Claim: There are mercury reserves in Kolyma.

Kolyma -LRB- Колыма́ , -LSB- kəlɨˈma -RSB- -RRB- is a region located in the Russian Far East . It is bounded by the East Siberian Sea and the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Sea of Okhotsk to the south . The region gets its name from the Kolyma River and mountain range , parts of which were not discovered until 1926 . Today the region consists roughly of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug and the Magadan Oblast .   The area , part of which is within the Arctic Circle , has a subarctic climate with very cold winters lasting up to six months of the year . Permafrost and tundra cover a large part of the region . Average winter temperatures range from − 19 ° C to − 38 ° C -LRB- even lower in the interior -RRB- , and average summer temperatures , from +3 ° C to +16 ° C . There are rich reserves of gold , silver , tin , tungsten , mercury , copper , antimony , coal , oil , and peat . Twenty-nine zones of possible oil and gas accumulation have been identified in the Sea of Okhotsk shelf . Total reserves are estimated at 3.5 billion tons of equivalent fuel , including 1.2 billion tons of oil and 1.5 billion m3 of gas .   The principal town Magadan has nearly 100,000 inhabitants and is the largest port in north-eastern Russia . It has a large fishing fleet and remains open year-round thanks to icebreakers . Magadan is served by the nearby Sokol Airport . There are many public and private farming enterprises . Gold mines , pasta and sausage factories , fishing companies , and a distillery form the city 's industrial base .