Arkhangelsk smelter

The plant was located on the Askin River (a tributary of the Inzer River, the Sim basin), 75 miles southeast of the city of Ufa ^[1] , on the eastern outskirts of the village of Arkhangelskoye.

Ground

The plant was founded by Yakov Borisovich Tverdyshev (1710-1783) and Ivan Semenovich Myasnikov (1710-1780) on the Askin River, on lands (356 square versts and 44 tithes), bought from the Bashkirs of the village of Shaki of the Kurpech-Tabyn volost of the Nogai road for 200 rubles ^{[ 2]} . By the decree of the Orenburg provincial chancellery of September 1, 1752, the plant was allowed to be built by I. S. Myasnikov and, by definition of the Berg Collegium of March 1, 1753. The first smelting at the plant took place on December 2, 1753.

In the early years, 4 copper-smelting furnaces, a shlepizofen, a hairdressing, bayonet and heating hearths, 2 reaming hammers were built. Ore was supplied by tug from the Kargalinsky deposit for 300 versts (the Uralsky, Shiferny, Nikonovsky and Bereznovsky mines). The copper content in the ore was up to 5%. On average, up to 4.5 thousand pounds of copper were produced annually. The cost of copper produced at the plant was in the range of 3.75–4.90 rubles per pound. The work was carried out by their own peasants, resettled from the inner provinces ^[1] .

18th century

In June 1774, during the uprising of E.I. Pugachev , the plant was burned along with the settlement of Zilim, and the wooden parts of the dam were burned, but the stoves survived. The plant was restored only in the middle of 1776 ^[1] .

Since the 1780s, work was in full swing, in 1791-1794, productivity doubled the previous maximum, reaching 9.2 thousand pounds per year due to an increase in the size of furnaces. At that time, the plant had the following equipment: spleysofen, 2 hearths and 2 self-blowing heating furnaces. Smelting of ores per day reached 180-200 pounds in one furnace ^[1] .

XIX century

In the beginning. Of the 19th century, shaft furnaces were reduced in height to 14 feet, output decreased to 190-195 poods of ore per day, but annual smelting was at the level of 9.1-10 thousand pounds, but the average yield of metals from ore has already decreased to 3.5% ^[1] .

In 1830, the following equipment was available at the plant: a second dam was built, the number of furnaces was increased to 6, there were 2 spleysophenes, cylindrical blower bellows. Annual output was at the level of 10 thousand pounds of bayonet copper. In 1856, the plant produced a record smelting for its entire existence — 17.4 thousand pounds of copper ^[1] . In 1857, the plant had 6 smelting furnaces, a barber shop, a critical, bayonet and 2 shlezofosnyh hearths, 4 water wheels. The plant owned 7 mines and about 67 thousand acres of forest dachas ^[2] .

In 1860, unrest took place at the plant, in which about 450 people participated. Participants demanded an increase in wages, and an end to abuse of the factory administration ^[2] . After 1861, the plant's productivity began to decline to 3-5 thousand pounds per year. The financial difficulties of the owners, the remoteness and depletion of the mines, the reduction in the price of copper led to the ruin of the owners in 1891, and the plant went into state control. Due to the depletion of ores, its action was not renewed. During its operation, the plant smelted more than 1 million poods (16 858.5 tons) of copper ^[1] .

In 1891/1892 the plant was closed (according to another version it burned down) ^[2] .

In 1899, a group of Moscow factories (V. A. Gorbunov, S. I. Sheglyaev and A. F. Morgunov) organized the Ufa Society for the Exploitation of the Iron Ore Deposit, which began production from the iron ore deposit in Sterlitamak Uyezd , and 1.5 kilometers a new Arkhangelsk iron smelter was built from the plant, which worked until 1903 ^[2] .

21st Century

In 2010, it was possible to find on the site of the village of Fedorovka an ingot of copper in 7.5 kilograms of 1753 with the initials MTZ ^[3] .

At present, a factory pond 150-200 meters long and 20-25 meters wide has been preserved from the plant. In the area of ​​the dam discharge, there is a former factory site with slag scattering. And to the factory buildings can be attributed the Archangel Church, indicated on the plan of 1838. There is also a small abandoned brick building of the 19th century of the former mini hydroelectric station, which generated electricity ^[4] .

The owners of the plant in different years were ^[2] :

• Tverdyshevs and Myasnikovs (1753-1783);
• Myasnikov's daughter E.I. Kozitskaya (1783-1824);
• Granddaughter of Countess Alexandra Grigoryevna Laval (1824-1851 / 1843);
• Count I.S. Laval's daughter Countess Alexandra Ivanovna Kossakovskaya (1851 / 1843-1886);
• husband Count Stanislav S. Kossakovsky (1886–1889);
• treasury (1889-1891).

The number of factory workers in 1762 was 130 yards of purchased peasants, in 1772 - 452 purchased peasants, at the end of the 18th century - 787 people, in 1859 - 1465 people ^[2]

In 1859, 13 591 pounds of copper were smelted, and in 1860 - 11 421 pounds, and in 1861 - 10 540 pounds, in 1880 - 4 100 pounds, in 1885 - 4 800 pounds, in 1890 - 1300 pounds ^[5] .