PREDICTION OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF MINING AND METALLURGICAL PRODUCTION IN THE TAYGA ZONE (with reference to the copper-nickel complexes of Mochegorsk and Sudbury)

The environmental impact of smelter gases of the nickel-copper complexes of Sudbury, Ont., and Monchegorsk, in the Soviet Union's Kola Peninsula, is compared. Despite the larger volume of production and of emissions from the Sudbury smelters, exceeding those of Monchegorsk by one order of magnitude, a relatively smaller area around the Sudbury smelter is affected by pollutants. The greater vulnerability of the biotic environment around Monchegorsk is related to the fact that the Soviet smelter complex lies in the northern tayga, with smaller biomass and biological productivity, while the Sudbury complex is situated in a richer forest region of mixed broadleaf and needle species, corresponding to the southern tayga in the Soviet Union.