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
