KARAGANDA, THE THIRD COAL BASE OF THE USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700130573-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 23, 2011
• Sequence Number: 573
• Publication Date: October 6, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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' CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
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SUPPLEMENT TO
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SOURCE Karaganda -- Tret'ya Ugo1'naya Baza SSSR, by A.F. Khavin, published
by Ugletekhizdat, 1951, 199 pages.
Discovery of Coal in Karaganda; Earliest Stages of DevelopinP the Basin
~osl was first discovered in the Karaganda basin in 1833 by a shepherd,
who had no idea what it was and who eras completely E;rprised when a lump
that had dropped into a campfire Sunned.
It was not until 1857 that the first mine working, called the Ivanovskiy
pit, was constructed (Mine No 18 is now located at this spot 1. The part of
the deposit being worked extended 1,O~J0 meters along the strike of the seam
and 150 meters along the dip. All the mines exploited the Shestifutovyy
seam. The Verkhnvaya Marianna seam, the :thickest Sri the basin, was being
worked by an open pit, 4 meters deep, and by sma17, boret_oles.
AL' mining operations were carried out by rmnTral labor. The working
front was lighted by wax candles or small lamps which burned vegetable
oil. Mine timbers were very expensive since they had to be transported
thousands of I:ilometers from the Urals or from Siberia. For this reason
coal was extracted exclusively from development workings; this procedure
led to the loss of 80-85 percent of the fuel, that is, out of every 6 tons
of coal, only one ton was removed and the other 5 tons remained in the
ground.
Iu 1868, the first, sketchy report on Karaganda mines was fubli:hed by
an officer oi' the general staff named Krasnovskiy. Krasn~vskiy stated that
Karaganda coal was being mined at a depth of from 8 to 14 sagenes ~ne sagene
equals 2.134 meter and that one pud 6.38 kilogram of Karagandc coal
cost dealers from 2.5 to 10 Kopeks. This unusual range in the price level
indicaiea the lack of stability in production costs and amounts of output.
STATE
ARMY
NAVY
AIR
DISTRIBUTION
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Economic -Coal mining, Karaganda basin
Hook
Moscow~Leningrad
1951
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In 1859, 1,850 tons of coal were extracted in Karaganda mines; in 1860,
only 444 tone less than one fourth as much. In 1861, the coal output began
to rise again, reaching 4,978 tons in 1863. After this there was a sharp
drop is coal output for several years. -~
In 1871, a mining engineer named Verner gave a detailed account in
Gornyy Zhurnal of the enterprises of a company which had been formed to
exploit Karaganda deposits. The coal deposits, he said, consisted of
several seams. The length of the deposit being worked was 523 sagenes;
the dip, 73 sagenes. The Vasil'yevakaya Mine was located at the farthest
point of the coal seam and the Andreyevskays Mine was nearest to the out-
cropping of the seam. In addition to these, two more underground mines
were located at the far end of the bitt7ninous coal workings and seven
tunnels had been constructed from the surface. Thus, according to Verner,
there were, at this time, a total of 11 workings in the Karaganda coal
deposits, the largest working being the Vasil'yevskays Mine, which was
54 arshina ~ne ssshin equals 7].12 can*.imeter~ long, 3~ arshins wide, and
17 sagenes deep.
In 1867, Karaganda mines produced 4,300 tons of coal; in 1868, 5,300
tons; and is 1869, only 2,200 tons. During the first 30 years of the
existence of the Karaga.da coal mines (1857-1887) a total of 302,800 tons
of coal were produced, or an average of 10,000 ions per year. However, in
certain years only 1,000 tons were produced and one year the output was
26,000 tons.
Karaganda coal was transported 40 kilometers by camel to the Spasskiy
Copper Plant, from which point copper bars were in turn transported by
camel or ox hundreds of kilometers to Petropavlovsk. The transport of
coal 40 kilometers and copper 600 kilometers by land sharply increased
production costs and a profit could be made on Spaeskiy copper only at
the very highest market prices.
