The Rusting Monsters of Lopatino's Mines

"QUANTUM SHOT" #245

Huge Mining Machines, Abandoned in Russian Countryside

The "haunted" Russian countryside is an interesting place, where artifacts of the faded glory of the Soviet Empire can still be found, and where no forest patch is what it seems - with possible history of awful things that you don't want to know...

In our last article we saw some strange electrical installations, this time let's have a look at the abandoned Lopatino Phosphate Mines. Located close to the Voskresensk city (70 km from Moscow), the area is still famous for its fossil beds (and even dinosaur skeletons) from the Jurassic period. It also happens to be very rich in phosphates. The mines once saw a lot of activity, but were closed with the Soviet economy's decline. Eventually the pits filled with water, and the rusting skeletons of the abandoned steel monsters, "guarding" these lakes, would be the only dinosaurs that you could find there.

The following photos were taken by various Russian photographers visiting the area: Courtesy Adella, Vol4enka, LongFello.

In its better days, this particular digger moved on rails and was capable of loading an entire train with phosphates in only half an hour.

Maybe it's not entirely dead yet, as it seems to eat cars for breakfast...

The monsters look even better in winter:

There are smaller dwellers in the area, as well:

The mineral deposits look somewhat like flying saucers, adding to the other-worldly feel of the place:

(images credit: Adella, Vol4enka, LongFello)

Vintage Mining Machines of the Soviet Empire

Eastern European countries developed a big mining industry in the 50s-70s. Just have a look at the former East German machinery on this page. It seems that the "bigger is better" bug struck the Communists early and they never recovered from it.

Photo of the huge 1957 digger and 1960 dredge unit, both Soviet-made.