In the Chelyabinsk region, near the city of Kyshtym, there is a real desert. Of course, it does not reach the horizon, but it is also impressive. Here you can walk through the dunes, bask in the sand or arrange an unusual photo session.
There are at least two areas with sand: near the Uralgrafit enterprise itself and on the shore of Lake Bolshaya Akulya.
The desert in Taiginka is man-made. This is a tailing dump for the waste of a graphite plant. Waste rock crushed into sand gets here through pipes mixed with water.
A large deposit of flake graphite was found by geologists in 1939. And already in wartime, in 1941, the construction of a graphite mine and a factory began. The Zaval'evsk graphite factory was evacuated here from Ukraine. In 1942, the first ton of products was produced. The Taiginsky Graphite Plant became the largest in the USSR.
Graphite is mined in an open pit on the western outskirts of the village. Although the content of graphite in the rocks is low (3%), it is easily enriched at the factory. The reserves of the deposit will last for several more decades.
It should be noted that during the development of the open pit of the Taiginskoye graphite deposit, pegmatite veins with rare and valuable minerals were repeatedly exposed in its sides. They found beautiful crystals of beryl and topaz, tourmalines, morions, microcline, clevelandite, columbite, apatite and others.
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The enterprise, which is now called "Taiginsky quarry", produces foundry graphite, crucible, battery, elemental, electrode, lubricant, for refractories. High-quality graphite for the nuclear power industry is also produced here. And the graphite rods of many of the pencils we write with are made here.
Well, waste rock in the form of sand falls to the east of the village and the enterprise. It should be noted that there is a similar sandy desert (but smaller) in the Middle Urals - on the outskirts of the city of Berezovsky, near Yekaterinburg.
The village of Taiginka is also known for the fact that until recently there was one of the few monuments to Stalin in the country.
This unusual story began in 2007, when the management of ZAO Uralgrafit decided to demolish an old building from the 1940s. And there, under a pile of rubbish, they unexpectedly found a monument to Stalin, removed from the local recreation center after the exposure of the personality cult.
They decided to restore the monument: they put it on a pedestal at the entrance to the village, and painted it. Naturally, this caused a mixed reaction in society. Not everyone has forgotten about the grim events that took place under Stalin.
But just a few years later, in the summer of 2010, the monument suddenly disappeared under mysterious circumstances. According to the then director of the enterprise Dmitry Kandakov, at the request of a certain veteran, the monument was given for restoration. But after that, the monument disappeared, and then it was unexpectedly found in the "Sonya Lagoon" in the city of Satka, created by the businessman Yuri Kitov. According to some reports, Kitov bought the monument for 100 thousand rubles and refused to return it to the Taigins. The proceedings and letters from Taiginka residents did not lead to anything. The monument remained in Satka, and in Taiginka one can only see an empty pedestal.
Near Taiginka there is also the Ural Bali - a lake on the site of a kaolin quarry with water of an unusual azure color. Also in the vicinity you can call on the Uvildy lake or climb the Sugomak and Egoza mountains. Not far from Taiginka are the Dunkin chest and the Samsonkin coffin.
How to get to the sands in Taiginka?
A piece of desert in the Urals is located in the Chelyabinsk region - near the city of Kyshtym.
By car from Yekaterinburg you need to go along the Chelyabinsk tract, turn to Kasli, Kyshtym. Turn towards the sign for Kyshtym, go through the city. You need to get to Karl Liebknecht Street, which turns into the road to the villages of Kaolinovy and Taiginka. In Taiginka, the sands will be to the left of the village. The approximate distance from Yekaterinburg is 170 km.
By car from Chelyabinsk you need to go to Kyshtym through Argayash, Kuznetskoye to Taiginka. Distance from Chelyabinsk is about 90 km. The map below will help you navigate. GPS coordinates: N 55 ° 37.928´; E 60 ° 32.419´ (coordinates for smartphones 55.632133 ° 60.540317 °).
Author: Pavel Raspopov