Waiting for new Mad Max movie? We know the place to film it

Berezovsky coal quarry, located in the southern part of Siberia, could easily be the set of a Mad Max film. Mammoth trucks and futuristic bucket-wheel excavators rumble across the desert amid huge mountains of coal.

The scale of coal production at Berezovsky is breathtaking. The “coal walls” reach to the heavens, and are almost as tall as some skyscrapers.

Those who work at Berezovsky coal quarry are certainly not stuck in their ways - new ideas and innovations are always welcomed. Deep coal processing is being tested here, and the method will enable the coal to be fully processed on site, without the need to send it to preparation factories many kilometers away.

Brown coal (lignite) extracted at the Berezovsky quarry is among the cheapest in Russia. Since it can’t be used by the usual thermal power stations, the Berezovskaya coal-fired thermal plant was specially built near the quarry, which is able to burn this type of coal.

As one of the most powerful power plants in Siberia, Berezovskaya is the main consumer of coal from the Berezovsky quarry. According to the U.S. nuclear doctrine, the power plant is among 12 preliminary strategic targets for a nuclear strike in Russia, in case nuclear war breaks out.

The flue-gas stack of the Berezovskaya power plant is 370 meters high. It’s the tallest industrial building in Russia and number five among the world’s highest flue-gas stacks. According to the preliminary plan, it might have been taller than 370 meters, but the Japanese asked Russia not to build it higher since they feared soot could pollute their skies.

Coal is transferred from the quarry to the power plant on the conveyor gallery. Over 15 km long, this conveyor is the longest in the former Soviet Union. Moving at four m/s, the belt transports more than 4,500 tons of coals every hour to the Berezovskaya power plant’s storage areas.

The main coal extraction machine at the quarry would not look out of place in a sci-fi movie. The largest Russian bucket-wheel excavator - the ERSh RD 5250 - weighs more than 4,000 tons. The 22 buckets on the giant rotary wheel are capable of extracting up to 5,200 cubic meters of coal every hour.

After all the coal is extracted from the quarry, it will be covered with soil and Mother Nature will take back what is hers, as trees and plants cover the area.