Pyramiden – An Almost Abandoned Mining Town on the Svalbard Archipelago

During our visit to Svalbard, Pyramiden was one of the place that my traveling friends and me were eager to sea. The settlement gives a great example of sustainability challenges to single industry towns. Staying there overnight, we had the chance to see several buildings from the inside. For the time being, Pyramiden appears almost like a ghost town .. Continue reading “Pyramiden – An Almost Abandoned Mining Town on the Svalbard Archipelago”

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”

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