Wikipedia
Khalmer-Yu is a ghost town, a former urban-type settlement in Komi Republic, Russia, disestablished in 1995. Its main occupation was coal mining of high-quality coke coal. in Pechora coal basin. It was administered by Gornyatsky district council of Vorkuta.
It was named after the Khalmer-Yu river. The name is translated from Nenets language as "River in the Death Valley", because the place was used a burial grounds by the autochtone population.
Coal in the area was discovered in the early 1940s. The industrial mining started in 1957. Initially the settlement, together with the surrounding coal fields belonged to Nenets Autonomous Okrug. However mining was carried out by Vorkutugol (Воркутуголь, "Vorkutcoal") combine. Therefore, eventually was transferred to Komi ASSR in November 1959.
In 1993 it was decided to shut down mining operations and to liquidate the settlement by 1995.
In the early 2000s it became part of a military proving ground Pemboy as a result of the restoring of the aviation proving ground Khalmer-Yu which existed since 1960s 15–20 km northeast off the settlement.