summer. From autumn, when the Anabar River gains the ice cover, the cargo will be transported by winter roads.
Shifts
The average wage at the company is 210,000 rubles ($3,500). The personnel’s average age is 35 years. In 2022, twelve graduates from the North-Eastern Federal University’s Mining Institute have come for the first shift with the company. One of them is Anton Zorin. He works as a sorting team manager at the Ebelyakh division.
"I admire the nature, the fresh air. The office job, however, is not what I like. Sure, it is not easy to be away from the family, but when a student I left the family for practical courses, and this experience helps," he said. "As for me, I plan to work the shift to the end."
The hostel, where the young specialist lives, is a hexagon building. It has everything necessary - bedrooms, a dining room, a hairdresser, a sauna, a gym and a leisure center, which offers films, competitions; and sometimes musical groups from Yakutsk and Saskylakh come with concerts. After shifts, the workers play football, basketball and tennis.
The complex’s center has flowerbeds and a fountain. Inside it there is also a chapel and even greenhouses with cucumbers, tomatoes and herbs.
The young specialist manages a team of nine people. "All guys here are tough and hard-working. Apparently, at the beginning, I felt a certain discomfort because of the age gap, but this distance fades away with time. Respect may be achieved only for skills. To prove you are a skillful specialist. After shifts, together with the colleagues we go to the gym, watch films and play sports games. Communication with the family is by phone. My family is my mom and my girlfriend," he added.