Hollowed out: the slow collapse of Georgia’s city of black gold
The Georgian city of Chiatura was once one of the world’s most important centres of manganese production. Today, many miners are unemployed and struggling to survive, after a sudden shutdown that has plunged the western Georgian city into economic and social freefall. Set against a background of national political turmoil, their struggle exposes how a town built around a single resource, and a single company, is slowly being emptied out.
February 22, 2026 -
Poppy Askham
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Issue 1-2 2026MagazineStories and ideas
Tariel Mitskhadze, examines a faded poster from the miner protests. “I think that if there is the state on one side, there should be human rights defenders to counterbalance it on the other side. I can’t imagine them closing, I really cannot,” he says in response to the prospect of civil society organizations disappearing as a result of governmental pressure. Photo: Poppy Askham
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