The Karaganda coal enterprises were inactive for the 11 yearn Prom
1887 to 1889. In 1886, there had been 200 Kazakhs and 10 Russian workers
employed in the mines.
From 1899 to 1914, 620,000 tons of coal were extracted in Karaganda
mines, an average of 41,400 tons per year. In 1899, 5,000 tons were
produced; in 190G, 15,000 tons; and in 1906, 31,000 tons. The record
year for the prerevolutionary era was 1913, when 72,J00 ton:. were produced.
A narrow-gauge line was laid connecting Karaganda uit:, the Spasskiy
Copper Plant, a distance of 40 kilometers, and it took 2 years to build it.
Mining was mainly concentrated in two vertical mines, Karno, 70 meters
deep, and Vasil'yevskaya, 36 meters deep. Coal was extracted from the
Shestifutovyy seam. In 1917, a sloping mine called Dzhimml was constructed
in the Novyy seam and extended 210 meters along the slope.
From 1915 to 1920, the Karaganda output ranged from 14,000 to 66,000
tonr, per year.
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Exploratory Operations in Karaganda? Analysis of Karaganda Coal
On 23 February 1930, the first exploratory borehole was drilled in the
Karaganda coal deposits. Later, the drilling of numerous small boreholes
vea undertaken. A geological party, under N.G. Kassin, made a survey of
the region and drew up the first large-scale chart of the area. A geological
group of the Cosl Institute, headed by the geologist A.A. Gapeyev, partici-
pated actively in the work. (In 1y2O, Gapeyev had explored a small part of
Karaganda but, as yet, no geological chart of the region had been made.)
In spring 1930, mines were started in the new Karaganda. The first
to be constructed bears the name of A.!?1. Gor'kiy. Shortly aftervard, three
other sloping mines were completed. Mine IJo 1, going to a depth of 220 meters,
was located in the Novyy seam, the thickness of which reaches 2 meters. Miue
No 3, deepened during the course of the year to 165 meters, vas constructed
in the Verkhnysya Marianna seam. A hoist in this mine was equipped with a
35-horsepower steam engine. Naklonnaya Mine No 4, 100 meters deep, exploited
the Nizhniy seam, and Mine No 5, 80 meters deep, workes the Sredniy seam.
All four of these mines were of an exiloratory-exploitational nature.
They were to furnish data on the properties of specific coal scams, the
quality of the coal, and proper conditions for exploiting ttie deposit.
Results exceeded all expectations. Investigations were carried out in
nn area five times as large as that studied by Gapeyev in 1920. Geologists
extended the surveyed area of the Karaganda deposit to the south, west, and
east. Then, according to the most careful estimates, the coal reserves of the
region were put at double the 1920 estimates.
Simultaneously with geological and exploratory work, the quality of the
coal was investigated, and experiments in coal cleaning and coking were
conducted. These experiments and investigations were. carried on under
conditions somewhat similar to those in a plant in Kemerovo and also or.
plant scale in Magnitogorsk, in the Krivoy Rog rheolaveur, and in the Kerch'
~ coke shops.
On ~ Februuary 1931, the first train arrived in Karaganda from Alonolinsk
over a temporary road.
By the end oT 1932, surveyed reserves ii. Faraganda had increased another
80 percent. They then stood nt almost four times the amount estimated by
Gapeyev in 1920.
Analysis indicated that Karaganda coal is distinguished by its low
sulfur content. Coal of the upper series, with rare exception, contains
less than one percent of sulfhr and, for the :cost part, only 0.3 percent.
The phosphorus content in most of the seams ranges from 0.03 to 0.05 percent.
The low sulfur and phosphorus content of Karaganda coal :Hakes it
particularly valuable for tl~e metallurgical industry. ZL is known that, in
smelting pig iron, an increased amount of su~fur content requires an increased
consumption of limestone and coke and hinders capacity Fx~loitation of the
blast furnaces. Each additional 0.1 percent of sulfur suove one percent makes
necessary an additional 18.2 kilograms of coke for every ton of pig iron.
