What is the most mined in Altai?

Altai has been the largest supplier of silver and copper in the country for two centuries. Every third coin in the Russian Empire was minted at a silver smelter in Barnaul. However, there has been virtually no mineral extraction in the region for many years. amic.ru correspondent Vyacheslav Kondakov talked with the famous Russian geologist, professor at Altai State University Gennady Baryshnikov and found out why no one is attracted to the search for silver and gold. But in vain: the reserves of these precious metals in Altai, according to the scientist’s research, are at least $5 billion. This money could be used to develop the region’s economy. The expert also spoke about whether it is worth looking for oil in Altai, and whether the same devastating earthquake as in 2003 could happen here again.

Gennady Baryshnikov is a Soviet and Russian geographer-geomorphologist, organizer of higher education. President of the Association of Geomorphologists of Russia (since 2015), honorary member of the Russian Geographical Society (2014). In 2006-2016 – Dean of the Faculty of Geography at Altai State University. Doctor of Geographical Sciences, Professor. He was a Soros professor. To date, a full member of the International Academy of Sciences of Higher Education, an honorary worker of higher professional education of the Russian Federation, a member of the interuniversity scientific coordination council on the problem of erosion, channel and estuarine processes at Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov. Author of a new scientific direction “Geomorphology of transition zones of mountain structures.” The total number of publications is 238, of which 13 are monographs.

“At least $5 billion worth of gold and silver can be mined in Altai”

— Many geologists believe that during the time of Genghis Khan, huge deposits of gold were found in Altai. Some of the nuggets weighed up to one kilogram. Why is gold not being found on such a large scale in the region now? “It’s just that no one is looking.” The gold reserves in our region are very decent. Of course, it is not comparable to the volume in the north of the country, where tons of this metal are mined per year. Once upon a time, we were the main supplier to His Imperial Majesty’s court. And not only silver, but also gold. The largest nugget was found on the Siya River at the beginning of the twentieth century at a depth of 20 meters. He weighed 8 kilograms. This is a huge nugget! Large-scale mining in Altai ended around the end of the 40s. Then all research stopped. When I just started my scientific career in the 70s, geologists were convinced of the need to resume work on searching for gold deposits in Altai. We managed to get funding for the work in Moscow. In the 90s, my colleagues and I conducted a geological study and began mining alluvial gold in the Siya River section of the Turochak region of the Altai Republic. There we found large reserves of precious metals. Now about 120 kilograms of gold are mined annually in Altai. This is decent, but not comparable to the volume that was mined a century ago. — And how much gold can potentially be found in Altai? —On the Siya River alone, according to my calculations, there are about 600 kilograms of gold. The figure is approximate, because during the exploitation of a deposit, more precious metals are always found than scientists initially thought. Personally, during excavations in the 90s on the Siya River, I found gold the size of a human fingernail. This is a large fragment. Now many are rejoicing at finds of a smaller size. — As far as I know, in the Turochak region for many years, private companies have not been able to obtain permission to mine gold in new deposits. Local residents are categorically against it. Why? After all, it would help improve their lives. “I understand the concerns of local residents. Now gold miners use modern technologies, thanks to which they can find expensive metals in large quantities. However, these technologies cause enormous damage to nature. In fact, in the floodplain of the river they destroy everything to hell: they cut down trees, bushes and pollute the water. For example, the Siya River in the Turochaksky district, where work was once carried out, has already turned into a dirty swamp. In the Soloneshensky district (Altai Territory) on the Karama River, local authorities stopped the work of a private mining company because they did not carry out the reclamation of the site. That is, before starting work, it is necessary to artificially change the river bed, and then look for gold in the place where the water used to stand. But reclamation requires huge costs, and all gold miners want to make huge profits right away without spending a lot of money. — Is there still a possibility that mineral resources will be extracted in Altai in the same volumes as during the time of Akinfiy Demidov? — I recently did a lot of research for a foreign scientific publication and calculated that $5 billion worth of gold and silver could be mined in Altai. Moreover, this is only about