THE PROBLEM OF THE KURSK MAGNETIC ANOMOLY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00039R000200080010-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 31
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 7, 2012
• Sequence Number: 10
• Publication Date: July 15, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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iSTAT
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TI ALL~NNION SOCIETY FOR THE
PROPAGATION OF POLITICAL
solENTIFIC KNOWLF3DGF
KURSK NIGPJFT IC ANOMALY
Stenogram of a Public Lecture
Delivered at the Kursk
Branch of the Society
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In the postwar Stalin Five-Year Plan, stupendous prospr~cts
for further growth of the production forces of our Fatherland,
the consolidation of its economic might, and the rise in the
material and cultural standard of living of the Soviet people
have all been outlined. The successful attainment of the lofty
purposes of the new Five-Year plan requires the mobilization of
all the forces and resources of the land. In connection with
th:Ls, the utilization of the ores of the Kursk magnetic anomaly
for the creation of a new metallurgical base in the central part
of the USSR becomes a problem of great importance.
To quote from Comrade Stalin at the XVTI Party Congress:
"The growth in the production of implements and means of
production against the backdrop of the total volume of industrial
development is of decisive importance to the program of Indus-
trialization," ( I. Stalin, Problems of Leninism, page 441,
11th Edition),
Metals, particularly ferrous metals, are at the founda-
tion of the socialist construction and the industrialization of
our land. Hence, the problem of supplying the Soviet Union with
axon is fundamental to our economy, It is usually by the total
amounts of smelted cast iron and steel that the degree of indus-
trialization of a land is measured. Czarist Russia, with the
greatest reserves of iron ore in the world, was not only behind
the large capitalist countries -.-the United States, England,
and Germany -- but also was behind some of the smaller countries
J~jr~ ~1~ar1~ r
i1FN$
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in the produetion of metals. In addition to this, many of the
metallurgical plants of Czarist Russia were owned by foreign
capitalists -? Englishmen, Belgians, Frenchmen,
After the victory of the Grew October Socialist Revo-
lution, the Bolshevik Party and the Soviet Government, from the
very beginning, gave much attention to the development of the
meta11urgica1,industry. As a result, our metallurgical industry,
despite the terrific destruction brought on by the war, had by
192 attained its prerevolutionary level.
During the first two Stalin rive-Year plans, the USSR
attained great progress ini.ferrous metallurgy. It took the Uni-
ted States 20 years, and Germany 23 years, to attain the same in-
crease in the production of cast iron as we attained in g to 9
years. Having left a number of large European countries far be-
hind, the Soviet Union, as far back as 1937, occupied the second
place in Europe. This was a manifestation of the creative energy.
of the Soviet system and the sagacious leadership of Stalin.
In accordance with the brilliant concept of Comrade Stalin,
a mighty socialist industry in the east M- the second, coal and
metallurgical base w- came into being. The construction of the
Magnitogorsk and Kuznetsk plants and the reconstruction of the
old metallurgical industry of the Urals brought the following
result: in 1937, the smelting of cast iron in the. Urals and in
Siberia was increased 18 times as compared to the year 1913.
This was the work of such giants as the Magnitogorsk and Kuznetsk
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in the production of rneta1s, In addition to this, many of the
metallurgical plants of Czarist Russia were owned by foreign
capitalists - Englishmen, Belgimns, Frenchmen.
After the victory of the Grew October Socialist Revo-
lution, the Bolshevik Party and the Soviet Government, from the
very beginning, gave much attention 'to the development of the
metallurgical industry. As a result, our metallurgical industry,
despite the terrific destruction brought on by the war, had by
192 attained its prerevolutionary level.
During the first two Stalin Five-Year plans, the USSR
attained great progress iii ferrous metallurgy. It took the Uni-
ted States 20 years, and Germany 23 years, to attain the same in-
crease in the production of cast iron as we attained in g to 9
years. Having left a number of large European countries far be-
hind, the Soviet Union, as far back as 1937, occupied the second
place in Europe. This was a manifestation of the creative energy.
of the Soviet system and the sagacious leadership of Stalin.
In accordance with the brilliant concept of Comrade Stalin,
a mighty socialist industry in the east -- the second coal and
metallurgical base -- came into being. The construction of the
Magnitogorsk and Kuznetsk plants and the reconstruction of the
old metallurgical industry of the Urals brought the following
result: in 1937, the smelting.of cast.iron in the Urals and in
Siberia was increased lS times as compared to the year 1913.
This was the work of such giants as the Magnitogorsk and' Kuznetsk
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i
es with the mightiest blast naoes 1~ Eu~
Metallurgical comba.n
rope.
