Concerning Soviet Geological Exploration Work in Xinjiang

RGASPI F.17 op. 162, d. 20 l.181

[handwritten]: MINUTES Nº 45 of the

Politburo decisions between 28 December 1936 and  17 February 1937

[handwritten at the top of the page: point 368 is in classified storage.

of 16 February 1937]

[…]

368. Concerning Xinjiang.

1. Extend the work of the Special Expedition of the NKTP to 1937, restricting its work on the territory of Xinjiang to the following tasks:

a) carrying out detailed exploration of the Surtassky deposit of tin and tungsten;

b) the organization of pilot mining for the development of a flow chart for enriching the Surtassky ores;

c) the geological exploration work in Ili [Yili] District with the goal of expanding the reserves of the primary deposits of tin.

2. Appropriate 2,000,000 rubles in Soviet hard currency and $40,000 US for the Expedition's work in 1937.

3. Discuss in Gosplan the issue of building a mine on Xinjiang territory and a concentrating mill in the region of Dzharkend [sic], combining both enterprises with a highway or a narrow-gauge railway.

Excerpts have been sent:

to Cdes. Ordzhonikidze, Stomonyakov, Antipov, Miroshnikov, and Yezhov - everything; to Kruglikov - 2, and V. Mezhlauk - 3.