those deposits that have already been explored and known to geologists. There are potential sites where several billion more dollars in gold could be “hidden.” However, this does not mean that after my interview everyone will rush to Altai to mine gold, as they once did in Alaska. Any private company that wants to start working in the mines must conduct additional exploration of the deposit. Without this, it is impossible to obtain a mining license. This means time and additional costs for business. There are not many people who want to do reconnaissance anyway. During perestroika, gold miners had already visited Lake Teletskoye, but the energy did not last long. They didn’t even invite geologists to explore the area. They suffered and ran away. But in fact, in the area of ​​Lake Teletskoye there are huge reserves of precious metals. — You constantly talk about gold. But traditionally, copper and silver were mined in Altai on a huge scale. During the time of Empress Catherine the Great, every third coin in the country was minted at our silver smelter. Nobody has been mining silver in Altai for a long time. Why? — Indeed, in Altai, Akinfiy Demidov’s assistants found large reserves of copper and silver. Currently, polymetallic mines are not operating in the region. Some companies have tried to look for silver, but the research results are not impressive. Those reserves in the Barnaul area that “fed” the silver smelter have already been exhausted. Finding new mines is difficult work. I repeat, today business does not really want to spend money on mining in Altai. The state is also not interested in this. Although the reserves, for example, of polymetallic metals in the Zmeinogorsk region are decent. You can also mine iron ore there, which is no less valuable on the market. According to my forecasts, about 3,5 million tons of iron may be “hiding” high in the mountains. In Soviet times, the state planned to develop this field, but the idea was abandoned. But in vain. The economy of the Altai Territory cannot exist without the development of natural resources and live solely on agriculture. — What else, besides gold, iron ore and silver, can we mine? — Still, I would place the main emphasis on gold. In the Kuryinsky region, the homeland of Mikhail Kalashnikov, it is mined using chemical leaching: the ore is crushed into small pieces and irrigated with acid. The result is good quality gold. In the future, about 20 tons of gold can be mined in Kurya. Also, the Altai land is rich in polymetals: zinc, tin, lead. Unfortunately, after the collapse of the USSR, the main deposits of polymetals went to Kazakhstan. However, we still have areas that are promising for development. There are also areas with high quality coal. Alas, its occurrence is almost vertical and the coal is “hidden” at great depths. Raw materials are difficult to extract because there are no modern technologies for this. We, of course, mine brown coal in Altai, but it is very fine and has a high ash content. It is impossible to use it on an industrial scale, so we are forced to bring coal from Kuzbass. I consider precious metals to be the “berry” among minerals in Altai. For example, jasper-shaped rocks. The famous Kolyvan vase, which is located in the Hermitage, was made from them. This vase made of green-wavy jasper was transported to Moscow on carts for three years. Two large fireplaces were also made from jasper. One of them was later found at Boris Yeltsin’s dacha. I don’t know how he ended up with a fireplace made of Altai jasper. — Alexander Lukashenko recently instructed Belarusian geologists to find oil in the country. In his opinion, there cannot be territories in the world where there are no hydrocarbons. Is there oil in Altai? — We have made attempts to find hydrocarbon mixtures in the Altai Territory. The exploration technology is very simple: snow samples are taken and geologists study its gas composition. Where it is elevated, there may be oil underground. Drilling several wells in different areas of the region, such as in Shipunovsky, showed that we have no oil. And there is no point in looking for it. It seems to me that we need to value what we have already found. For example, Altai has large reserves of radon water. Especially in the source in Belokurikha. The waters there are located at a depth of 100-400 meters and travel a long way through faults from the depths of the earth’s crust to the surface. Along the way, they are saturated with trace elements and radon, heated due to the energy of radioactive decay and the natural temperature of the earth’s crust, thus acquiring their healing properties. However, the water is pumped, and pumped thoughtlessly. This is mistake. In order for water to become saturated with radon, it needs to pass through cracks in granite rocks. It all depends on the water column. If before it was large in Belokurikha, now it is three times smaller. The speed of water movement increases, which means it does not have time to become saturated with radon. By thoughtlessly consuming natural resources, we risk losing radon reserves in Altai.

