Gold mining is the oldest branch of the mining industry. Back in the 19th century, alluvial gold was mined on the territory of Khakassia, and at the beginning of the 20th century, development of vein deposits began. In our time, geologists have discovered new gold deposits and clarified the reserves of many old ones. Well-mechanized mines arose near the deposits.
The largest gold mining enterprise - Saralinsky mine located in the upper reaches of the Sarala River, which begins with the watershed ridge of the Kuznetsk Alatau.
In the interfluve of the upper reaches of the Bely and Cherneno Iyus, high in the mountains of the Kuznetsk Alatau, there is a mine Kommunar; his village has up to 7 thousand inhabitants. Here, gold-bearing ore is mined on the Podlunny golts. It is transported by cable car to the factory, where gold is extracted from the ore. A tract goes to the mine from the Shira railway station.
Non-ferrous metals on the territory of Khakassia have been used by man since ancient times. This is evidenced by old traces of mining and many archaeological finds. Copper smelters operated here in the 18th and early 20th centuries. After the October Revolution, the reserves and quality of ores mined here were carefully examined. It turned out that these ores are polymetallic (copper-molybdenum-tungsten); in addition, there are deposits of rare metals. As a result of all the research, many combines were built. The largest of these enterprises is the Sorsk molybdenum combine, located on the eastern spurs of the Kuznetsk Alatau. Ore is mined here in an open way, in quarries, and goes to a processing plant. At the plant in the valley of the Yerba River, a city grew up Sorsk, having more than 11 thousand population.
The Mainsky copper mine, one of the oldest in Khakassia - it has existed since the 18th century - is now mined out and closed, just as the Yuliya lead mine is closed. settlement Maina has now become the base for the builders of the Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station. From here begins the attack on the upper Yenisei.
Features of the geological structure of the territory, the presence of various geotectonic structures determine the presence of various fossils in Khakassia, and also explain the main patterns of their distribution.
Ore minerals associated with the distribution of ancient igneous rocks are located mainly in the mountainous regions of the region. The strata of alluvial deposits in the eastern flat parts of the territory are associated with coal deposits and some other fossils of sedimentary origin.
On the territory of Khakassia, there are various types of mineral raw materials necessary for the development of ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy - deposits of iron ores and flux materials, reserves of copper, molybdenum and lead-zinc ores, precious and rare metals. There are large resources of mineral fuel, various building materials and some types of chemical raw materials. All this opens up quite broad prospects for the development of the mining and mining industry here.
In the richly represented complex of mineral raw materials of the republic, ores of ferrous and some non-ferrous metals, as well as deposits of coal, are of the greatest economic importance.
ore minerals
Khakassia has long been known for its iron ore deposits. However, detailed geological studies of them were carried out only in Soviet times, and especially in recent years. There are more than 130 iron ore deposits and ore occurrences of magnetite and hematite composition on the territory of the republic. Of these, only the Abakansky and Teysky deposits have begun mining iron ore. Anzasskoye, Samson, Abagasskoye, Elgen-Tagskoye have been completed with exploration, and the rest of the deposits and ore occurrences are almost unexplored and poorly studied. They are not evenly distributed over the territory, forming separate groups, which in their placement repeat the general stretch of mountain systems.
The West Sayan system has the largest reserves of iron ore and the prospects for discovering new large resources. Of the deposits of this system, the Abakan and Anzas deposits of predominantly magnetite iron ores have been explored and are of commercial value.
Known from the middle of the 19th century under the name of "Abakan Grace", the Abakan or Abaza deposit with reserves of 80 million tons is located in the Tashtyp region, 5 km from the city of Abaza. Ores, represented mainly by fine-grained magnetite, less often by hematite and martite, contain an average of 45, and in some places up to 68 percent iron. They have an increased percentage of silica. Harmful impurities in ores are phosphorus (0.19%) and sulfur (2.4%). But there is an admixture of rare and expensive cobalt. The deposit is connected with Yuzhsib by a railway line. Its operation began in 1957. For a number of years, open-pit mining has been carried out. Since 1966, the ore has been extracted by the mine method.
The Anzasskoye deposit, discovered in 1952, is located in the mountain-taiga part of the Tashtypsky district, 100 km south of Abaza. It is located on the southern slope of the Shaman Ridge. The total ore reserves (with forecast) are about 200 million tons, with an average iron content of 38%, sulfur - 2.7%, phosphorus - 0.28%. However, the geographical location complicates the conditions for its operation.
