Telbesskiy Mine

Telbesskiy Mine (Тельбесский рудник) is an abandoned iron-ore site on the Telbes River in the Tashtagol municipal district of Kemerovo Oblast, in the mountain-taiga region of Gornaya Shoria, next to the village of Telbes. Iron ore was once mined here for the metallurgical industry of the Kuzbass; today only ruins remain of the workings and surface buildings.

History

The village of Telbes is older than the mine: it is one of the oldest Shor aals (settlements) in the area. The iron deposit at Telbes had been known since the mid-18th century, when the ore was tried for the needs of the Tomsk ironworks. In 1926 the design of the Telbes-Kuznetsk metallurgical combine was underway, and on 29 January 1930 an administration of the Telbes iron-ore district was created. In September of the same year, driving of the inclined "Udarnik" shaft began.

Ore from the mine was carried out on a cableway 7,050 metres long, built to move up to 300,000 tonnes a year. The last batch of ore went out on this cableway in 1948. Telbes held the status of a workers' settlement from 1932 to 1966, as mining was gradually wound down.

What remains

At the mine site today you can see the ruins of a water intake and a power station, as well as the supports of the former cableway. In the rock outcrops by the river, tunnel entrances and adits survive — on several levels they form something like a labyrinth.

Next to the mine lies a deep lake: in summer its water turns an unusually bright turquoise, and for its shape and colour visitors have nicknamed it the "Emerald Heart of Telbes".

Getting there

The village of Telbes can be reached by any car. To get to the right bank of the river, where the ruins and the adits are, you need to cross a ford — an off-road vehicle is required for this. Another option is to leave the car at the suspension bridge over the Telbes and walk the rest of the way to the ruins of the mine and the adits.