DONETSK, February 4. /TASS/. Salt reserves at Eurasia’s largest salt deposit in Soledar, a town that was liberated in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in January, are estimated to be 13 billion metric tons, DPR Prime Minister Vitaly Khotsenko told TASS in an interview.
"Artyomsol has a production capacity of 7 million metric tons of salt annually, while reserves at the deposit amount to 13 billion metric tons. In the past 130 years, some 250 million metric tons have been extracted, which means that the remaining salt reserves will be enough to last more than a thousand years. Prospects are more than lucrative. Today, it is the largest deposit in Eurasia," he said.
According to Khotsenko, it is currently dangerous for civilian experts to stay in Soledar because of mines and shelling. The deposit will be inspected as soon as it is possible to enter the town, the DPR premier assured.
"We will develop it. It will be necessary to demine everything there, and to assess the situation at the mines," Khotsenko said.
Soledar is located about 100 kilometers north of Donetsk. The town was formed around the Artyomsol salt producer. The first salt mine was put into operation there in 1881. Late last May, Ukraine’s Ekonomicheskaya Pravda newspaper said the company had suspended operations.