“We will no longer be shaken like in 2003”

— Rocks are the rock record of the Earth. Some scientists believe that there was an ocean on the territory of present-day Altai millions of years ago. Did this somehow affect our terrain? – That’s right. Many tourists like to relax on the so-called Mars in the Altai Mountains. The Martian landscapes of Kyzyl-Chin can be found at the 864th kilometer of the also very picturesque and interesting Chuisky tract. The name Kyzyl-Chin itself, translated from Turkic, literally means “red gorge”. It is named so because of the predominant color of sand, clay and mountains in these places. Such layers of fossils were formed many millions of years ago and lie in almost even horizontal layers. In reality, of course, this is not Mars. Scientists have found traces of marine fauna in this place. This proves that the Altai territory was hidden under a huge ocean approximately 120 million years ago. — Does this mean that the current relief of Altai has finally formed and our mountains will not be able to become as high as the Himalayan ones? — The tectonic plates have completed their movement and our relief will no longer change. Thanks to endogenous processes, our mountains grow by one millimeter every year. However, due to exogenous processes, our relief is also destroyed by one millimeter. This results in parity. There is no need to worry: no global processes will continue to change the Altai landscape. The Indian plate has finally “attached” to the Asian one on which we stand. Then, by the way, the Himalayas were formed. The territory of present-day Altai was away from these processes, so our mountains are not so high. — As far as I understand, the tectonic plate on which Altai stands will no longer move. But at the same time, last year Barnaul changed its seismicity zone and developers were obliged to build buildings so that they could withstand magnitude 7 earthquakes. However, this measure was later canceled at the federal level. Are we really experiencing devastating earthquakes? — This is a very strange decision of the Federal Ministry of Construction, which changed the seismicity standards for Barnaul. Before this, buildings were erected with resistance to six points. The decision of the Ministry of Construction would lead to the fact that it would no longer be possible to build buildings from sand-lime brick. The consequences would be serious: a complete stop in housing construction in the city and an increase in the cost of apartments by at least 20%. Naturally, at the initiative of the region’s developers, Governor Viktor Tomenko appealed to the federal authorities with a request to reverse their decision. And the Ministry of Construction met halfway. I conducted research on this with my students. I have a large monograph on this topic. We will no longer be shaken like in 2003 for at least the next 150 years. And if an earthquake somehow happens, its magnitude will be significantly lower than six. — The Altai Republic stands on a rock foundation, and the Altai Territory stands on loose sediments. The energy from shocks on hard rocks is transmitted well, but on loose rocks it is instantly extinguished. The Chuya earthquake occurred as a result of the process of mountain building. This is a time-consuming process. Now in Altai up to several dozen seismic phenomena are recorded per year, the vast majority of them have an insignificant magnitude and are recorded only by special instruments. People don’t feel them. However, we must not forget that during the Chuya earthquake of 2003, the magnitude of the tremors reached 7,3 – these are the largest figures in the entire history of instrumental observations in our country. The disaster in Altai could have caused more damage if not for the loose soils, which absorbed the powerful energy of the tremors. Today scientists are monitoring the Altai Republic, and all our research suggests that there is no need to be afraid of anything. Minimum 150 years. — Barnaul developers are in no hurry to erect buildings higher than 25 floors. However, the Self company plans to build the city’s first skyscraper – 45-50 floors – in the area of ​​the River Station. Is it possible to build similar facilities in Barnaul? It is known that the capital of the region stands on sand, which does not allow the construction of high-rise buildings. — Before building anything, be sure to carry out geodetic tests and study the composition of the soil. We have great professionals in our region who do this work. I also once worked as a surveyor. I can say that in the area of ​​the River Station there are a lot of loose sediments in the soil. It is, in principle, possible to build a huge skyscraper there, but it is unclear how long it will last. The load on the foundation of such a building will be colossal. In Barnaul, loess soils predominate, which are located at a depth of 15-20 meters. When