Top 10 underground mines in former Soviet Union produce coal, copper – report
Of the ten biggest underground mines in the Former Soviet Union by the amount of raw ores extracted, six are producing coal and the remaining four copper, the Mining Technology said, citing GlobalData’s mining database.
The largest mine is the DTEK Pavlogradugol Mining Complex in Ukraine’s Dnipro (Dnepropetrovsk), owned by DTEK Energy. The mine, due to operate until 2060, produced an estimated 10.08 million tonnes Run-of-Mine (ROM) in 2022, including 7.26 million tonnes of coal.
Of the four top copper mines, three belong to Russian miner Nornickel: Oktyabrsky, Taimyrsky and Komsomolsky mines, ranked 4th, 7th and 8th, respectively, are located in Krasnoyarsk Krai. Their estimated ROM production amounted to 5 million tonnes, 4.25 million tonnes and 4.2 million tonnes last year, while copper production was 89,860 tonnes, 59,640 tonnes and 74,300 tonnes, respectively.
Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC) owns and operates the remaining copper mine on the list — ranked 3rd overall. Located in Orenburg Oblast, the Gaisky Mine Complex is a copper mining project produced an estimated 6.58 million tonnes of ROM in 2022, wth copper content of 157,000 tonnes.
According to GlobalData, whichtracks and profiles over 33,000 mines and projects from early exploration to closure, across more than 150 countries, there are over 2,290 underground mines in operation globally, of which 213 are in the former Soviet Union.
