Pechora coal basin is a large coal basin, which is located in three subjects of the Russian Federation at once: the Komi Republic, the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and the Arkhangelsk region. In terms of coal reserves in Russia, it is second only to Kuzbass. It contains about thirty deposits. The method of mining in the Pechora coal basin is mainly underground, but it is also found open.
Inventory characteristics
Total reserves of the Pechora coal basin - 344.5 billion tons. It is diverse in its composition: both brown and lean coals, and even anthracites are mined here, but fatty (51%) and long-flame (35%) predominate. The general characteristics of coals are quite high and are presented in the table.
| Heat of Combustion | 28-32 MJ/kg |
| Humidity | 6-11 % |
| Mineral impurities | 4-6 % |
Coal mining
The cost of coal in the Pechora basin is relativelyhigh, but this is due not to its quality, but to the complexity of production. The thickness of the coal seams is approximately 1-1.5 meters, because of this they constantly bend, break and sag. The depth of their occurrence can vary from 150 to 1000 meters, which is generally deeper than in Kuzbass. The largest deposits are: Intinskoye, Vorkuta, Vorgashorskoye and Yunyaginskoye. The main mining method in the Pechora coal basin is underground. Only at Yunyaginskoye and a few other deposits, part of the coal is mined open-pit.
Hinders mining and climate. Some deposits are located beyond the Arctic Circle, in permafrost. This requires more powerful rock breaking equipment, as well as funds to pay workers' allowances. There is a lot of methane in the rock. This greatly increases the risk of explosion in mines.
In general, according to the results of the last ten years, production volumes at the main fields are falling. The reason for this is not only the complication of the mining process itself, but also the drop in demand for coal in the domestic and world markets. Now funds are being allocated to reduce the cost of production, which should increase demand in the future.
History
The first information about the presence of coal in this region appeared back in 1828. But due to the difficulties of developing this area, they did not develop the deposit and soon forgot about it. Almost a century later, in 1919, the hunter V. Ya. Popov made a claim about finding coal near the Vorkuta River. Five years later, geological prospecting began under the leadership of A. A. Chernov. Coal was found in the rivers Kosya, Necha, Inta, Kozhim. In addition to finding the deposits themselves, the approximate composition of coal was determined. Even then, the researchers realized that the future pool would contain many types of coal.
Later, Chernov received a diploma and a badge "Pioneer of the field" for his work. Coal mining began in 1931. In the 70s, the basin was expanded to the borders of the Timan-Ural province.
The development of the deposit was extremely difficult at first. Coal was deposited at great depths, so in the Pechora coal basin, mines were the way to extract coal. The difficulty was also affected by the climate and the lack of good equipment. Prisoners were the main labor force at that time. The field began to gain momentum in production only in the post-war years. In many ways, Soviet ideology played a role: the Stakhanov movement and labor competitions. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, many mines began to close due to strikes and layoffs of workers. A new heyday began only in the 2000s. It was then that the Pechora coal basin began to be equipped with new equipment, wages to miners began to be paid on time, and transportation of products was established.
Markets and development prospects
In the regions where the Pechora coal basin is located, as well as in the Vologda region, almost all power plants operate on coal mined here. The largest such consumer is Pechorskaya GRES. Half provided with Pechora coal North-West region andKaliningrad region, 20% - Volga-Vyatka and Central Black Earth regions.
There are no large metallurgical enterprises on the territory of the basin itself. The main consumers of coking coal are located in Cherepovets, the Central, Central Chernozem and Ural economic regions. Delivery of coal is carried out with the help of the Northern Railway. This also negatively affects the cost of coal.
Ecology
As already mentioned, there are no large enterprises in the basin. This has a positive effect on the ecological situation in the region, but still there are some problems. The most basic is the disruption of ground and surface water circulation as a result of large areas of coal mining. Polluted during the processing of coal and air. As already mentioned, the mining method in the Pechora coal basin is underground. Mines must be constantly ventilated. Because of this, everything that was in them ends up in the atmosphere. The composition of the air undergoes changes from this: the content of carbon dioxide increases, dust appears.
To improve the environmental situation, a number of measures are being taken today:
- Water in the mines goes through several stages of filtration and settling.
- Reducing water consumption for processing mined coal.
- Methane, which is often found in mines, is used as a fuel for the needs of mining enterprises, and is not emitted into the atmosphere.