The Tartash deposit (20 million tons) is structurally confined to the same zone of the Shaman fault.
Other poorly studied ore occurrences of the West Sayan mountain system of Khakassia are combined into the Dzhebash, Joy and Kantegir iron ore bands, located mainly along the strike of the corresponding mountain ranges.
Iron ore deposits and manifestations of the Kuznetsk Alatau also form several groups, in their distribution repeating the meridional strike of this mountain system. Where its spurs wedge out to the east (the Batenevsky Range, the Sakhsar Range), the areas of mineralization shift in the same direction.
The Teya group of magnetite ore deposits, located on the eastern slope of the Abakan Range (Askizsky District), has the greatest industrial significance in this mountain system. It includes, in addition to the well-explored Teyskoye, Abagasskoye, Elgen-Tagskoye, poorly explored Tuzukhsinskoye and Khabzasskoye deposits, discovered in 1930.
The largest field of this group, which entered commercial operation in 1965, is Teyskoye, located at the headwaters of the Tyoi, Khabzas and Tuzukhsu rivers (Askizsky district). Located in the mountain-taiga area at an altitude of 1000 m above sea level, it is the largest in Khakassia. Its reserves are determined at 200 million tons with an average iron content in the ore of 35%, sulfur - 0.7%, phosphorus - 0.05%. The advantages of the deposit are its position near the Yuzhsib route, with which it is connected by a thirty-kilometer railway line from the Biskamzha station, as well as the shallow occurrence of ore bodies, convenient for open pit mining.
Abagasskoye deposit is located near the Teyskoye deposit with reserves of 105 million tons, with an average iron content of 31%, sulfur - 1.06 - 2.38%, phosphorus - 0.03 - 0.07%.
The remaining deposits and ore occurrences of the Kuznetsk Alatau, the study of which is far from being completed, form, following from south to north, the Kamyshtinskaya, Balyksinskaya, Karyshskaya and Chebakovskaya groups.
The Kamyshtinskaya group combines several ore occurrences in the basins of the Kamyshty, Bolshoy and Maly Syrov rivers in the Askiz region. Balyksinskaya - deposits in the Balyksa river basin of the same region.
The Karysh group includes a number of deposits located on the northern slopes of the Batenevsky Ridge in the Shirinsky District. Of these, the Samson deposit is the largest; its exploration was completed in 1957. It has reserves of 40 million tons and is conveniently located near the Tisin junction on the Achinsk-Abakan railway.
The deposits of the Chebakovskaya group, located in the interfluve of the Bely and Cherny Iyus (Shirinsky district), have been studied in recent years and turned out to be of little prospect, small, with reserves of about 6 million tons.
The total total reserves of iron ore in Khakassia, currently estimated at 725 million tons, should increase significantly in the future, since many of the little-studied deposits are very promising. Together with the reserves of the right bank regions of the region (with a prospective estimate of 2.5 billion tons), Khakass iron ores are a good base for the ferrous metallurgy of Siberia.
In the bowels of the republic there are reserves of non-ferrous and rare metals. The eastern slope of the Kuznetsk Alatau, which is located almost entirely within Khakassia, occupies a leading position in the south of the Krasnoyarsk Territory in terms of the variety and practical significance of deposits of non-ferrous and rare metals. The presence of these deposits here has been known for a long time, but their detailed study began only in the Soviet years.
There are a number of copper deposits in Khakassia, a significant part of which is of industrial importance. Most of them are complex, predominantly of the copper-molybdenum type. Of greatest practical interest in the Kuznetsk Alatau system are copper deposits on the slopes of the Batenevsky Ridge. This includes three groups of deposits: Ulenskaya, located in the mountainous taiga area, in the west of the Ust-Abakan region; Tuimskaya (Shirinsky district), which is distinguished by the convenience of a transport position near the Achinsk-Abakan railway line (the Kiyalykh-Uzen field of this group is currently being exploited).
The Yulinskaya group of deposits is located in the Bogradsky district. The deposits of the Temir (Ust-Abakan region) and Syrsko-Bazin (Askiz region) groups are confined to the Sakhsar spur of the Kuznetsk Alatau.
Of the numerous copper deposits, in addition to the exploited Kiyalykh-Uzenskoye, Ulenskoye, Temirskoye and Bazinskoye are recognized as commercially profitable. On their basis, it is planned to build mines.
Molybdenum deposits in Khakassia are of great practical interest. The largest is Sorskoye (Ust-Abakansky district), confined to the southern slope of the Batenevsky ridge. A large molybdenum plant operates at its base.