Karaganda coal has cne serious defect: n high ash content, amounting, in
the top part of the productive series, to 8.6-19 percent. Coal containing 18-19
percent ash cannot be introduced into a coke oven in its natural form but muat
be subfected to a preliminary cleaning. This high ash content is the only point
in which Karaganda coal is inferior to the well-known, high-grade Kuzbass coals.
:illi
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In September 1932, the Magnitogorsk Combine conducted experiments in its
coke ovens in coking Karaganda coal in the form of an additive to Kuzbass coal.
A telegram from Magnitogorsk reported: "Coke obtained by adding 15 percent of
Karaganda coal to a coking charge containing 60 percent Prokop'yevsk coal and
25 Percent Laninakiy coal has exceptional physical properties. In toughness
it exceeds the toughness of coke obtained from a charge of Kuzbass coal
without a Karaganda additive."
Karaganda coal stands transport and long storage at the surface without
oxidizing.
Ia 1932, a brigade of the Moscow Coal Chemistry Institute organized a
chemical laboratory in Karaganda; this was the first scientific research
establishment in the basin. The laboratory conducted extensive tests on
Karaganda coals, and scientific workers collected large amounts of analytical
material. A brigade of the Ugleobogashcheniye (Coal-Cleaning) Trust and workers
of the idoecow Coal Chemistry Institute worke3 simultaneously in Karaganda.
Experiments in coking were also carried out in the Urals, in Gubakha, where
Karaganda coal was subjected to coking in the most varied combinations:
.,, separately, mixed with other coY.ing coals, and bot!r cleane3 and uncleaned.
Results of observations .brought researchers to the conclusion that
all coal seams in the Karaganda basin, at specific depths, contain coal
capable of yieldir,a tough?coke, and that poor coking coal in some mines is to
be explained by the fact that these twines are worked at shallow depths and 1^
zones of oxidation. The coking properties of the coal improve in proportion
to the deepening of the seam.
Experiments in coking cleaned coal were particularly Smportant. They
indicated that the Novyy, Verkhnysya Marianna, Feltks, Lame~hatel'nyy and
Vyshesredniy seams yield a large amount of lou-ash concentrate. with the
average ash content of these sear,.; ranging Prom 9 to 25 percent, a concentrate
is obtained, after cleaning, with an ash content not excecding.7 to 13 percent.
This makes it possible to obtain metallurgical coke of the best quality;
completely suitable for str?lting pia iron in urge blast furnaces.
At the instigation of Sergo Ordzhonikidze, People's Commissar of the
Heavy Industry, an additive of 15 percent of uncleaned Karaganda coal was
added to Prckop'yevsk coal in charges of Magnitogorsk celre ovens. From
August 1933 on, coal from the Novyy, Zamechatel'nyy, and Vyshesredniy seams
were used for this purpose. Numerous experiments and analyses have shown
that, although this additive increases the ash con*.ent of tre ^oke somewha`,
it does not have a detrimental effect on its roughness.
By the end of the First-Year Plan, the Karaganda basin was playing an
important role in the fuel balance of the East. Eight. mines dad already
achieved 19.3 percent of their planned capacity. During 1932, 16.5 million
rubles were invested in mine construction.
Coking Base E.epanded; Increase in Mechanization and Labor Productivity
At first, only the low-ash coal iron the I4ovyy and Zamechatel'nyy seams
was utilized for coking. Pefore 1933, coal from the Verkhnyaya Marianna seam
was deemed unsuitable for this purpose. However this coal contains less ash,
I, sulfur, and phosphorus than some other types of coal which are used in coke
ovens and it was decided to experimer.C with it as fuel for b).sst furnaces iZ
smelting plants of the Urals which used charcoal. In the ex?erimental melts,
50 percent of the charcoal was replaced by large lump coal from the Verkhnysya
Marianna seam, and the results were satisfactory. The following year, 1934,
trainloads of coal from the Verkhnyeya Marianna seam were shipped to the Urals.