wet, loess soils tend to swell. When they dry out, the building “falls in” and begins to crumble. There are many such examples. For example, in Biysk, during construction, one of the houses was shifted several meters than originally planned according to the project. Apparently they missed. As a result, two years later it was declared unsafe. It is possible to build buildings more than 25 floors in Barnaul. However, many developers approach this thoughtlessly. We bought a vacant plot for infill development and do not understand that construction can harm neighboring properties. — Developers have also been planning for many years to go to the other side of the Ob River in order to connect Barnaul with Novoaltaysk into one huge agglomeration. However, this area has very swampy terrain. In your opinion, is it possible to build housing there? — There is an example of Zaton. Every year this village, which stands on exactly the same swampy area, is drowned. It will never stop. They spend a lot of money to help the residents of Zaton. It would be cheaper to simply transport these people to another district of Barnaul. There is no point in building on the other bank: there are many Ob channels there. Modern technologies make it possible to use heavy-duty piles for such swampy areas, but the cost of housing will be enormous. As a scientist, I see no prospects for construction there.

“Who would listen to us”

— In one of your scientific works, you discuss how humans influence the nature of the Altai region. Is our climate seriously changing due to anthropogenic factors? Are we treating our nature correctly? — Man influences nature constantly. In the 60s, people from all over the country went to Altai to develop virgin lands. At that time, the content of humus (a nutrient for plants – editor’s note) in the soil reached 60%. However, all the fields were plowed. This was a huge blow to the soil. Experts used the method of peeling – soil cultivation, which ensures loosening and cutting of weeds. When peeling, part of the crop residues is buried, and along with them weed seeds, pests and pathogens of cultivated plants. There is less humus in the soil. If we do not feed our soil with useful substances, then soon nothing will grow in the Altai Territory. In the Kulunda zone, farmers are already complaining that their crops are being lost. And this is just the beginning, the first bells. This is our huge problem. This could lead to the collapse of all Altai agriculture. I can note that in recent years strong winds have been recorded in Altai. This is all due to the fact that no one is developing forest belts. Half of the trees there have already disappeared. Scientists are literally screaming about the need to restore forest belts. Who would listen to us? For example, now in Altai everything is done to interest tourists. People travel to the neighboring republic from all over the country. The territories where I once conducted geological research have long been built up with tourist centers. Nobody thinks that by developing tourism, we are destroying our ecology. A girl from the Altai Republic and I are currently working on a scientific article about Lake Manzherokskoye. The famous relict chilim nut, which has long been the hallmark of the lake, has been exterminated. A unique plant, which, by the way, is listed in the Red Book of the Altai Republic and is endemic (the main part of the fauna – editor’s note) was cleared from the lake during the process of its resuscitation. Also, chilim could disappear due to tourists. In order to build campsites and ski slopes on the lake, forests were cut down, destroying the relict nut. — You are one of the leading geomorphologists in Russia and study not only minerals, but also natural disasters. What will happen to the Altai Territory in 100 years? Is something threatening us? “Nothing bad will happen to us.” However, devastating floods are possible. It all depends on the weather and the influence on human nature. Now the Ob has become very shallow, but in 100-200 years the situation may change dramatically. Glaciers in the Altai Mountains will melt more intensely and the Ob will overflow its banks. The climate of the Altai Territory will change. The coming warming is just an episode in our history. In a few thousand years, we may experience global cooling. I personally spoke with colleagues who are dealing with this problem. It will be very cold in Altai. Just like in the days of the mammoths. But it’s too early to think about this. Near the outskirts of the village of Topolnoye in the floodplain of the Anui River, a prospecting company began mining gold – despite the unanimous opinion of local residents, the administration and deputies of the Soloneshensky district, the regional authorities, public organizations and archaeologists of the SB RAS. The picturesque area, next to which the oldest archaeological monuments