Geography and geopolitics
By most standards Khaidarkan is remote, wedged in the Central Asia. The remoteness of the mine, which was an
precipitous mountains of south-west Kyrgyzstan and advantage during the war, is now considered a challenge
reached by a narrow road over a 2,300-metre pass. The to the further economic development of the region.
mercury mine and smelter date from 1941, from the days
of the Soviet Union. The mine equipment and infrastruc- Significant mercury reserves remain at deeper depths at
ture were located at Khaidarkan following evacuation of Khaidarkan, but investment has not been forthcoming to
industrial facilities from Ukraine during the Second World allow their exploitation. Even if this were possible, there
War. The Khaidarkan region had exploitable mercury de- are also significant cash flow challenges, which impact
posits and it was unthinkable that the enemy could reach on workers’ pay. The region, much as many other regions
Why Khaidarkan is the only one still producing
While other mines have long closed their mining ac- of international regulations and control, Khaidarkan
tivities within Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere in the world, primary mercury is still in demand on the international
Khaidarkan remains the only operation which supplies market which contributes to the continuation of min-
primary mined mercury to the global market place. ing operations.
Mines in Slovenia and Algeria have ceased operations
due to economic and technical difficulties, others like The Khaidarkan plant remains important to the lo-
the Almaden mine in Spain also experienced pressure cal community, both as a source of income and also
from growing international concern regarding mercury for the people’s identity. Before mining started in the
pollution which led to closure of this, the biggest mer- early 1940s, there was no urban settlement in Khaid-
cury mine in the world in 2004. China also has some arkan, people came with the mine to be miners. At
mines but it is believed that their production remains its height about 12,000 people lived there, now it is
within the country. below 10,000. For them it is their home, they do not
want to leave. In other places in Kyrgyzstan where
So why is Khaidarkan the only one still mining mercury industry vital to a town’s existence has collapsed,
for the global market? The main reason is the eco- people have been forced to leave, many ending up
nomic challenges facing Kyrgyzstan, particularly the in the outskirts of Kyrgyzstan’s capital Bishkek where
region where the mine is located. The company that they try to make a living. The government seeks to
manages the complex has been struggling with fluc- avoid these movements commonly associated with
tuating mercury prices and continuous technical dif- increased poverty by keeping relevant industries alive
ficulties such as low ore grades and flooding of shafts as long as possible. While it is recognized that mer-
with underground water. Many times the state-owned cury mining poses environmental risks, the means to
company has had to request subsidies and state sup- invest in new industries or restructure the regions that
port for continuing its operations and the initial efforts could help the transition away from such activities
to privatize the mine did not yield results. Due to a lack have to date been very limited.
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