The Moroziv coal mine is one of the most unusual places in the Kirovohrad region. It is a 6 km long L-shaped quarry. Natural minerals were mined here until 2009. Then the company couldn't handle its debts and the work stopped. Like many other abandoned quarries, it was quickly filled by groundwater. This is photo was made in 2009, and now it looks different:
Moroziv coal mine ©Yuriy Buriak
Moroziv coal mine ©Yuriy Buriak
Trophy conveyor bridge ©Yuriy Buriak
Moroziv coal mine ©Yuriy Buriak
Many huge machines were left in the quarry. However, at the moment the view changes from day to day. The water quickly rises and the metal is beeing sent for remelting. From a huge walking excavator, with a weight of 4,000 tons, now only 30% left (old photo from May 2013).
Remains of the bucket wheel excavator ©Yuriy Buriak
The quarry is protected, so we didn't go down to the water and walked above. Be careful, the slopes in some places look quite dangerous.
©Yuriy Buriak
Getting there: The quarry is located near the Kirovohrad - Oleksandriya road, near the village of Pantaevka. There are a lot of buses between Kirovohrad and Oleksandriya (schedule from Kirovohrad in Ukrainian). You can either go to the Pantaevka village and walk about 2 km or leave the bus outside the village, near the line of trees and a small parking place (see the map above and ask driver to stop). From there we walked about 400 meters to the quarry.
