Social and Economic Investigation of Primary Mercury Production at the Khaidarkan Mercury Plant: Version #1

Flourishing of mercury mining industry fell on the VIII and XII centuries. Almost all of the known mining areas were discovered following the traces of ancient shafts. There are large-scale deposits of mercury in Kyrgyzstan the largest of which have been developed by the Khaidarkan mercury plant since year 1941. According to some appraisals two of these deposits (Chonkoy (Ulugtau shaft) and Khaidarkan) contain more than 40 thousand tons of mercury, up to 20 thousand tons each. It means that Kyrgyzstan still is a place of significant availability of mercury resources. After closure of Almaden shaft in Spain in year 2004 Kyrgyzstan is considered to be the world leader of mercury production.