' . 9 ft~41,?~
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Further experiments shoved that if fines from the Verkhnyaya Marianna seam
are mixed with uncleaned coal from the Vyshearedniy seam, which contains up to
25 percent of ash, in the proportion of one to one, a charge is obtained which,
although ashy, cokes excellently. From such a charge, a tough, silver-colored
coke is obtained which emits a bell-like sound when struck and which can be
used advantageously in blast furnaces.
A mixture of coals from the Verkhnyaya Marianna and the Novyy seam also
yields satisfactory coke, and very good coke can be produced from coal from
the ShestifLtovyy seam.
Great changes have taken place in coal production. The opening up of a
central electric power station made it possible to increase the use of cutting
machines and conveyers in the mines. In 1933, only 3.8 percent of the~coal
was mined by mechanized methods but, withir. 2 years, in 1935, mechanized coal
extraction had reached 53 percent.
On 20 December 1935, a train from Karaganda arrived in Balkhash via a
newly constructed railroad. This railroad raa through a semidesert; there was
not a single village anywhere along the line. Anew rail lire was constructed
to the west and was completed on 10 November 1937.
In 1936, Karagandinskaya Oblast was organized with its center the city
of Karaganda.
By the end of 1936, more than 80 percent and, Sn 1937, 90 percent of the
coal tree extracted by machinery. in February '935, the monthly productivity
of the cutting machine reached 2,100 tons but, during the first months of the
3takharovite movement such norms were upset. In December 1935, the average
monthly pre,luctivity of cutting machines had risen `.0 4,076 tons. Some
operators cut as much as 7,500-8.000 tons pez month with their machines and,
in September 1936, an operator of a cutting machine in Mine No 18 cut 10,000
tone of coal. Other outstanding Stakhanovites cut frog 7,000 to 10,000 tone
per month. In 1935, the average monthly productivity of cutting machines
reached 3,100 tens; in t2,e first quarter 1936, 5,12,5 tons; in the second
quarter, 6,138 tons; sad, !n September 1.936, a year after the origin of the
Ste.khanovite movement, it rose to 6,800 tons, a three fold increase over
February 193?, and more *.han twice the 19x5 average. At the er~l of 1936,
the average for the basin was 7,200 tors.
Woges of Karaganda coal miners increased as foll.ovs: taking 1931 ae
100 percent, then the average monthly wags were 2'_2 percent in 1934, 288
percent in 1935, and 374 percent in 1.937.
The number of mines continued to increase. In 1938, a vertical mine vas
put into operation which in size conslderab.ly surpassed the little mines
constructed during the first years after organization of the basin. Its
extensive concrete shaft bottom vas provided with electric lights, and each of
f.ts five faces vas equipped with a cutting machine. Coal haulage vas carried
out entirely by electric locomotive, A~1 the most modern techniques were
employed at the surface of the nex mine, and all phases of loading coal onto
railroad cars were mechanized,
In 1938, 95 percent of aL' teal mined in Karaganda was extracted by cutting
machines, and still further increases in the productivity of these macnines were
achieved. In lg3y, it vas 6,279 tons per month; in the first half of 1940,
7,104 tons; in December 1940, 8,156 tons; and the average for 1940 was 7,500
tons. By the end of 1940, there var.' 24 operators who were cutting 10,000 tons
or more of coal per month.
In 1939, the coal output for the basin was 20 percent above 1938, and
in 1940 it xas 24.7 percent above 1939? The Karagandaugol' Trust had the
highest increase in output of any trust of the People's Commissariat of the
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Coal Industry USSR. Efforts to step up the quantity of the coal output were
combined with efforts to improve its quality. In January 1941, consumer
enterprises paid the basin 62,000 rubles extra for coal with a decreased
ash content.
Aartime Importance sad Development of the Karaganda Basin
In fall 1941, the first trainloads of Donbass miners arrived in Karaganda,
bringing with them everything possible: cutting and underground machines,
electric locomotives, pneumatic drills, and electric equipment. The Coal
Machine-Building Plant imeni Parkhomenko was evacuated from the Donbass to
Karaganda, and the Mining Institute in Moscow, one of the largest institutes
of the country, vas also evacuated to Karaganda with all its scientific
workers, instructors, and students.