It is a remarkable eact that the NCagni'bogoxsk Metallur'
ga,cal Plant imeni Stalin alone produces now as much metal a$
was produced in all of prerevolutionary Rus$Ia.
On the eve of the Great Fatherland War, the Soviet Union
was one of the leading producers of metal. In 1940, our country
produced on tons of cast axon and 1?.3 million tons of
15 milli On
steel.
The years of the Fatherland Wax vindicated the brilliance
of Stalints vzs' on. The Urals and Siberia became the steel back--
bone and the military arsenal for the defense of the Fatherland.
~,
The fighting fronts were provided an adequate flow of Ural tanks,
ammunition. The mighty power of the socialist in-
ordnance, and
dustry was fully utili2ed for war production and provided the
Soviet armies with ordnance, aviation, tanks, munitions, and e-
quipment.
tion of a mighty industry played a decisive part
The area
in the attainment of the history-making victory over the German-
Fascist aggressors and the Japanese imperialists.
During the wars a beginning was made for the creation of
in the Far East and in Central Asia. Metal-
a metallurgical base
lurg?cal plants were also built in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.
~.
Ye again quote Comrade Stalin, this time from a speech de-
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~w~rrx,
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Ljvered on 9 February :1946 before the electors of t1 e Stalin
election district of Moscow.
"We must arrive at a point where our industry will be
capable of producing up to 50 million tons of cast iron, up to
60 million tons of steel, up to 500 million tans of coal, up to
60 million tons of petroleum. Only then will it be possible to
assume that our motherland will be equipped to meet any emer-
gency. This will require, perhaps, three new Five-Year plans, if
not more. But this goal can be reached, and we shall reach it."
(r. Stalin, speech delivered at the pre-election meeting of the
electors of the Stalin election district in the city of Moscow on
9 February 1946, page 29, Gospolitizdat, 1946.)
The realization of this stupendous program is closely in-
volved with the construction of new metallurgical plants. Hence
arises the problem about the part to be played by and the place
to be occupied by the Kursk magnetic anomaly in the further de-
velopment of our metallurgy. The new metallurgical base is to be
created on the foundation of the practically inexhaustible re-
serves of iron ores contained in the Kursk magnetic anomaly.
The law governing the new Five-Year Plan for 1946 to 1950
for the restoration and development of the national economy of
the USSR contemplates the inception of industrial mining during
this period of the ore bodies deposited in the Kursk magnetic
anomaly, with a view toward the subsequent construction here of
a metallurgical plant.
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The tremendous ors reserves, the presence of various
valuable nan..mQtallicminerals, including coal, the proximity of
and of the most important railroad routes of
the Dat~atsk basiL1
the country - al1 these are exceptionally favorable conditians
for the future creation of a new, large?scale industrial cen-
ter in the area of the Kursk magnetic anomaly.
.It is a known fact that the magnetic needle of the compass
always paints practically straight to the north. However, the
proximity of masses of iron exerts a perceptible effect upon the
magnetic needle, producing its deflection toward the west or to-
word the east. The deflections of the needle from its conven-
tional positions are called anomalous deflections, and the areas
in which these anomalous deflections occur are known as magnetic
anomalies. There are many areas around the globe where such
anomalies occur. These anomalies are due to accumulations at
low depths of magnetic iron ores which attract the compass needle
and cause it to show deflected readings.
. In l7~4, Academician Petr Tmokhadtsev was engaged in land
surveying of the city of Kursk, in which task he encountered the
phenomenon of the magnetic anomaly. However, Tmokhodtsev's dis-
covery went the way of many other brilliant discoveries in Czar--
it Russia, i.e., it was completely forgotten.
After a period of 90 years, the Kursk magnetic anomaly
was rediscovered. In l74, I. N. Smirnov, a. docent of the Uni-
'Vt
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~ 41~~ fli
LNG
d i~ a special magnetic suxvey of the
versa.t~' of Kagan ,engage
territory occupied by the Kursk bexna,ya, discovered two shar-
ply anomalous points.
the Russian Geographical
During the period 13 to 1~949
professor Pil'cha,kov and others into
Society continued to send
he ur ase of rnagnetometr~.c surveys and
the Kursk guberna,ya for ~ p p
vesti ations confirmed the presence of anoma-
reseaxch. These in g
ed even greater magnetic deviations at a point
l~,es and establish
ns
arod. The data from these investigatio bore
not far from Belg
witness to the fact that here, in the Kursk guberniya, were la-
etic anomalies in the world. The evidence
sated the greatest magn
anomalies was so over~ahelm~-ng that, in the
of the presence ofthe
of Czarist Russia's admiration of evexy-
characteristic manner
ecided to invite foreign geologists to
thing foreign, it was d
check the findings.
