Tomsk Mountain Management: structure and functions

The article examines the poorly studied topic of the history of Siberia - the activities of the Tomsk Mining Administration since its establishment in 1888. Researchers have not paid sufficient attention to the history of the foundation and functioning of this organization for the management of mining in a vast territory, which included the whole Western Siberia and the lands of modern Northern Kazakhstan. The main research tasks are: 1) briefly review the history of the establishment of the Administration; 2) analyze the process of reorganization of the Administration; 3) examine the personnel, and some aspects of the management process. The main sources for the research were archival documents kept in the State Archive of Tomsk region, many of which were introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The main method used during the research was the comparative-historical analysis. During the research the authors came to the following conclusions. The foundation of the Tomsk Mining Administration had a positive impact on the development of the mining industry in the Siberian region. This was especially reflected in the growth of gold mining, the main mining industry. The effective control over the development of various branches of the mining industry had been formed. Along with the extraction of gold, salt and coal, which were the main minerals extracted, with the foundation of the Administration new branches of the mining industry appeared - mining and smelting of ore or veined gold increased, copper mining expanded, and new industries of graphite and mica mining appeared. In addition to the mining control, the Administration monitored the social and living conditions of workers of the mining industry, and also developed the transport infrastructure of producers' areas. Despite the small staff, the employees of the Administration professionally performed a wide range of their duties, the main of which were: making annual reports about the industry status for each mining district; searching for new mineral fields and geological surveys of various regions; carrying out tests of technical knowledge for people who are in charge of mining; participating in the activities of the Office (Prisutstvie) on mining operations; organizing and holding of congresses of local gold miners. Thus, we can make the main conclusion that the activity of the Tomsk Mining Administration, which was disbanded in 1920, was one of the important pages in the history of economic development of the Siberian region and demonstrated one of the versions of successful management and development of large industrial sector in a vast territory.

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