Also noteworthy is the Ipchulsky deposit, 50 km. southwest of Shira station. In addition, molybdenum, as well as other rare metals - tungsten, cobalt - are present as impurities in non-ferrous metal ores (less often in iron ore) in many deposits of Khakassia.
The practical value of lead-zinc deposits (Ig-Golskoye - Askizsky district) is small, their reserves are insignificant.
Khakassia has long been known for its riches of gold. The gold-bearing regions of the Kuznetsk Alatau were discovered in the 20-40s of the last century. Since then, this mountain system has been famous for its "prospecting" craft. On the territory of the republic there are both primary ore deposits of gold, and secondary, alluvial. The main gold ore zone is also confined to the eastern slope of the Kuznetsk Alatau. A number of gold-bearing regions stand out here: Saralinsky - in the mountainous taiga area of the upper reaches of the Sarala and Cherny Iyus rivers (Ordzhonikidzevsky district); Kommunarovsky - in the upper reaches of the Bely Iyus River (Shirinsky district); Uybatsky covers the territory of the middle part of the Ust-Abakan region; Balyksinsky is confined to the western slope of the Abakan Range (Askizsky District). The Western Sayan system includes one Kyzas - the Anzas gold-bearing region (Tashtyp region).
As a result of long-term development, gold reserves in Khakassia have been depleted. At present, Saralinsky and Kommunarovsky gold ore and Balyksinsky gold-placer areas are of industrial value.
Features of the nature of Khakassia
The southwestern part of Eastern Siberia, the left-bank basin of the Yenisei, is occupied by the Republic of Khakassia. It lies within the Sayano-Altai highlands and the Khakass-Minusinsk basin.
Its length from north to south is 460 km, and from west to east 200 km in a wider part.
The northern, eastern and southeastern border runs with the Krasnoyarsk Territory, in the south the border goes with the Republic of Tuva, in the southwest - the Republic of Altai, and in the west it borders on the Kemerovo Region.
The climate of the Republic is sharply continental with little snow and cold winters. Summer here is dry and hot. The average temperature in January is -18.9 degrees, and in July it is +17.9 degrees. Precipitation falls unevenly - in the steppe zone, from 300 to 700 mm falls annually, in the mountain-taiga zone the amount of precipitation increases to 1500 mm.
The relief is distinguished by flat and mountainous parts. The flat part is represented by the Minusinsk and Chulma-Yenisei basins, and the mountainous part is represented by the eastern slopes of the Kuznetsk Alatau, the Abakan Range and the northern slopes of the Western Sayan.
The Sayans, located in the west and south of Khakassia, occupy 2/3 of the territory.
The large and main rivers are the Yenisei and Abakan, along the valleys of which there are steppes. Mountains are characterized by vertical zonality of landscapes.
The slopes of the Kuznetsk Alatau are dry, so light coniferous forests grow there - larch, pine. Dark coniferous forests - fir-cedar, occupy the slopes of the Abakan Range and the Western Sayan.
The forests growing in the river valleys are mixed, they are characterized by the presence of birch, cedar, fir, spruce, willow, aspen, and larch. The undergrowth of these forests is represented by low birch, Kuril tea, currant, alder, etc.
In the high-mountain belt, light cedar forests, alpine meadows, and mountain tundra stand out. Cedar and firs can also grow. Birch, honeysuckle, alder, and juniper grow in the undergrowth. There are shrubs of dwarf dwarf, willow, alder.
Tundras are classified into shrub, lichen, and herbaceous. Tundra plants are represented by sedge, white-flowered geranium, and shulcia. You can meet sheep fescue, daffodil anemone, dryad, Turchaninov's cross.
The vegetation of the steppes is also diverse - grayish panzeria, thyme, cold wormwood, teresken, cochia, snakehead. The steppes of the Republic are famous for their caragans, dwarf small-tufted grasses.
The steppe herbage is characterized by fescue, feather grass, bluegrass, sedge, white-tomented speedwell, asters, etc. The flora of Khakassia has more than 1.5 thousand species of higher plants, of which 300 species belong to medicinal and technical raw materials.
Valuable food plants include wild garlic and bracken.
On the territory of Khakassia, different species of animals have found their homes - Dzungarian hamster, hare, voles, moles, long-tailed ground squirrels. Steppe lemming, narrow-skulled vole, shrew, and badger constantly live here. Of the predators - fox, wolf, brown bear, lynx, wolverine.
Natural resources of Khakassia
The small territory of the Republic is well provided with natural resources.