Muro Director of the Paris Magnetic Obser-
xn 1896, Mr. '
vatoa~y, arrived in Kursk. He conducted observations throughout
15 uyezds of the Kursk berniya, altogether at 102 locations,
~?
with the center of the greatest anomaly in the village of Koche-
tovka.
In 1897, E. E. Ley St, Professor of the Moscow University,
discovered the greatest anomalies between Kursk, and Belgo~'od, in the vi in the Oboyansk uyezd, near the village
~.lage of Krasnoye, ~.
of Kochetovka of the same u ezd, and in the village of Nepkha-~
~' .
d prafossor Leyst was the first one to
yevo, the Belgarod oyez
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ascribe the underlying cause8 of these magnetic anomalies to
great masses of magnetic iron ores (obviously, mangetite), which
induce the deviations of the magnetic needle,
This finding by Professor Leyst coincided with the period
of industrial development then stirring in Russia, and various
business manipulators began feverishly to search for iron ore
in their land holdings.
Literally speaking, an iron ore rush was on in the Kursk
guberniya, On instructions from geologists, drilling began at
the villages of Nepnkayevo and Kochetovka, The designated depth
was reached soon enough, but no iron ore was found. After this
disappointment, the interest in the workings of the KMA (the
Kursk magnetic anomaly will from here on be referred as KMA)
was lost, and only a few individuals maintained their insistence
that the magnetic anomaly is produced by great masses of iron
ore stratified at accessible depths. These individuals continued
their investigations until 1910. Having processed all the ac-
cumulated data on the subject, Professor Leyst made a complete
report to the Physical Institute of the University of Moscow in
191. In this report he insisted that the only possible cause
for the manifestations of the KMA is the presence of iron ore.
His report, however, lacked cartographic data. Subsequently, he.
went to Germany for his health, taking with him the complete ac-
cumulation of his research data. There, together with the Ger-
man promoter Stein, he published a booklet on the KMA,
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Upon the death of Professor Leyst all the available data
fell into the hands of the Germans, and it is characteristic that,
during the separate peace negotiations at Brest-Ljtoz'sl between
Russia and German, the German High Command doggedly persisted
in the demand that the Kursk guberniya be included in the zone
of German occupation. At a later date, the German promoter
Stein made an attempt to sell the Leyst data to the young Soviet
Republic for the sum of $ million rubles in gold, When this at~.
tempt failed, certain German promoters tried to obtain from the
Soviets concessions of exclusive rights to the development of
the iron ores of the KMA,
Thus, Soviet Russia irretrievably lost the entire accumu-
lation of research pertaining to the KMAA, and everything had to
be started from the very beginning.
Vladimir l1'yich Lenin instantly understood the tremen~-
dour importance of KMA to the country, and he considered it of
the utmost necessity to have the iron ore deposit areas investi-
gated by Soviet geologists,
It is characteristic that these investigations proceeded
even during the year 1919, under conditions of armed conflict
with foreign interventionists and.White Guard groups, At the
beginning, this work was concentrated in the Academy of Sciences,
which was created in 1919.
Soon afterwards, the Council of Labor and Defense adopted
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a special provision pertaining to the study of the Kursk magnetic
anomaly. In this decree, signed by V. I. Lenin, it was pointed
work connected with the exploration of the Kursk
out that all
magnetic anomalies was officially recognized as having great
state importance.
In 1921, under personal instructions from Vladimir I1'yich,
aspecial commission to investigate the KMA (oicKMA) was formed in
Council of National Economy (VSNKh) ; supervision of
the Supreme
the magnetometric and ga dogical investigations was incumbent upon
this commission, The prominent Soviet scientist (later Academi-'
cian Ivan Mikhaylovich Gubkin, became the head of this commis-
sion. Academician A. D. Arkhangel'skiy, Professor Terfigorev,
and other prominent scientists were also members of this commis-
sign.
Lenin himself was constantly interested in the work of
this commission and always ready to be of assistance to the sci-
entistsi as recorded by Academician I. M. Gubkin.
On 6 April 1922, Vladimir I1'yich wrote to G. M. Krzhi-
zhanovskiy: "yesterday Martens told me that it 'was proved'
(you used the word 'aimost'7 that immeasurable deposits of iron
exist in the Kursk guberniya . . .
u1 wonder whether it wouldn't be advisable, as early as
issrin, to (1) lay the necessary narrow gauge tracks, and
th
(2) to condition the nearest peat bog (or peat bogs?) for the
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exploitation of peat as fue1 for a power station to be erected
there?
.. This business is to be pursued with redoubled en-
ergy and drive." (From V. T. Lenin, Volume IX, page 46, 3rd
edition.)
