Magmatic Ore Deposits - Metals and Society: An Introduction to Economic Geology - page 58

of Ni, Cu and platinum-group metals. In terms of the total value of contained
metals, the deposits are among the richest in the world.
The deposits at Norilsk were first found in the 1950s and were mined by
prisoners of the Soviet Gulag. A series of smelters were built to refine the ores
and for several decades their S-laden fumes devastated the surrounding
countryside and damaged the health of everyone in the region. The town of
Norilsk has been listed as one of the ten most polluted sites in the world, a
description that was certainly merited in the past. It remains to be seen
whether recent moves to clean up the mining and smelting operation will
have any significant effect. The photos above show some scenes from the
town and surrounding countryside - the damage to the buildings (bottom
right) is due to only partly to the smelter fumes, being compounded by
shoddy construction and the effects of the extremely harsh climate of
northern Siberia.
3.4.4 Norilsk-Talnakh Nickel Sulfide Deposits
These remarkably large and rich deposits are located in northern Russia (Fig. 3.11a )
in a tectonic setting that is very different from Kambalda. The deposits are hosted by
small, shallow-level intrusions that form part of the enormous Siberian magmatic
Fig. 3.11 Siberian flood basalts and the Norilsk-Talnakh Ni sulfide deposits