Reclamation of areas of accumulated ecological damage in Karabash
RCC is helping to eliminate the environmental damage accumulated in the XXth century.
The town of Karabash is one of the historical centres of domestic non-ferrous metallurgy. Industrial-scale copper mining and production in the surrounding areas began in 1910 with the launch of the Karabash Copper Smelter.
Due to imperfect technology and the lack of properly organised treatment facilities, the intensively growing production for decades had a negative impact on the environment. This led to the accumulation of significant environmental damage in the district.
To assess the extent and nature of the environmental damage accumulated in Karabash in the XXth century, RCC financed a large-scale study in 2020. Based on its results, four projects were developed to reclaim several hundred hectares of land in Karabash. These are projects to reclaim tailings pond No. 3, the Yuzhny and Severny sites, as well as the basin and banks of the Karabash pond. All projects have passed the state environmental expert review.
In the coming years, the areas that suffered from atmospheric emissions and industrial effluents from the former Karabash Copper Smelter will be brought back to life. The land and banks of water bodies will be isolated, covered with fertile soil and planted with vegetation. This will help nature recover more quickly.
In 2021, RCC won the first national environmental award ‘Clean Air’ in the ‘Eco-Initiative-2021’ category for the development and implementation of a project to eliminate the environmental damage accumulated in Karabash in the XXth century.
In 2021, RCC won the first national environmental award ‘Clean Air’ in the ‘Eco-Initiative-2021’ category for the development and implementation of a project to eliminate the environmental damage accumulated in Karabash in the XXth century.
1910
Start of industrial-scale copper mining and production in Karabash and surrounding areas
2021
Start of the project to reclaim areas of accumulated ecological damage in Karabash
> 223 hectares
of reclaimed areas of accumulated ecological damage in Karabash
6
large areas of accumulated damage in Karabash are currently covered by reclamation
Stages of reclamation
The restoration of disturbed lands in the Karabash urban district was made possible by the large-scale modernisation of the successor to the former Karabash Copper Smelter. It became part of RCC in 2004. From that moment on, the enterprise began a large-scale technical refurbishment aimed at increasing capacity and improving the environmental safety of production.
A major reconstruction of the chemical and metallurgical workshops of the plant was carried out: powerful gas entrapment filters were installed, outdated shaft furnaces were replaced with a modern furnace, and a sulphuric acid workshop was built to utilise metallurgical gases. A beneficiation plant was installed to process slag from existing metallurgical operations, producing copper concentrate and construction sand. To prevent runoff into natural water bodies, the plant has implemented a closed water cycle and built a high-performance industrial wastewater treatment plant.