The special commission for the investigation of the KMA,
under the guidance of Academician I. M. Gubkin, developed tre-
mendous ac't5.vity. The OKKMA collaborators conducted magnetic
observations at 1$,000 locations, and constructed precision maps.
Geophysical research confirmed the fact that the underlying
causes for the magnetic anomaly is the presence of huge reserves
of magnetic iron ores. The commission even succeeded in estab--
lishing preliminary estimates for the depths of stratification
of the ore.
What then is the nature of this area of the so-called
Kursk magnetic anomaly?
The investigations conducted by the OKKMA and subsequent
research conducted by Soviet scientists have shown that, over
the vast territory of Kursk and adjacent areas, huge deposits
of iron ores are located at accessible depths - magnetite quart-
zites with an iron content up to 40 percent.
At the XVl Geological Congress, Academician T. M. Gubkin,
in discussing the problem of further prospects for the mining of
iron ore, declared that the development and utilization of the
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KTVL deposits will solve the problem of iron ore once and for all,
and will postpone eventual depletion fox many hundreds of years,
in terms of needs for all mankind.
When the Party and the Government embarked upon the indus-
trialization of the country, upon the fulfillment of Stalin's
first Five-Year Plan, the problem of the industriai utilization
of the unlimited iron ore reserves of the KMA came up again. On
the initiative of Comrade Stalin, the Gosplan USSR drew up a pro-'
gram for the geological exploration of the KMA. The most promi-
nent scientists of the country, with Academicians Gubkin, Ter-
pigorev, and Arkhangel'skiy at their head, participated in for.-
mulating this program, which was endorsed by the Soviet Govern-
ment at the beginning of 1930.
The work of exploration then proceeded at an unheard of
pace, as can be seen from the following: according to the sche-
dule of 1930 to 1931, the drilling of exploration holes was con-
templated only for the Staro~Osko1tsk and Shchigrovsk areas, to
a total extent of 34,425 linear meters. In addition, geophysical
exploration (magnetometric, gravimetric, and seismometric) was
contemplated for $,320 locations, a topographic survey for an
area of 2,000 square kilometers, and (by means of a large shaft)
the extraction of 50,000 tons of quartzite for purposes of ex-
perimentation in ore dressing and in ore smelting. All this stu-
pendous work was supposed to be accomplished within a short time --
not later than July 1932
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Comrade Stalin and the Soviet Government considered the
start of industrial mining of the KMA iron ores as high prio
rity. For the direction of all the projects connected with the
KMA, a supervisory council, under the chairmanship of Ivan Mika
haylovich Gubkin, was set up under the jurisdiction of the Coun-
oil of Labor and Defense. All research and exploration was put
into the hands of the most important scientific institutes, and
all the driiling operations involved ~--. Into the hands of the
Leningrad Drilling Trust.
Subsequently, the volume of exploration work was increased.
After the discovery of high-grade ores, the sinking of a mane
shaft was begun.
A. special trust know as "KMAstroy", with the assignment
to concentrate on the work of sinking a shaft and extracting KMA
ores, was set up in 1932 at Staro-Oskol, in addition to the ex-
ploration trust. The project for a great metallurgical combine
began to take shape at approximately the same time.
During the period 1931.1932, the KMA exploration work was
far ahead of what was contemplated by the plan. Geophysical ob-
servations were taken at 56,000 points, and an area of more than
2,500 square kilometers was covered by detailed prospecting, The
drillers were not lagging behind the geophysicists -- they suc-
ceeded in drilling 3,500 linear meters of test holes in excess
of the contemplated quota. Their work was hugely successful, as
early as February 1931, they discovered iron ores in one of the
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test holes of tho Korobkovo formation, similar to the ores en'
countered in the area of Krivorog, with an iron content up to
65 percent. Subsequently, such ores were discovered also in
other sections.
The results of the investigations indicated that he Sterow
Oskol formation contained high-grade ores at relatively shallow
depths. All the work, therefore, was basically concentrated in
this section and discontinued at Shchiguy. Incidentally, the
territory of the Novo-askol area was also partly embraced by the
work of exploration.
On the initiative of Comrade Stalin, in 1932, our Govern-
ment made a special decision with reference to the extraction of
the KMA iron ore on an industrial scale. The People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry was instructed to construct principal
shafts at the Korobkovo sector and to start on the construction
of a powerful TsES at the mine imeni Academician I. M. Gubkin.
Experimental shaft No 1 was sunk at the Korobkovo sector.
In 1934, the work of sinking a second shaft began. However, the
enemies of the people, the minions of Pyatakov, who at that time
were influential in the People's Commissariat of Heavy Industry,
spared no effort in order to detract from the importance of the
richest KMA iron ore deposits and in order to sabotage their in-
dustrial utilization. These enemies of the people took advan-
tage of the fact that some quicksands existed in the mining area.