During the war, Karaganda miners went to unusual lengths to increase the
coal output. Some of their accomplishments are cited belov.
The fourth section of the Mine imeni Kirov assumed the task of extracting
coal is old workings. For 1~ months the miners worked is low, narrow pe,saages,
on their knees, lying flat, advancing step by step. Overcoming many obstacles,
they succeeded in extracting several tens of thousands of tons of high-grade
coal from these old, abandoned workings. While they were completing this
achievement, the miners at the same time straightened the line of 'the face
and assured in this way a Further increase in extraction.
In Mine No 31, a brigade of development workers set a record unprecedented
in the satire history of the basin: In July ~94] it cut 149 meters of a
sloping crosACUt and restored 15 meters of paesageuey.
In Mine No 20, tvo cutting machine operators and their tvo assistants
gledged that they would do the work of 20 persons and fulfill their norms
480-;0o percent; they succeeded in keeping their word.
Faces in the Verkhnyaya Marianna aea:~ were usually propped with timbers
2'?5-2.8 meters long. Formerly, these timbers were left in the worked-out
area, but at this time they were used a second time in thinner seam; and
otter that they served as riiel.
Instructions were given in the basin on methcds of repairing chutes and
lengthening their period of service. One local industrial combine made Haile
from scrape of sheet iron. Metal girders were also made from scrap metal.
In the Mine imeni Kalinin, tuo large faces were put into operation. The
mine workers provided these faces with ecttin3 a~achi~es, chutes, and power
lines which they had obtained by restoring and assembling old parts, long
discarded as useless. The central machine shops of Karaganda began to produce
not only spare parts but also machines as compacated as pumps.
The effort to save materials prompted a number of bold innovations in the
practice of mining operations. Thus, in Mine Nc 1.8 a double undercutting of
the seam was achieved by adding a second cutting bar to sn ordinary cutting
machine. The double cutting-reduced the consumption of scarce explosives 40
percent and, at the same time, reduced drilling time and increased labor
productivity..
By 1 January 1942, Mine No 1 had achieved its planned e.apacity and,
shortly afterward, s number of other mines folloxed suit.
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As the Karaganda coal output rose, the number of consumers rose too. At
the end of 1941 and in 1942, Karaganda coal went not only to the Urals, to the
coke ovens of the Magnitogorsk Combine, but also to the Volga area down to the
Caspian. On 2 April 1942, miners oP the basin shipped to Moscow a trainload
of coal above the plan. The train xas pulled by two locomotives run by the
beat operators of the Saraganda Department of the Karaganda Railroad System.
The requirements for Karaganda coal were rising every day, and new ways
to step up extraction had to be found. A brigade from the Academy of Sciences,
USER, led by Academician A. A. Skochinskiy, arrived in Karaganda to study the
situation and make recommendations. The brigade included very great Soviet
scholars -_ V.N. Obratsov and L.D. Shevyakov, active members of the Academy
of Sciences, and Chizhikov and Antipin, corresponding members of the Academy
of Sciences -- and a number of other noted specialists in mining and geology,
With the active participation of the miners of the basin, the scholars worked
out a program bo assure Further rapid growth of coal output.
The scholars put forward a new, bold system for working the Verkhnyaya
Marianna seam. Coal from the central layer of this seam contains very little
ash'end can be shipped for coking without being cleaned, Rowever, because :of
the method of mining prevailing in this seam, only 2 of every 5 tons of Goal
were recovered and the remaining 3 tons xere ?.ost. The brigade recommended
converting the Verkhnyaya Mariann? seam.to triple slici.?3i with separate
delivery from the mine of the middle layer. Tile new system reduces 'losses of
coal in the middle layer to 18 percent. The brigade also recommended a
number oP weL thought-out technical measures which would help to reduce
these losses Further.
The People's Commissar of the Coal I::dustry, V. V.. Vakhrushev, ordered
all Paces in one mine to convert to the system of working by triple slicing.
