Research of the Yelenovka detachment

The Yelenovka detachment surveyed the poorly studied Uisko-Uvelskaya group of Andronovo sites. At the Chernorechye I settlement, rich material was found: various ceramics (including Alakul), stone pestles, a fragment of a casting mold. Together with the head of the Shata party of the Buruktal geological expedition I.E. Shcheglov, the ancient copper mine on the Ushkatty River was re-examined in Dombarov district of Orenburg region. An open pit is a long, wide ditch along the ore body. Nearby are two small oval pits, where ore was also mined openly. Malachites of the Ushkatta deposit occur in pyroxenite and protrude to the surface in cracks. The output of copper from oxidized ores is about 2%. The Ushkatty mine, along with Elenovka, was one of the important sources of metal for the West Andronovo tribes.