This should have demanded a careful hydrogeological investigation
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before proceeding with mirr.ng operations, but the enemies of
the people continued their sabotage; as a result, the mining de-
velopment proceeded at random and without adequate preparation,
and the crosscut coniecting the two above-mentioned shafts cut
into the bed of an ancient river which was running through the
quartzites ,
An accident occurred in 1936: during the work of driving
the crosscut tunnel, the quicksands broke through, and the shaft
was flooded. Following this disaster, the enemies of the people
created the myth about the supposedly complex stratification of
the iron ores in the KMA rendering mining operation practically
impossible, what with the quicksands constantly inundating the
shafts. " The underlying idea in the minds of the enemies of the
people was to prevent the creation of a new metallurgical base
and cause the maximum damage to the Soviet Union as a whole.
The delay on the Kursk magnetic anomaJY lasted for three
years until, in 1939, at the VIII Congress of the Communist
Party, Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov rose up and said:
8In discussing the third Five-Year Plan, the problem of
the Kursk magnetic anomaly and of creating in the latter area an
industrial metallurgical base was discussed in earnest. The
wreckers have done much in order to delay the necessary action,
The time is here to correct the results of sabotage, embark in
earnest upon the development of the iron ore and upon the' crea
Lion of a metallurgical base in the area of the KMA. This en-
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terprise is pxsgnant with great ossibjJ,
p awes an re1atT,an to the
problems of the development of the meta11urgjva~. industxy in the
USSR,a (XVl'ii Congress of the V1u9b . ~ ,
) , , keno xa l~a.c Re ark, page
49; Gospo1atizdat, 1939).
xn the resoa,ution of the XVill Congress
of the UKP(b) per
tanning to the above, the tasks necessar
y for the mastering of
the KMA were clearly put forth,
"To embark upon the construction of mane r
shafta in the
area of the Kursk magnetic anomaly as a su
pplementar~f ferrous
meta11urgy base of the Center, and to accomplish all the neces-nary preparatory measures for the construction of a metallurga..
cal plant in the above area of the KMA,'f
(From the same stenaM
graphic report).
Activities at the KMA began with renewed vigor, Hundreds
of miners who had been previously Working x '
n the area returned
for the canstruCt,~on dab on hand. Also
engine Qxs and techni_
clans with extensive experience in shaft const
ruction arrived
at the area.
Toward the en f 1940, two shafts cutting into the ore.
body and connected by horizontal crosscuts, were completed. Du-
ring the same year, the first lot of iron ore from the KMA was
shipped to the Staling MetallurPica
~ l Plant. A test sme1ta.ng.
proved the ore to be of a very high
grade. All the contemplated
development of the manes was 80 percent complete: the maa.n shaft,
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the mine stockyard, the main haulage tunnel were ready, and pro-
parat?ons for fuil~scaie mining operations were in full swing,
IN1.Otia1I.
A town-ae'Gti~ imeni I. M. Gubkin, with numerous ad~?
ministratLve and housing facilities, a hospital, a school, two
clubs, two libraries, a park for culture and rout, a powerful
radio statiof, and other cultural institutions developed. This
already well-organized town was slatted to become a great indus-
trial center.
An electric power plant, compressor and pumping stations
were installed underground, and mechanical repair, shops and other
necessary structures were erected and equipped on the surface.
A special railroad line running from Starooskol to the mina, a
distance of 23 kilometer;,, was built.
Prior to the outbreak of the war, 45,000 tons of iron ore
and quartzite were extracted. According to plan, regular opera,
Lions were to start in 194.
However, with the Fatherland war, all the operations of
KMA were discontinued, and all tl'ae equipment evacuated further
into the interior, to the Urals.
The Ilitlerite bandits destroyed in a barbaric manner all
that was created over a period of many years by the painstaking
labor of our people. All the surface structures were leveled to
the ground; all the underground works were flooded. Only gap:Lng
ruins remained where once stood the power plant, the compressor
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installation, and other structures, Around the headfxamas off'
shafts No l and No 2 there was nothing but wreclcage, In the place
of the power house, the elevator machinery buildings, and the
auxiliary buildings were gaping black holes, According to rough
estimate, the damage sustained by the KMA because of the Ger-man invas1on amounted to 137 million rubles.
However, the black days' of tlae German occupation are a
thing of the past. The gallant Soviet Army has expelled the
Hitlerites from the soil of the Kursk area.
In accordance with the assignment of the Regional Com--
mittee of the Party, the restoration work in the KMA mines began
immediately upon liberation. The Regional Committee of the
VKP (c) made special decisions with relation to reconstruction.