Re charged the directorship of the basin to introduce the new system in
other mitten also when the system was mastered,
On 20 June ].942, it was decided to reorganize the Ifaragandaugol' Trust
as a combine. The mine administrations under the former trust were converted
i.hto trusts.
Workers of the Plant imeni Farkhomenko mastered the production of conveyer
drives, rurface and mine face conveyers, mine csr~, and transport chutes. They
began to manufacture entire aggregates of equipment for nex coal deposit levels.
Numerous observations indicated that the best Length for a coal face i.
the Verkhnyaya Marianna seam is 130-15C meter;.. for thinner seams the ?ost
efficient length is 120-130 meters, and, for tl:e Novyy seem which dips at a
slight angle, the most advantageous Length is 150-180 m=tern.
The many nex mines vliich were being constructed at thie time were
mostly medium-sized or small because enterprises of such a size could be put
in operation more rapidly. Each of the mines produced relatively little
coal but played an important role in the total production.
In spring 1942, the All-Union Socialist Competitior. of Coal Miners
developed, and in April 1943 the Karaganda basin won a first place. On ,5
May A. F. Zasyad'ko, Deputy Commissar of the Coal Industrx; presented the
Stellnugol' Trust with the Transferable P,ed Banner of the State Defense
Committee. The coal-cleaning plant also d+.d well in the All-Union Socialist
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~ --
Competition. This plant was nov working at an even pace, regularly ihlfilliitg
or exceeding its quota. The uorkera had far outstripped the planned capacity
of the enterprise and voce shipping coal in a steady stream to the Magnitogorsk
Combine.
Starting in 1944, open-pit mining developed rapidly in the Karaganda
basin where the coal was located close to the surface. The practice of
Kork~no miners (Chelyabinskaya Oblast) showed the high effectiveness of
the method, which requires far lees capital outlay per ton of coal extracted,
assures higher labor productivity, and decreases considerably production
costs of the fuel.
Before 1940, lignite deposits were worked by small sloping mines. In
1940, a group of miners ,joined energetically to organize mining by the open-
pit method and constructed open pit No 1. In mid 1941, the first excavators
appeared in the pit, and by the end of 1941 twice as much coal wss being
produced by the open-pit method as was prodded b; s sloping mine. Karaganda
miners went to the southern Urals to familiarize themselves with open-pit
exploitation as practiced by Korkiao miners.
Zn fall 1942, pit No 2, a large, new open pit, was constructed and
after this pit No 4 c:as put in operation. This even pit was constructed
in ~0 months, during which time 2.h million cubic meters of ea-th were remove,
17,000 square meters of living quarters built, 28 kilometers of railroad
line laid, and a permanent locomotive station erected.
A ,}~stematie and romplet~ .aechanl.:ation of al: r:o::esses wzs carried
oyt in or~~-pit mining. `owerful excavators removed rock, which vas then
Lransport~d by rail to the d.rmps in mechanical.~y discharging dump eatr,
T're coal was ] .,-dad onto n0-ton flatcars delivered to the coat. s'am. Thu: ,
the many operations between the extractive cf the cos? and its loading onto
railroad cars were eliminated.
In February 1944, a notable record was estsb'_:shed in the construction
of slo};ing Mine No F,O, During the month, the aiin~rc- drilled 112 meters of
the main shaft, cutting up to j meters or. specific Says. Mining operations
and eonstructioa at the surface were also carried out by high-speed methods..
Despite the load imposed on machi^.e-b~i':d1n3 enterprises by war orders,
the output of mining machinery kept increasing and the basin's supply of cutt?ng
machines and conveying devices increased ovary month.: The new machines were
used not only for supplying new mines tut alto for replacing low-production,
worn??out machines with more powerful, improved aachinery, Mechanized
Lndergro?,uid haulage as well as mechanized haulage at the surface increased
considerably.
In 1941, the Donbass miner Semencvtch Makarov was evacuted to Karaganda,
where he was made chief mechanic of Mine No 3=., Although this was s big ,job,
Makarov still found time to design cmd direct the construction of a coal
mining combine At the beginning of 1945, the first combine wss let down into
the mine. The machine had three cutting bars and cut simultaneously along
the floor of the face, the middle of the seam, and the roof.
