MINEX Forum

Tag: industrial history

  • Celebrating 80 Years of Kazakhstan’s First Steel Production

    Celebrating 80 Years of Kazakhstan’s First Steel Production

    In 2024, Kazakhstan marked the 80th anniversary of its first steel production—a milestone that symbolized resilience and industrial growth. The Kazakh Metallurgical Plant in Temirtau, commissioned during WWII, became a cornerstone of economic development. This achievement was commemorated with events involving metallurgical veterans, youth, and cultural programs.

    Artworks by prominent Kazakh artists capture the essence of the industry. Paintings like Turysyn Abuov’s “Renowned Steelworkers of Temirtau” showcase the grit and passion of metallurgists, while P. Antonyenko’s portraits immortalize their legacy.

    Qarmet, Kazakhstan’s largest steel company, continues this tradition of innovation, aiming for record production by 2028 and investing in modernization efforts. The company’s acquisition by Andrey Lavrentyev in 2023 has sparked reforms, including community projects like restoring Temirtau’s tram system. Qarmet employs 35,000 people and exports to over 40 countries, embodying the enduring spirit of Kazakhstan’s metallurgical industry.

  • Dive deep for Istria’s latest tourist attraction: Raša mine

    Dive deep for Istria’s latest tourist attraction: Raša mine

    After a year and a half of intensive renovation, the former coal mine at Raša in eastern Istria has been reopened, repurposed as a tourist attraction. The local municipality has invested €870,000 into this authentic mining museum, 1.5 kilometres of accessible tunnel that welcomed its first visitors this July.

    Along with the museum, a miner’s lodging was also built, an authentic evocation of the miner’s everyday life, both inside and outside the mine.

    The Kova Experience tour lasts 2.5 hours and shows every aspect of the miner’s hard and dangerous work. Currently tours are only given in Croatian, with English-friendly ones available through Arsiana (Croatian-only) or email info@arsiana.hr.

    This tourist project, in addition to reviving the history and industrial heritage of Raša, highlights the importance of mining activity in the area, which dates back to the Venetians. After World War I, and Italy taking power in Istria, in 1935 Mussolini approved a loan of five million lire to construct the Raša settlement from scratch. The entire town was built in just 547 days and is an architectural and industrial curiosity in its own right. From 1928 to 1966, more than 10,000 miners worked here.

    Paula Bosančić