Again, the miners were returning to the KMA, and the town
imeni Academician I. M, Gubkin came back to life. Beginning with
1945, the collective of the tIKMAstroytt Trust began the work of
restoration on a large scale. The conditions under which the
people were obliged to labor were extremely difficult, what with
the lack of construction machinery and structural materials. How
ever, the enthusiasm of the miners overcame all obstacles, They
restored a considerable part of the housing facilities, the school,
the hospital, the nursery and kindergarten, the club, the cinema,
A temporary electric power installation supplied the minimum re-
quirements, and some auxiliary operations began.
The law relating to the Five-Year Plan for the restoration
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and development of the nat~.ona1 economy of the USSR in 1946
1950 anticipates the organization of iror. ore mining in the KMA
area, with the additional accumulation of industrial ore reserves
for the metallurgical plant that is contemplated for the future.
During 1946-1947, the Soviet Government assisted the
tTKMAstroyti by making available to them a variety of machinery,
ecjuipment, and materials. At the present time, two powerful elec-
tric power pumps have been installed at the mine, opening the
possibility for pumping the water out of the inundated mine. This
job was completed by August 1947. With access to the ore re-
established, the restoration of the underground passages began.
The Soviet Government is giving much attention to the de-
velopment of the KMA, as reflected in the 194 budget appropriation,
which was 10 times greater than that of 1947.
In the process of developing the KMA, very complex engi-
neering problems will have to be solved, the principal one being
the selection of proper mining methods. A special Commission of
the Gosplan USSR, consisting of the most prominent scientists of
the country, is charged with the solution of this problem.
Considerable preparatory work will have to be done at the
Lebedinsk Mine. In order to began mining operations there, it
will be necessary to remove over 26 million cubic meters of over--
burden, which at the present time is covering the orebody. This
will call for a concentration of huge quantities of machinez7 at
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at that section and the organiza,ti o of nur
exou~ auciliary ope,?
rations, The developmental work at th ,
e Lebeda.nsk Mina calfor
tens of mila.ions of bricks, thousands of
tans of metal st~.~ctures,
and other materials,
A new, weli.~organized mining town is
growing up ar?und
the mina, The construction of a al number of dwellings and
cultural institutions is contemplated. The KMA.can provide all
the law materials for the metallurgical ~.
pants of the Donbass and
the Moscow oleos, The distance between Staryy Oskol and the Don-
bass metallurgical plants is shorter than
the distance between
the latter and Krivoy Rog. Thus, empty railroad coal cars rem-
turning from Moscow and other central areas to Donbass can be
usefUlly loaded with iron are from the YMAm This would effect
considerable economy in transportation and make for higher ef_
f iciency in the utilization of the rolling stock tonnage.
In addition to the inexhaustible reserves ,, of magnetic
quartzites and high-grade iron ores of the K MA, deposited du-
ring the earliest geological eras and therefore stratified at
substantial depths, younger and relatively recent formations of
non~.magnetic iron ores are encountered, in
the Kursk Oblast at
rather shallow levels.
The Ivnyansk iron ore deposits lying c
lase to the KMA
bald great posgibila.ties. As early as the beginning of the cen~
tuxy, the mining engineer I. R
. Robets]ciy discovered great ore-
bearing areas. These deposits occupy the northern slope of the
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watershed between the Pse1 and Vorskla rivers. The lvnya River
divides the ore depose into two pans R the western and the
eastern deposits.
The industrial expLoltation of the lvnyansk orebody poses
no difficult problems. Open.pit mining can be done here, and
the smelting of the ore can be accomplished on local fuel; peat
coke. Thus, the lvnyansk Mine (or mines) could become in the fi-
ture an important auxiliary raw--material base for the metallurgi"-
cal plant (or metallurgical plants) of the Kursk magnetic anoma~
1y o
~'
Usually, when the I{ursk magnetic anomal ~.s mentioned it
is the stupendous iron deposits that come to one's mind. However,
great amounts of valuable non-metallic minerals also occur through-
out the KMA area. This creates very favorable conditions for the
creation of a great industrial center, where, provided with local
raw materials, metal-working, chemical, and coal plants, and also
plants for the manufacture of various building materials can be
established,
The Soviet scientist, Academician P. T. Stepanov, main-
tamed that the southern part of the Kursk oblast is a sort of con-
tinuation of the Donbass, a component pant of the so-called Greater
Donbass. In the opinion of Academician Stepanov, it is imperative
to continue under forced draught the study of the possibilities
of the Greater Donbass that had their inception prior to the war..
First of all, it is necessary to determine the propagation bounty
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daries of carbori!exxous areas of the Donbass, and also the pos'
troleurnwbeari.ng and gas bearing characteristics of these
sib1e ps
areas.
