Kan-i-Gut

40°00.764′N 70°20.782′E / 40.012733°N 70.346367°E / 40.012733; 70.346367Established1975

Kan-i-Gut (or Kanigut or Kani-Gut, "mine-of-loss", Kyrgyz: Канигут үңкүрү) cave is a geological protected area (nature monument) located at north slopes of Turkestan Range in Batken District, Batken Region, Kyrgyzstan.^[1]^[2] The cave consists of 18 large caverns, deep cavities, narrow passageways and tunnels.^[3] It is 6,000 metres (20,000 ft) long and 100 metres (330 ft) deep.^[4] From the 6th to the 11th century the cave served as a lead and iron mine.^[3] Silver and other metals and minerals were also mined here at the time. The first miners in the cave were Arabs, so the Chinese continued, and much later during World War II, Soviet political prisoners mined here.^[5]

A scientific study on the elemental composition of loose sediments in a cave mine was performed in due time, by the method of X - ray fluorescence analysis with the use of synchrotron radiation.^[6]

References

^ "Classification system of territorial units of the Kyrgyz Republic" (in Kyrgyz). National Statistics Committee of the Kyrgyz Republic. May 2021. pp. 86–91.
^ "Канигут үңкүрү" [Kan-i-Gut Cave] (PDF). Кыргызстандын Географиясы [Geography of Kyrgyzstan] (in Kyrgyz). Bishkek. 2004. pp. 317–318.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^ ^a ^b Ошская область: Энциклопедия [Osh Oblast Encyclopedia] (in Russian). Frunze: Chief Editorial Board of Kyrgyz Soviet Encyclopedia. 1994. p. 445.
^ "Пещеры Кыргызстана" [Caves of Kyrgyzstan] (in Russian). Tashkent: Central Asia Adventures. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
^ "Kani-i-Gut cave". Central-asia.guide. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
^ Bazarova, E. P.; Markova, Yu. N.; Zolotarev, K. V.; Rakshun, Ya. V.; Ushchapovskaya, Z. F. (2016-03-01). "First geochemical data on loose sediments in the Kan-i-Gut cave mine (Central Asia) by synchrotron radiation XRF analysis". Journal of Surface Investigation. X-ray, Synchrotron and Neutron Techniques. 10 (2): 361–364. doi:10.1134/S1027451016020038. ISSN 1819-7094. S2CID 101774219.