The new machine was tested and some improvements were made in its design.
After the improved machine had been submitted to strict tests, it was put into
series production at one of the plants.
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--
On 1 January 1945, the first ferrous metallurgical plant of Kazakhstan
was constricted in the industrial center of Kar'egandinskaya Oblast. Tha
plant is supplied with electric power by the Kara
adi
ki
R
ns
g
y
ayon Electric
. Power Station and with coal from the Karaganda basin. Thus, the organization
of the third USSR coal basin uas a necessary prerequisite for the creation
of the ferrous metallurgical industry of Kazakhstan.
Poatvar Development of the Karaganda Basin
In the First Five-Year. Plan (1928-1932), the USSR coal industry showed
an increase without precedent. The amount extracted per year rose by an
average of 7 million tons. In the Second Five-Year Plan (1933-1937), the
yearly increase amounted to 13 million tons. In the Fourth Five-Year Plan,
the coal industry was faced with the task of bringing the annual rise in
coal extraction almost up to the total yearly increase of the two prewar
five-year plans.
In the construction of new mines, *,he gathering of coal and rock by
manual labor consumed considerable time. The introduction of the ?5-153
improved coal-Loading machine helped to mechania.e these processes. Mine?
constructors gave a high rating to the BCh-1 pneumatic loader, sn excellent
machine developed by Ya. I Balbachan and A. F. Chugunov. A special four-
blade device grips the rock, as if with claws, and loads it into the bucket.
The machine is compact and fits into a very small space. Zn the drilling of
the shaft this property is very important. Tvo other machines important for
the loading of rock arP the UMP-1 and the Pt+II,-5,
!._cer the wax only vertical mines were constructed .n the taraganda
basin, and here the sin'.?ing of the shaft rook up 60 percent of the time
necessary for the carrying out of all mining operations. This made it
particularly important to find methods for speeding up shafC alerting.
Formerly, the deepening and reinforcing of s shaft were carried ou+
consecutively. it wns found that by conducting these tvo operations
simultaneously, the rate in shaft sinking could be stepped up considerably.
In July 1948, Ke.ragsnda miners cempl.eted 61.7 meters of shaft during
the month in sinking shaft No 3 of Vertikal'naya bone No ;, The previous
record for shaft sinking, held by Kadiyevkts miners in the Donbass, was
60 meters 1n a month.
In M???v 1945, a aevelopment work brigade corking in Mine No 33-34
finished 13 meter; of a passage in a day, The cork of ti,e brigade uas so
organized that a,1 the members possessed two or three skills and then,
when one type of cork was not required, they could be switched to some other
type.
During the war the first Makarov combines appeared in Karaganda mines.
They were constructed on the base of the now outmoded GTY-3 cutting machine.
In 1947, the combine was mounted on the powerful.IC~iF-~ cut:.ing machine,
manufactured by the Kopeysk Plant.
The tMkarov combine could be used only in ~~esl seams from 1.35 to 2.2
meters thick. Finally hfattarov designed a superior power-driven cutting and
leading machine in which a cutting machine with a loading unit was mounted
on s, caterpi7ler tread. It could be used in seams from 1.2 to 3 meters
thick and was sienpie, 3ependable, and compact. The miners callAd ~ the
"underground tankette."
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700130573-0
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700130573-0
Chief Yegorov of Mine No 31 constructed a loading machine of original
design,. the coal-loading plow, which was particularly effective iri thin
seems containing tough coal.
In 1950, the Donbass combine arrived in Karaganda.
Karaganda miners have been working on replacing wooden mine props with
metal ones, a very important development for Karaganda because of its
location, thousands of kilometers from the forest regions. t?Sore than 10
kilometers of main development workings in Karaganda mines are propped with
metal frames of different shapes. Conversation to metal props has reduced
labor considerably for repair and maintenance of workings. In the first
ha1P oP 150 alone, it was 22 percent below the beginner of 1949. The uae
of metal props is doing away with another traditional profession -- the
timberman.