The mineral group of resources is represented by iron ore, the total reserves of which amount to 2.0 billion tons. Ores are concentrated in eight deposits - Abakanskoye, Teyskoye, Abagasskoye, Elgentagskoye, Izykhgolskoye, Anzasskoye, Volkovskoye, Samson. Iron in ores contains from 28 to 44.8%.
Molybdenum deposits are large in terms of reserves - Sorskoye, Agaskyrskoye, Ipchulskoye, but they are poor in the content of a useful component. In the ores of the first two deposits, copper, rhenium, and silver are found along the way. The content of tungsten in the ores of the Ipchulsky deposit reaches industrial concentrations.
Gold mining in the Republic has been going on since the first half of the 19th century, but there are no reliable statistics on mining. According to one of the options, 196 tons of gold were mined in the Republic. Gold mining in our time is based on the reserves of 6 primary deposits:
- Kommunarovskoye,
- Yuzikskoe,
- Mayskoye,
- Kuznetsovskoe,
- spruce,
- Turgayul.
Placer gold is mined at 30 deposits.
Hydrocarbon reserves in the Minusinsk depression are estimated at 50-230 million tons.
In the Minusinsk coal basin, reserves of 4 coal deposits have been explored - Beyskoye, Chernogorskoye, Izykhskoye, Askizskoye. 5.3 billion tons of coal are concentrated here, 3.6 billion tons are suitable for open-pit mining.
Common minerals are represented by clays, loams, expanded clay, sands, sand and gravel materials, gypsum, etc.
In the Republic there are unique deposits of marble and granite - Kibik-Kordon, Izas. The balance reserves of the first deposit amount to 63.4 million cubic meters. m.
There are jewelry and ornamental minerals - jade, jadeite, the deposits of which have been explored.
On the territory of Khakassia, there are significant reserves of mineral waters, radon, and many mineral lakes.
The forest fund of the Republic occupies 4022.9 thousand hectares or 65.3% of the total area. 2005.2 thousand hectares are occupied under coniferous species. The total stock of wood contains 431.9 million cubic meters. m, or 1.4% of the stake in the Siberian Federal District.
The recreational resources of Khakassia are peculiar and interesting, providing potential opportunities for the development of tourism. Monuments of archeology, history, architecture, culture, industrial facilities are the basis of tourism activities.
Places of ancient burials - burial mounds, ancient settlements, castles, stone sculptures are of particular value.
For specialists, Khakassia is an "archaeological Mecca".
Remark 1
For the effective use of recreational resources, economic cooperation with foreign travel agencies is necessary. An important point remains the attraction of foreign capital for the further development of the material and technical base of the tourism industry.
Natural monuments of Khakassia
Natural objects are the most famous sights of Khakassia.
For local residents, Mount Kunya is a sacred place, which means “Mountain of the Sun” in translation. In the area of the mountain there was a cult place for conducting rituals and ceremonies in honor of the sun god.
Remark 2
In fact, this is not a mountain, but just a hill, elevated 400 m above sea level. From the top of the hill, a magnificent view of the Yenisei valley opens up. In times BC it was used as a natural fortress, where it was possible to hide from enemies.
There is a wonderful natural monument, called "Hot Key" or "Abakansky Arzhan" - this is the only hot spring in the Republic. The water temperature of this thermal spring is 37-40 degrees.
The area is rich in caves. The explored passages of the Pandora's Box cave have a length of about 11 km and a depth of more than 180 m.
The caves have interesting names - Pandora's Box, Black Devil Cave or Kashkulakskaya, Borodino Cave, etc.
The Kashkulak cave is called one of the peaks of the spurs of the Kuznetsk Alatau - Koshkulak. Speleologists from many countries know about this archaeological site. It is officially included in the top five "most terrible" places on the globe.
The healing lake Shira is well known in the Republic and beyond its borders. The lake is located in the steppe zone of Khakassia. The miraculous power of the water of the lake was known more than a century ago, and in 1891 a resort was built on its shore.
I will make a rare attempt to post photos from my last trip to Khakassia. All these views a professional photographer would have done a hundred times better. Let whoever wants to follow in the footsteps and do it. And I will post shots from the soap box. Pictures will be categorized, with a brief description. At the end there will be a bonus - an exciting story of "discovery" :)
stones
Not far from the Shir there is an area called the Shirinsky Pillars. Heaps of stones of various shapes on a forest slope. Presumably, these stones were dragged by a glacier. That is why they are piled one on top of the other. The stones are clearly sedimentary. Age - hundreds of millions of years. The structure of the stone is very interesting - strong (granite?) chips mixed with softer rocks. As a result of weathering, smooth, bizarre shapes are obtained.
