How the Arctic coal open pit mine operates in Vorkuta (PHOTOS)

This is the world's first open-pit coal mining facility above the Arctic Circle.

The Yunyaginsky open pit, which was opened in the early 2000s near Vorkuta, contains especially valuable K-grade coal, which is added to the bulk of coal to improve the quality of metallurgical products.

The work is carried out round the clock with the help of two excavators and seven BelAZ dump trucks. Now, about 240,000 tons per year are mined there.

The Yun-Yaga mine, which operated for several decades and was closed in 1996, was located in this place. There are large reserves of coal, but the mixture layers themselves turned out to be unprofitable to mine with the new quarry extraction method proving to be a more successful approach.

Russia’s second such enterprise, on the Taimyr Peninsula, is currently under construction.