#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. By November 6, 1973, Yury Chubinsky’s drifting team had covered 335 meters in a month. The pre-launch year of the Octyabrsky mine went down in history as the year of high-speed driving. Although records were set at all mines in the country, 335 meters in 31 days became another all-Union victory of Talnah mine builders. The director of the plant, Boris Kolesnikov, appointed Kazbek Karginov, the manager of the mine sinking trust, to be responsible for the high-speed tunneling at the construction of the Octyabrsky underground part. Chubinsky’s team started at 200 meters, which was five times more than the norm, but soon that length after a month of work seemed insufficient…
The urgency of tunneling at that stage was explained by the desire to connect the horizons of minus 700 and minus 800 with ventilation shafts VS-2 and VS-3. The two main shafts of the future mine were successfully connected at almost a kilometer depth.
On the occasion of the record on November 6, a solemn meeting was organized, which was attended by the chief photographic chronicler of Big Norilsk, Vladimir Chin-Mo-Tsai. Not only tunnellers headed by Yury Chubinsky got into the shot. In November 1973 photographs, you can recognize the young manager of the trust Kazbek Karginov, the initiator of high-speed penetrations, and the organizer of the rally, Mikhail Vazhnov, who then headed the party organization of miners. Both remained Norilsk residents for decades and were awarded the title of honorary citizens of the city.
Yury Chubinsky, after the launch of the first stage of the mine in 1974, was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor.
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Text: Varvara Sosnovskaya, Photo: Nornickel Polar Division archive
