Pechora coal basin, Coal basin in northern European Russia
The Pechora coal basin sits in the Komi Republic and Nenets Autonomous Okrug in northern European Russia. The area runs through tundra and taiga between the Ural Mountains and the Barents Sea.
Coal deposits were found here in the early 20th century and extraction began in the 1930s during Soviet industrialization. Labor camps supplied workers to mines in Vorkuta and Inta through the 1950s.
Native inhabitants of the Pechora region included the Komi people's Pechera and Zyriane groups, along with the Khanty's Ostiaki and Mansi's Voguly communities.
The area is extremely remote and reached through Vorkuta or Inta by air links and railway. Visits require permits and preparation for arctic conditions with severe winters and brief summers.
Mines here operate in permafrost and need heating in shafts to prevent rock and equipment from freezing solid. Some tunnels reach more than 1000 meters deep beneath frozen ground.
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