About a Pile of Money and a Deep Hole in the Ground: Diamond Mining in Mirny, Yakutia

Last week I had the pleasure to attend a course in Sakha Republic (Yakutia), in the Russian Federation. The course within the thematic area of extractive industries brought me to Mirny, a small city which has been built around its mining activities. Since Russian geologists have found rich diamond deposits in the Republic of Sakha, Russia has become one of the world leaders in diamond production. Also Mirny is significantly shaped from the extraction of diamonds in the area ..
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From Murmansk to Nikel: Environmental Disaster on the Kola Peninsula

eroded landscape and nickel smelter
The nickel smelter in Nikel (Rus)

While I cannot and do not blend out human caused environmental degradation, I generally focus my camera lenses rather on the beauty of nature, which is why you predominantly find nature photography in my blog. But there are places, where this is simply not possible; places, where nature has been wiped out. One of these places is Nikel, on the Kola peninsula, in northwestern Russia, close to the Norwegian border … Continue reading “From Murmansk to Nikel: Environmental Disaster on the Kola Peninsula”

Hiking in the Khibiny and Lovozero Mountains (Russian Lapland)

Khibiny MountainsMy friend Andi and me made a long planned hiking trip into the Khibiny mountains, on the Kola peninsula in summer. For me it was the first part of an almost three months lasting trip. First we went by train to Moscow to visit a friend before we went on by train to Apatity, from where we took a taxi to Kirovsk, visiting another friend for a few days. We used this time there to get some better maps for the region, since there are no marked trails Continue reading “Hiking in the Khibiny and Lovozero Mountains (Russian Lapland)”

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