On the train to Elga, the miners killed time over card games and sips of chefir, a drink brewed using eight tea bags per cup, its heady, nauseating kick a common replacement for alcohol in Russian prisons.
And they waited to reach Elga at last reut.rs/3ny5L8y 1/10
No one on the train knew what time it would arrive at its destination.
For hour after hour it snaked through the snow-covered forests of far eastern Siberia without passing a single settlement 2/10
Despite its forbidding terrain, Elga is geographically lucky in one respect.
The Kuzbass, Russia’s traditional coal-mining heartland in western Siberia, faces a European market that is rapidly ditching coal on climate concerns 3/10
Elga is in Russia’s Far East, close to ports that face Asia, where coal use is expected to continue to grow for some time – particularly for the high-quality coking coal, used in the metals industry, that Elga produces 4/10
With an estimated 2.2 billion metric tons of coal, Elga could be one of the biggest mines in the world.
But the harsh climate, unforgiving terrain and sheer isolation of the area have conspired against its large-scale development so far 5/10
Attempting to turn it into a large-scale mine helped bring Elga’s previous owner to the brink of bankruptcy.
Though grand, Elga’s ambitions are in line with Russia’s declared strategy to ramp up output and exports of coal 6/10
Elga is expanding, and workers’ housing is springing up fast.
The town will be a permanent home for more than 20,000 people, according to the plan.
Life at Elga can be mentally tough for some.
For others, the remoteness, the wild nature, is a pull to return 7/10
Many at Elga spoke with wonder of the nature around them.
Inna Losyuk, Elga’s on-site director, pointed out the crystal peaks of the Stanovoy mountain range and described how the Siberian dwarf pine folds over in late autumn, as if to hibernate 8/10
Losyuk also spoke with pride about the progress the miners had made, blowing up the landscape to expand the mine 9/10
For a closer look at the grandiose dream to carve out a giant coal mine in eastern Siberia reut.rs/3u5TQ47 by ✍️@polinaivanovva and 📷@DuckeEmile 10/10
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