city, Sverdlovsk oblast (region), western Russia, at the foot of Mount Blagodat. Founded in 1735 after the discovery of iron-ore deposits on the mountain, it became a town in 1926, and until the 1950s open-pit mines were still in operation. Ore extraction is now conducted underground, and the deposits are the basis for a local metallurgical industry. Pop. (2006 est.) 33,890.