Kiembai deposit, Kiembay, Orenburg Oblast

The Kiembai deposit was a joint project of the Comecon countries, and the sources do not agree on where it lay: the U.S. Bureau of Mines' Minerals Yearbook for 1973, citing the Soviet agency Novosti, said Comecon members were "to construct an asbestos mining and concentration plant at Kiembay in Kazakhstan," while its 1975 yearbook placed "the Kiembayev deposit in Oranburg Oblast" in the southern Urals.^1,3 The 1973 report gave "ore reserves" of "a reported 24 million tons," and said that "the 500,000 tons per year of asbestos will be proportioned to members based on their contribution to construction costs."¹

Plans and building

In December 1975 Asbestos, the industry's trade journal, said a plant was "under construction" by seven Comecon members, with capacity "anticipated to ultimately reach 500,000 tons"; the 1975 yearbook gave "a design capacity of 550,000 tons," with the first of two stages "due to begin operation in 1978."^2,3 The yearbook for 1976 said that ore "contains 4% asbestos," that "some 14 million cubic yards of earth and rock will be moved," and that "a new town, Yasny, has been established and in a few years will attain a population of 50,000."⁶ It expected "a quarter of a million tons" by 1979, and "output reportedly will increase to 500,000 tons by 1982."⁶ In April 1979, citing the Mining Journal, Asbestos said the mine at full operation "will supply 250,000 tonnes per year," which it called "half of what was formerly projected."⁷

Production

The sources date the start differently: Asbestos reported in December 1979 that the deposit "produced its first small tonnages of asbestos fiber in January 1979"; in January 1981 it said "the initial 250,000-tonne stage was completed in November 1979 and some 10,000 tonnes were produced in February 1980."^8,9 The yearbook covering 1978 and 1979 said that "work began in 1978" and "production started in 1979."⁴ For 1980 it reported that output "was threatened by transportation difficulties," quoting Pravda that locomotives "broke down frequently."¹⁰ The 1985 yearbook placed "the Kiyembay complex" in "Siberia's South Muya mountain range."¹¹

The U.S. Geological Survey's yearbook for 2001, which names the company Orenburgasbest and Yasny but not the deposit, reported that in 2000 it "had increased production by 112% to 290,000 t," that it produced "69,000 t of asbestos in the first quarter of 2001," and that it installed "a centrifugal screen separator to remove fines" at Yasny.¹²

The documents report this mine producing asbestos fiber for sale.¹²

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Location

Output the documents report

Figures as printed, in the units each document uses (short tons before about 1990, metric tons after, in most U.S. chapters). Some are a year's output, some a daily rate or a capacity, some a company's total rather than this mine's alone; the statement for that year below says which.

Year by year

Every statement about this mine in the documents, in each document's own words, by the year it is about.

1973

• Output: “The 500,000 tons per year of asbestos will be proportioned to members” (Comecon members), as reported by Novosti, p. 9¹
• Reserves: “Ore reserves are a reported 24 million tons”, as reported by Novosti, p. 9¹
• Mill: “to construct an asbestos mining and concentration plant at Kiembay” (Comecon members), as reported by Novosti, p. 9¹

1975

• Mill: “a large asbestos extraction and processing plant is under construction at the Kiembay deposit” (Comecon (7 members)), p. 38²
• Mill: “has a design capacity of 550,000 tons and the first of two equal construction stages is due to begin operation in 1978” (Comecon members), p. 10³
• Exploration: “the development of the Kiembayev deposit in Oranburg Oblast continued”, p. 10³
• Buyers: “Output will be shared with the participating Comecon members” (Comecon members), p. 10³

1976

• Description: “A new town, Yasny, has been established”, p. 9⁶
• Description: “the Kiyenbai asbestos deposit on the eastern slope of the southern Urals”, p. 9⁶
• Description: “some 14 million cubic yards of earth and rock will be moved”, p. 9⁶
• Reserves: “Ore in the deposit contains 4% asbestos”, p. 9⁶

1977

• Exploration: “The Kiembay asbestos deposit ... is now being developed; to be built in two stages, the first to be completed by 1979. Full production is to be reached by 1982” (Comecon), p. 31¹⁴

1978

• Exploration: “under development, with the first stage to be completed in 1979 and full production of Grades 3-6 to be reached by 1982” (Comecon), p. 42¹⁵
• Mill: “design capacity of 250,000 tons per year of fiber”, p. 13⁴