known to the whole world are located, is becoming lifeless. Plants and animals listed in the Red Book are endangered. The experience of gold mining in the 1990s shows that nothing will grow here anymore. Residents of the Soloneshensky district learned several years ago that prospectors might come to Anuy. In June 2017, a gathering of citizens of the Topolinsky village council was held. At the meeting, the general director of Anuy LLC, Alexander Lubenets, promised that about a hundred jobs would be created for local residents, tax deductions would go to the district budget, gold miners would use modern environmentally friendly technologies, and the company’s management even planned to build houses nearby and live there with their families. The villagers expressed their arguments – from the danger of destroying unregistered cattle burial grounds, in which the corpses of animals that died from anthrax were buried, to the experience of a quarter of a century ago: “You will dig everything up and throw it away.” This already happened in the early 1990s. This is what Sergei Manskov, dean of the Faculty of Mass Communications, Philology and Political Science at Altai State University, recalls: – I first came to the valley of this river in 1991 on an archaeological expedition after my first year. They drank water from the river, fished, and played football in the meadow. And the next year, the “goldeners” (that’s what everyone around them called them) came to the confluence of Karakol and Anuya. They promised golden mountains – they say, we’ll make beaches for you, we’ll bring money to the budget – and over the next two years they killed three kilometers of the valley. To start washing gold-bearing sand, you need to remove the “cushion” (alluvial deposits). And these pebbles sometimes go three meters down, and sometimes all six. After such manipulations, what remains is the Martian landscape. It has not changed for 24 years – there are still ugly shafts of stones, weeds and swamps with mosquitoes and midges. The “golden men” from the XNUMXth century washed their hands and abandoned most of the equipment without leveling a single meter. One joy is that for several years local tractor drivers have been unscrewing nuts and parts from abandoned bulldozers. A quarter of a century has passed, and we are stepping on the same rake again. What will we leave for the children? Swamp and Martian landscape again? All 125 participants in the village meeting voted against the mining of alluvial gold in the floodplain of the Anui and its tributaries. At the next session of the Soloneshensky District Council, the Topoli residents were supported by deputies – again, unanimously. The regional authorities also took the side of the Topoli residents. In August 2017, the first deputy chairman of the regional government, Alexander Lukyanov, responded to a request from member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly Sergei Belousov: “The regional government supports the initiative of the public and the decision of the deputies of the Soloneshensky district to prevent further mining of alluvial gold in the region. The process of exploration and mining of alluvial gold is associated with the complete transformation of the natural territory, a decrease in its recreational potential, and the destruction of habitats of rare species of flora and fauna listed in the Red Book of the Altai Territory and the Red Book of the Russian Federation.” But this is not just about the environment. Over the past three years, the regional authorities, together with the Russian Academy of Sciences, have been working to include the cultural heritage site “Denisova Cave” and the adjacent territory of the Anui Valley in the “UNESCO World Heritage List”. The work of the mining team may put an end to this idea. Therefore, last summer, the regional Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology refused to grant Anuy LLC the lease of the forest areas necessary for the company. However, nothing stopped the gold miners. They went to court and began to win one case after another. The unbroken trump card was the license issued in 2016 by the Department of Subsoil Use in the Siberian Federal District. The license is valid until 2028. According to this document, the company has the right to explore and mine mineral resources in the Soloneshensky district. The courts were even provided with certificates from various experts and departments confirming the absence of Red Book flora and fauna in the declared areas. The regional government had to backtrack. – On March 26, 2018, by decision of the Arbitration Court of the Altai Territory, the refusals of the regional Ministry of Natural Resources were declared invalid. We were forced to comply with court decisions. We have sent a letter to Anuy LLC about the need to take comprehensive measures to comply with environmental legislation,” Acting