Yaman-Kasy Quarry

The Yaman-Kasy quarry lies in Orenburg Oblast, near the town of Mednogorsk, on the site of a copper-pyrite ore deposit. Today it is an abandoned open pit with visible traces of mining, which has become a well-known destination for walks around Mednogorsk.

History

The Yaman-Kasy copper-pyrite deposit was surveyed in the 1930s. Ore was mined here from 1990 to 2003, and about 1.5 million tons of marketable ore were extracted from the quarry during that time. After mining ended, the pit was left open and gradually became a place people visit to see the scale of the excavation.

The name

The quarry takes its name from the nearby Yaman-Kasa stream. In Bashkir the name translates as "bad stream" or "bad bowl". According to one version, the place got this name because fugitive criminals and peasants once hid here.

Nearby

A few kilometers from the quarry stands the old German bridge (also known as the Austrian bridge), a railway viaduct over the Blyava River. It was built in the 1910s–1920s by German, Czech, Austrian and Hungarian prisoners of war during the construction of the Orenburg railway. The bridge has five stone arch spans, is about 55 meters long, and reaches a maximum height of 23.7 meters.

Also nearby is the Blyavinsky quarry, the oldest deposit still being worked in the Orenburg region: mining there has continued since 1934, and the pit is more than 200 meters deep.

Getting there

The easiest way to reach the Yaman-Kasy quarry is to take a commuter train to Sara station, then walk about 5 kilometers along the railway tracks.