1979

• Mill: “Construction of another complex is underway at Kiembay; to have the capability of producing 250,000 tons of asbestos per year by 1979 and 500,000 tons by 1982”, p. 37⁵
• Output: “by 1979 ... a quarter of a million tons will be produced”, p. 9⁶
• Mill: “The Kiembay Asbestos Mine is being developed as a collaborative venture by seven Comecon nations. It is to be commissioned within the next three months and at full operation will supply 250,000 tonnes per year” (Comecon (seven nations)), as reported by Mining Journal, p. 36⁷
• Opened: “The Kiembay asbestos deposit produced its first small tonnages of asbestos fiber in January 1979” (Comecon), p. 36⁸
• Opened: “Work began in 1978 on the Kiyembay asbestos mining and enrichment combine, and production started in 1979”, p. 13⁴
• Opened: “The initial 250,000-tonne stage was completed in November 1979 and some 10,000 tonnes were produced in February 1980” (Comecon), p. 28⁹

1980

• Output: “Output from the Kiyembay asbestos combine was threatened by transportation difficulties”, p. 8¹⁰
• Description: “rock delivery was held up because the locomotives ... broke down frequently”, p. 8¹⁰

1981

• Output: “Kiembayev -- (1976), 275 (1981), 550 (1986)”, p. 10¹³

1982

• Output: “Output reportedly will increase to 500,000 tons by 1982”, p. 9⁶

1985

• Description: “the Baikal-Amor Mainline Railway was being developed to improve access to the Kiyembay complex in Siberia's South Muya mountain range”, as reported by Industrial Minerals (London) (J. Griffiths, "Asbestos"), p. 6¹¹

2000

• Output: “increased production by 112% to 290,000 t” (Public Jt. St. Co. Orenburgasbest), as reported by Industrial Minerals, p. 3¹²

2001

• Mill: “upgraded its facilities at Yasny by installing a centrifugal screen separator to remove fines” (Public Jt. St. Co. Orenburgasbest), as reported by Industrial Minerals, p. 3¹²
• Output: “production of 69,000 t of asbestos in the first quarter of 2001” (Public Jt. St. Co. Orenburgasbest), as reported by Industrial Minerals, p. 3¹²
• Description: “attained International Standards Organization 9002 certification” (Public Jt. St. Co. Orenburgasbest), as reported by Industrial Minerals, p. 3¹²

In medical studies

Medical studies in our research library that name this mine, by how they concern it. A search found every one that names the mine and an AI reader sorted them; the quotation, checked word for word against the text, shows where. Those that name the mine only in passing or in a reference list are left out.

Studies of the mine’s fiber (1)

• Gualtieri AF 2024: Bridging the gap between toxicity and carcinogenicity of mineral fibres by connecting the fibre parameters to the key characteristics of carcinogens: A comprehensive model inspiring asbestos-induced cancer prevention strategies: “a commercial chrysotile sample produced by the Orenburg Min- erals mine near Yasny, southern Ural Mountains (Russia).”

Other names

Documents call this mine “Kiembay”, “Kiembayev deposit”, “Kiyenbai asbestos deposit”, “Kiembayev”, “Kiyembay asbestos mining and enrichment combine”, “Kiyembay complex”, “Orenburgasbest facilities at Yasny”, “Kiembay Asbestos Mine”, “Kiembay Combine”.

References

1. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1973 (January 1, 1974), p. 9.
2. Asbestos Magazine, 1975, December 1975 (December 1, 1975), p. 38.
3. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1975 (January 1, 1976), p. 10.
4. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1978–79 (January 1, 1980), p. 13.
5. Asbestos Magazine, 1976, December 1976 (December 1, 1976), p. 37.
6. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1976 (January 1, 1977), p. 9.
7. Asbestos Magazine, 1979, April 1979 (April 1, 1979), p. 36.
8. Asbestos Magazine, 1979, December 1979 (December 1, 1979), p. 36.
9. Asbestos Magazine, 1981, January 1981 (January 1, 1981), p. 28.
10. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1980 (January 1, 1981), p. 8.
11. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1985 (January 1, 1986), p. 6.
12. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 2001 (January 1, 2002), p. 3.
13. Minerals Yearbook: Asbestos Chapters, 1977 (January 1, 1978), p. 10.
14. Asbestos Magazine, 1977, December 1977 (December 1, 1977), p. 31.
15. Asbestos Magazine, 1978, December 1978 (December 1, 1978), p. 42.