Coal deposits and coal format?ons may be enoountersd t
the southern part of the Kursk oblast, as was confirmed by ex~
p1or`ation conducted in 1932.-1940, In addition to regular de
posits, mixed deposits of coal and lignite of a more recent on
gin are present at shallow depths. It is a matter of record that
lumps of coax have frequently been picked up by local inhabitants
in the area of Staryy 4skol and other areas as well,
'4 p"e
The electric power base of the KMA industries c ?P''operate
only on coal. It is clear that, as already pointed out by
Vladimir Il'yich Lenin, the nearby peat bogs will have to be
utilized for the fueling of the great power plants of the area.
The experience of many years of fueling a number of large power
plants in the Moscow area with peat indicates that peat is an
excellent fuel. As is known, there is an abundance of peat bogs
in the Kursk oblast.
fuel.
Thus the KMA area is favorably situated with relation to
There is no doubt that new carboniferous deposits will be
discovered in the near future.
Refractory products, particularly Dinas.bricks, are a very
necessary material for the metallurgical industry. The KMA plants
will not only have a plentiful local supply of these, but will be
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in a position to ship the bricks elsewhere. P1entiiu1 deposits
of quartzite sandstone, a good raw material far refractory pur~
poses, were discovered long ago at shallow depths in the Kore'
hevsk9 Ryetsk, and akorodnyznsr areas. Substantial deposits of
refractory clays are know to exist at Shchigrovo and other areas.
Now it becomes clear that a new branch of industry M- the
manufacture of building materials may be established in the
Kp~A area. Practically every zone of the area has abundant possi-
bilities for the construction of brick- and tile-manufacturing
plants.
The use of tripoline clays in the manufacture of heat--
insulation materials, cement, fibrolite plates, etc, is widespread.
xn three districts alone .-- Kursk, Kastornensk, and Skorodnyansk
reserves amounting to millions of cubic meters of, such clays have
been discovered.
Thus, the KIl area has all the possibilities for
a powerful and variegated building-material industry.
The most abundant variety of metallic and non-metallic
natural resources of the KMA makes this area a potential base
for the development of a powerful heavy industry.
The Soviet people, successfully accomplishing today their
plans of yesterday, are capable of thinking in terms of broad per-
spectives. Within the next 10 to 15 years, a visitor to the KMA
. area will have the following majestic vista unfold before his
very eyes. -
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The f1.xes and light$ of new cities will catch his eye ow 'xom a distafCe of many 1d 1ometer$. At
with their bright ~~
blast furnaces of the Metal.ux
night the f~.ames of the gigantic
illuminate the skies. The aut~.anas of numex-
gical CambS.ne wi~,7. ~~
aus structureWill loom clearly out of the darkness, and, reach
~ lint and factory stacks will stand as
ang for the fa.xmarnen , p
cons at the gateways of the new cit:tes
towering boa
And here is the very heart of the KMA --- the MetallurgiM
'butin its s'truc'tural frames, blast fur~
cal Combine ~~- das'tr:~ ~
furnaces over a vast area (pez?haps by
naees, and open_heaxth
b~ a second metallurgical plant will ap-
that time somewhere near by
The KMA iron ore will flow an a contanu~
pear on the horizon) .
urnin into cast arpn and stool an the
ous, capaous stream, t ~
th furnaces, The steel will be desig-
giant blast and open.-hoax
Kursk magnetic anomaly. Nearby will.
nated uKNLAi' in honor of the
urn; of the steel-rolling maid-s eceda.ng
be seen the long enclos
Mighty rolling and blooming mills will trans-
into the distance.
` to rails and other needed profiles and
form the mass ingots in
shapes.
The KMA cat iron and steel will be shipped to the various
N
but a considerable part of it will
plants throughout the country,
to the machine-build~.ng plants
be consumed within the area, going
an /ant will produce remarkably pow--
nearby. A giant boa.ler~mak g p
battery plant will make completely new
erful boilers, A storage
type storage batteries wha.ch will be used throughout the land. A
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special. new machinewbui1ding plant and plant for the mane
facture of mining equipment will service the needs of the KIA
operations by building machinery and equipment for the mines and
the shafts of the KMA. The electric motor plant will ship porgy
table motor-generator sets to all parts of the land.
In the cities, which do not a ist as yet, mighty in-.
stallations of the metal-working industry will grow, and a
variety of machinery and equipment built from KMA metal will
flow into the cities and the villages of the motherland.
