Russia's biggest miner feels the heat of financial crisis

Norilsk, Russia

RUSSIA'S financial crisis is posing a stark challenge to the country's largest mining company. How can Norilsk Nickel protect the living standards of thousands of workers cut off inside the inhospitable Arctic while also satisfying its shareholders?

The slump in the rouble and a resulting rise in inflation could have an outsize effect in Norilsk, a town 300km inside the Arctic Circle where more than a quarter of the 220,000 population work for the company, and it's hard to shop around.

Winter …