This "pillar" is called a mushroom
And this is just an example of weathering 
An example of a heap of stones. Whether it was a glacier that dragged a heap of stone, or such formations were the result of weathering, I do not know. 
Herbs
This photo can safely start the "weed" category. Lichens are certainly not herbs, but pink rings of lichens are clearly visible on the stone. It is interesting to observe how life begins to nest on stones - starting with such barely visible thin layers of lichen and ending with all sorts of beautiful plants that are undemanding to water and the amount of soil. 
Plants that grow on rocks. 
These are such wonderful Christmas trees. 
Or these are the fellow hare cabbage. 
Kinds
If you climb to the top of the mountain in the area of the Shirinsky pillars, then this view opens up. On the right, among the mountains, the White Iyus River is visible, forested hills ahead, a valley below. 
View from the other side - from Iyus to the very mountains / hills where the pillars are located. 
And this is already the well-known region of the Shirinsky chests - steep hills made of sedimentary rocks (geologists call them cuesta). The photo shows the first chest - a chest, because at the top there is a stone "tower" of almost regular shape. A lot of legends, myths and tales are associated with this place, but it is quite difficult to verify their authenticity. There are indeed cave paintings. Whether they are all genuine or not, I don't know. The local archaeologists, and even more so the guides, do not inspire confidence. The tales of shamans and ancient observatories seem rather forced. But the place is amazingly beautiful. 
It's not entirely clear where to add this photo. It is needed in order to understand the category "artifacts" and for the section "species" is also not superfluous. This is the top of one of the hills. A stone cliff near which there is a narrow path. An almost vertical wall goes down. If you stand with your back to this wall, then a gorgeous view of the valley opens. 
And here is the valley, in which a couple of thousand years ago (according to archaeologists) life was in full swing. 
And a couple more hills that hang over another valley. In general, in the Shira region there are quite a lot of such sites separated by beautiful hills. I can assume that in each of these valleys there was a tribe that considered it their home .. 
Meanders are clearly visible in this photo - the bends of a flat river that are already overgrown and silted up, but are distinguished by the type of vegetation. For lowland rivers, the appearance of such rings is the norm. 
Artifacts
The Khakas steppe is full of stone-enclosed burial grounds. But this stone is not a burial ground. This is a menhir on which drawings are carved. I immediately saw two horses in the drawings, but my colleagues said that this was all nonsense and, if desired, one could come up with any interpretation. The age of the drawings, what is depicted, why - I believe a professional archaeologist, but so far I have not met those in this area. 
This stone is up close. Still, in my opinion, these are definitely horses and certainly knocked out a long time ago. An amusing microfact - birds sit on the stone and shit on it, they only shit on one side (the white top is clearly visible), the reverse side is pristine. 
If you remember a sheer wall from the "views" category, then this white horse is "painted" on it. This is the only drawing on a multi-meter long wall. Was he the only one or did the others collapse? What is its meaning and age? I have many questions and not clear, but the colorful explanations of the guides do not convince me. 
And these are stone slabs of the "correct form" on one of the hills. It is alleged that these are blanks for graves and menhirs. What and how could such smooth stones be cut? Could they have formed naturally? I hope someday I get answers 
Another drawing. Two men with aroused phalluses are holding some kind of samovar in their hands (the guide said the deity). 
This photo ended up in artifacts because the locals call this hill a fortress (just near this hill there are slab blanks). From the hill there is an excellent view of the surrounding valleys, at the top there is a natural stone platform. It is alleged that the two ridges going down from the stone platform (one can be seen in the photo where people are standing) are of artificial origin - supposedly there was a guard post at the top (and it was almost impossible to get close to it from the side of the cliff), and from the gentle side of the hill this wall. 
Bonus
As a bonus, there is a story about how we found the first dinosaur in Khakassia. Walking along the Shirinsky pillars, I found very strange stone ledges on a smooth rock. The protrusions (especially near) immediately resemble dorsal vertebrae. The length of the "back" is about 3-4 meters. It is unlikely that this will be a dinosaur - geologists say that fossil bones look completely different. I would still like to find a person who can answer the question of what kind of education. In the meantime, the opposite is not proven, we will continue to call it the Zadereev dinosaur :) 
PS. Those who have mastered this post will get to the panorama of the valley, taken from the very hill on top of which the "White Horse" is depicted
