The diamonds and tears of Yakutia

Moscow is increasingly relying on resources provided by the mining industry in northern Siberia. The province of Mirnyj alone accounts for 14% of the world's diamond reserves. However, these activities come at a heavy environmental cost in terms of air and water pollution. With very little economic benefit for local communities.

Moscow (AsiaNews) - Russian President Vladimir Putin recently reiterated that Russia is not afraid of the economic crisis, despite military spending having drained the federal budget, because ‘we have large energy and mineral reserves’, referring primarily to coal, which should be exploited increasingly ‘while respecting the right ecological approaches’. Speaking of Yakutia, he added that ‘its reserves of rare minerals and precious stones are of global value’.

Yakutia is located in northern Eastern Siberia, and its official name is ‘Sakha Sirè Republic’, which means ‘land of the Yakuts’. In these parts, it is said that “when God visited these lands, his hands froze so much that he dropped all his treasures”, and here there is a great abundance of diamonds, gold, antimony, tin, oil, coal, gas and other important resources.

The extraction and processing of precious stones takes place mainly in the province of Mirny, where 14% of the world's diamond reserves are located, in addition to gas and oil, and Mirninsky Ulus is called the “Russian diamond capital”.

The problem is that these splendid treasures are often covered by the tears of the local inhabitants, who actually suffer rather negative effects from the wealth of minerals, with pollution of rivers, air saturated with industrial dust, and the land destined for the traditional forms of economy of the native peoples becoming less and less, year after year. Temperatures in this area remain below zero for many months, even reaching -70°C in winter, and global warming does little to improve the situation.

The non-profit association Arktida has published an investigation conducted by journalist Anastasia Trojanova, together with documentary photographer Marina Syčeva, to show the damage to the land caused by the treasures of the subsoil.

Already at Yakutsk airport, on a flight to Mirnyj (in this area, the only possible means of transport is by air), the locals joke about a diamond found in early May in the Verkhnemunsk quarry, which has been given the title “80 Years of Victory” and has an economic potential well in excess of a billion dollars.

In reality, most Yakuts, even those who work in the mines, have never seen these precious stones in person, and they are not displayed in the city museum of the Alrosy company due to a lack of security personnel.

Leaving the airport, one is hit by the suffocating smell of hydrogen sulphide, which is particularly pungent in the relative summer heat and releases a thick, foul-smelling fog in the cold months, “almost like the breath of a wounded earth”, according to the locals.

Governor Ajsen Nikolaev explains that the “aroma” smelt by the inhabitants of Mirnyj is a “normal chemical reaction when water collides with hydrogen”, but does not cause any harm to people. The large mine is covered with greenish dust, clearly visible from the “viewing platform” set up specifically to admire this precious place.

Environmental activists in the region claim that the “concentrated brine” on the walls of the quarry can penetrate deep underground, causing damage over incalculable distances.

The Alrosy company has effectively taken over the entire area, and the inhabitants do not dare to protest openly for fear of losing their jobs, despite fears of even radioactive pollution. One woman says, “We're certainly not in Dubai here, and we don't see a ruble of the billions that pass through here... we love our land, but we believe we deserve more than this stinking sewer”.

The peoples of the north have always believed that ruining the land is a grave sin, and before their conversion to Christianity they practised “aerial burial” known as Arangas, placing the graves of the deceased high up in trees or on specially erected columns, and even today pagan rites are practised alongside Orthodox liturgies. Diamonds found in rivers or in bird droppings were called “sun stones” and were left untouched until the Russians arrived.