Karabash

Karabashmed is the largest copper smelter in whole Russia.

The first mining settlement was founded here in 1822 and a large copper quarry soon surrounded the town.

Nevertheless, after almost one and half century of heavy mining and copper smelting the whole area around Karabash practically died out and the ecosystem completely collapsed. First acid rains appeared here in the 1970s.
By 1989 the situation was so critical that the smelter must have been shutdown. In 1996 the Russian Ministry of the Environment declared Karabash the zone of ecological disaster.
However the production was resumed in 1998 as the price of copper was rising.

Six years later the smelter became part of RCC group (Russian Copper Company) and the plant was completely modernized, including a state-of-the-art cupola furnace and new converter shop.

Keywords: karabash, russian copper company, ural, copper smelter, kupferwerk, industrial photography, industriekultur, industrialni fotografie, beautyofsteel, sssr, ecology, environmental, 2018

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