In 1946 alone, 39 storage areas were arranged 1ri the mines, equipped
with 2-ton scraper winches with a productdvity of k0 tons each. During
the same year, 49 spotting winches were set up to pull railroad cars to
coal-loading points. The winches have been converted to remote control.
At the surface o: the mines mechanical structures are being built to
unload timbers and separate out rock.
At the end of the third quarter 1950, the proportion of caecturni8ed
loading at the mine face reached 30 pe n ent, 2~- times *.hat of the first
quarter. From January to J+rly 1950, the number of cutting and loading
personnel in Karaganda mines decreased 2i percent and, at the same time,
underground coal extraction increased 10 percent.
In 1948, rails were transferred by manual labor in open pit No 4.
Me^_hanization raised the volume of overburden removed and decreased the
staff of workers in the first quarter 1950. Pit ."~ !~ delivers the least
expensive coal. in the country. Production costs of fLel from this pit
are only two sevenths of the average production costs for the basin.
Lirderground trolley; opclate 1n Mines No 104, No 106, No 3-bis,
No 18-bis, and seven others and convey the miners to and from work.
In more than 80 percent of the mines, coal is extrncted, broken up,
and hauled during two shifts and the th?.rd shift is used ,for repair and
development work.
Miners' wages were already very high in 1)u7. By the end of the
Fourth Five-Year Plan they were even hlghe.. ..r 1949, the average pay
of Mikhail Zolotylch, operator of a cutting mac}Iine in the t41ne imeni
Zhdannv, ryas 6,400 rL:bles.
The third coal base of the country has considerably outstripped the
rate of development for' Orel extraction provided fo; by the Fourth Five-
Year Plan. The level planned for the end of 1950 was achieved very early.
Many trainloads of coal above the plan, including coking coal, were shipped,
end, particularly important, minus of the basin met qualitative as well as
quantitative requirements.
In Mine No 17-bis, the use of the cutting and loading machine reduced
the number of cutting and loading personnel by half, During recent years,
700 workers were freed for other work in tAine No 20 imeni Zhdanov and, at the
same time, coal extration in the mine rose. 1.. ..ugurt Ly4y, sect~~n rlo 5
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700130573-0
 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700130573-0
of Mine Ho 17-bis produced 156 tons of coal in 24 hours. Ia August 1950, after
the introduction of the cutting and loading machine, 261 tons of coal were
being produced ~n a da~ by a reduced number of personnel. As a result,
production costs of a ton of coal dropped 3 rubles 81 kopeks.
From the beginning of 1950, the majority of Karaganda mines ful.fi]1ed
their quotas regularly day after day and week after week. In the first
quarter, the number of mines exceeding the plan increased to 1~ times the
previous number.
In March 1950, elections were held to the Supreme Soviet USSR; Nikolay
I1'ich Mal'tsev, chief of the Mine imeni Zhdeaov, the largest mine of the
basin, was elected Prom the city of Karaganda. Before the Revolution,
Mal'tsev had held a minor position in one of the Donbass mines. The Revolu-
tion made it possible for him to receive an education. In 1937, he was
promoted to leadership and became chief of a mine, first in the Donbass, and
later in Karaganda.
The Mine imeni 7.hdanov, of which Mal'tsev is chief, delivered the last
coal oa its Fourth Five-Year Plan quota in April 1950, completing the plan
in 4 years and 4 nonths. Afterwards, other outstanding mines of the:bsain
completed the Five-Year Plan ahead of schedule.
In the first half of 1950, labor productivity in the Knrnganda basin
rose 21.8 percent over the sage period of 1949? By Miner's Day, August
1950, the miners had completed the obligations for above-plan coal extraction
which they had assumed for the entire year of 1950.
On 17 October 1950, the Karaganda basin as a whole completed the Fourth
Five-Year Plan. During the last 2~: months of 1950, miners were delivering
coal on their 1951 quotas. One thousand five hundred former cutting and
loading personnel had discarded their shovels and tai begun to operate machines.
50X1-HUM
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/08: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700130573-0