Minister Vladimir Popryadukhin responded to RG’s request. In July, the first kilograms of gold were mined near Topolnoye. The bed of the Anuya has decreased by five meters and moved towards the ravine, which, according to the chairman of the local village council, Mikhail Khrushchev, is a violation of environmental and water legislation. It is curious how the Interregional Directorate of Rosprirodnadzor for the Altai Territory and the Altai Republic will react to this. It is difficult to say whether this scandalous story has come to an end. On July 9 of this year, the scientific director of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the SB RAS, twice laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Anatoly Derevyanko and the director of the institute, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Mikhail Shunkov submitted a letter to the regional government. The authors of the letter recalled that next to the gold mining there is “a cultural heritage site of federal significance, the Denisova Cave, as well as the world-famous archaeological monuments of Karama, Anui-1-3 and other objects that most fully characterize the ancient history of North and Central Asia.” The scientists asked Acting Governor Viktor Tomenko to pay attention “to the current situation from the point of view of the economic feasibility of developing placer gold in the Anui River valley, taking into account the inevitable negative economic, socio-cultural and environmental consequences.” In the coming days, local environmentalists intend to file a claim in court to stop activities carried out in violation of environmental legislation. As stated by the coordinator of the environmental monitoring group of the regional branch of the ONF in the Altai Territory, Aleksey Gribkov, as a result of research carried out by specialists in the Anui Valley and in the river itself within the boundaries of the mountain allotment, the presence of plants and animals listed in the Red Books of Russia and the Altai Territory was documented (there are expert opinions at the disposal of the editor). In accordance with the law, activities that could lead to disruption of the habitat of Red Book organisms are not permitted. Environmentalists notified the subsoil user and authorities about this, but mining work did not stop. This means that the court will put an end to this issue. In the Soloneshensky district, the collection of signatures has begun for a petition against gold mining in the floodplain of the Anui and its tributaries. Among the signatories is American farmer Justus Walker, who moved here from the Krasnoyarsk Territory the year before. “This is damage to the area. They mine gold right next to the village, and downstream people live and graze cattle. This can’t be done, it’s unfair,” said the “cheerful milkman,” known for his videos posted on YouTube. More than three hundred people have already signed the petition. What about the neighbors? In Kuzbass, social activists oppose gold mining in a relict grove near the village of Kuzedeevo. The natural monument “Linden Island” is one of the key botanical territories of the Altai-Sayan ecoregion. Thanks to the special climatic conditions, here, between the Kondoma and Mrassu rivers, a deciduous forest of the pre-glacial period with Red Book plants and animals has been preserved. By the way, residents of the region chose the Siberian linden as the “Green Symbol of Kuzbass”, supporting the initiative of scientists to create a complex natural reserve of regional significance “Relict”. However, at the approval stage, it turned out that a private company had received a license to explore placer gold reserves in these places. Local residents contacted the regional branch of the All-Russian Popular Front. And its activists called on the regional administration to contact the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use to revoke the license. They believe that existing gold mining technologies are unsafe for the environment. – As a rule, in the upper reaches of rivers from the very source, bypass canals are dug through which a watercourse flows, draining the main channel of the river, and almost all aquatic inhabitants die during the day. Excavators and bulldozers are destroying the area adjacent to the river. In recent years, gold mining cooperatives have already occupied rivers in the foothills of the Kuznetsk Alatau in the Tisulsky, Mariinsky, Novokuznetsky, and Mezhdurechensky districts. And if this activity is not stopped, the consequences will be sad,” Yuri Manakov, an expert of the ONF public monitoring group on environmental issues and forest protection in the Kemerovo region, is convinced. “We call on the authorities to assist in the creation of a specially protected natural area near Kuzedeevo in order to protect it from future encroachments by industrial companies. Prepared by Yulia Potapova, Kemerovo