The small concentrator was remodeled from a pilot plant, which quadrupled its productivity. However, the work of the small concentration plant and the entire combine was under threat before the launch. At the end of 1944, a fire broke out in the wooden building of the factory, where the reconstruction was almost completed. It was not possible to establish the reason for it. The restoration work began immediately, continued around the clock, without stopping even during the black blizzard, which was raging for a whole week. The factory was restored by 23 February.
In the spring of 1945, on the slope of mount Rudnaya, the building of the big concentration plant began to be erected. Pits for future buildings were prepared with explosives, soil was loaded into dump cars. But most of the work there was done by hand. The head of the BCP construction was the leader of the Komsomol organization Ivan Perfilov.
The big concentration plant was commissioned at the end of 1948, at that time it was the largest in Europe. Its construction and operation became possible, first of all, because the concentrators of the pilot and small concentrating plants brought proven technologies, professional experience and the ability not to succumb to difficulties.
Read other materials of our photo project in the History spot section.
Text: Svetlana Samokhina, Photo: Nornickel Polar Division archive