Not too far from the blast and open-hearth furnaces of
the Staro-Oskol'Combine rise the long batteries of the gigantic
coke-.ovens. The waste products of the metallurgical and the
coal-tar chemical industries will furnish valuable raw materials
for a number of chemical plants. In addition, large chemical
plants will operate at Shchigry or at other locations where de-
posits of phosphate rock exist. Based on the local supply of
raw materials, the production of paints and other valuable or-
ganic products will be established, as well as the manufacture
of building materials such as brick, tile, glass, refractory and
heat-insulating products, porcelain and glazed earthenware prp-
ducts, products of sanitary engineering, and the like.
In the early developmental stages all these products will
satisfy the needs of the cities and the manufacturing require-
ments of the KMA area only, but subsequently they will be shipped
to other areas of the Soviet Union as well. .
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Plant buildings and plant sucks in the KNIA area will
alternate with many shaft and mine strcture$, Iron ores and
quartzite concentrates will follow in echelons from the bebe-
dinsk, Gubldny and other mines to the Donbass, Lipetsk, and Tula,
a cast'-iron will be smelted and steel will be made from the
when,
KMA ores. '
The industrial development of KM.A iron ore deposits, the
construction of metallurgical plants and coal mines, the elec-trification of the agricultural areas will induce the construe
Lion of area power plants of great capacities.
Along with all this, the continuous flow of railway
freight in the form of metal, coal, iron ore, building materials,
electrical products, rubber and technical goods, local light-
industry and agricultural products will lead to the electrifi-
cation of the Moscow-Kursk and Donbass railroads. Mighty power
plants and high-tension electric power transmission lines will
be built.
The electrification of the entire economy can be accom-
fished through the construction of hydroelectric power plants on
p
the basis of the utilization of the waterpower of the current
of the upper Don, with the transmission of the power over high-
tension lines to the mines and the metallurgical plants of the KMA.
The thorough knowledge gained in developing the KMA will accel-
erate the solution of the entire problem, will make it possible
to undertake an all-round study and explora Io. of he overall-
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mineral resources of the Kursk ob1ast, Hera, note should be
made of the fact that the exploration at the L gov and Yastre-
boy ore deposits proved the complete absence of quicksands over
'the orebody
The existence of the Kursk magnetic anomaly was known to
the Czarist autocracy for over 150 years, yet, under the con-
ditions of the bureaucracy then obtaining conditions of stag-
nancy and technical backwardness W.- an all-embracing study of
these natural resources was impossible.
Only the Party of Lenin and Stalin and the Soviet Govern-
ment inaugurated scientific and practical projects for the pur-
pose of mastering this problem.
Only because of the advent of Soviet power, the material
resources of society became the property of the people and were
transformed from a means of enslaving the masses into a source
of raising the welfare and the cultural standards of the toilers.
It is a known fact that the problem of the KMA, by its
importance, by the volume of projects involved, by the complexi-
ty of the scientific and engineering solutions entailed, and by
the persepectives of future industrial growth is unequalled by
anything the world has seen.
The selection of the proper method of mining will play a
decisive part in the solution of this problem,
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The important jab of selecting and introducing the pro
per mining methods is the joint responsibility of the previously
existing collective of the KMA shafts and the newly.-organized
Kursk Scientific and Research Institute, which is to coordinate
all the works of exploration and development pertaining to the
Kursk magnetic anomaly.
In addition to the above, a special KMA supervisory corn-
mittee is being established under the jurisdiction of the Gos-
plan USSR.
The huge volume of projects connected with the construe
Lion of the metallurgical plant and KMA shafts will require the
organization of a special Mining and Metallurgical Design Bureau.
It is only natural that the overall construction involved
in the development of the KMA will call for tens of thousands of
highly-skilled workers, hundreds of engineers, technicians, and
production chiefs. This will call for the creation of special in--
struction institutes and combines.
The time is near at hand when the industrial, agricul-
tural, and welfare needs of the population of this area will be
fulfilled with the peoples own natural gas from their own coal,
shales, and peat.
Around the future cities of the KMA, agricultural develop-.
went will become more intensive. Sovkhozes and kolkhozes will
k~6s
provide the growing population with bread, vegetables, meat, and
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fruit. And the well known glory of the districts of Kursk,
Eel. orod and Oboyant ? famous for their wonderful ttantonovtt
apples -? will be further propagated and enhanced by additional
thousands of hectares of new orchards, plus protective forests
Lion strips.
The picture we paint is fully realistic. The great com-
leap of natural resources will permit the creation in the KMA
p
area of a new industrial center of our motherland in the shor-
test possible time, The mastering of the inexhaustible riches
of the Kursk magnetic anomaly will greatly affect the economic
life of the Kursk and adjacent oblasts, and transform these into
areas of heavy industry.
Comrade Stalin, our Bolshevik Party, and the Soviet Govern-
merit all are devoting much attention to the Kursk magnetic ano-
maly, considering it a problem of the greatest importance to the
State.
END
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