Brown coal: mining methods. How is coal mined? Where is coal mined

Russia boasts the most generous coal deposits, but they are often located in remote regions, which complicates their development. In addition, not all deposits are recoverable for geological reasons. We bring to your attention a rating of coal basins in the world, concealing colossal natural resources, most of which will remain in the bowels of the earth, without being extracted to the surface.

Tunguska Basin, Russia (coal reserves - 2.299 trillion tons)

The undisputed world leadership in terms of the volume of coal deposits belongs to the Russian Tunguska Basin, which covers an area of more than a million square kilometers and covers the territories of the Irkutsk Region, Yakutia and the Krasnoyarsk Territory. The block's reserves amount to 2.299 trillion tons of bituminous and brown coal. It is too early to talk about the full-scale development of the basin's fields, since most of the zones of possible production have not yet been studied enough due to their location in remote areas. In those areas that have already been explored, mining is carried out by open and underground methods.

Kayerkansky coal mine, Krasnoyarsk Territory

Lena Basin, Russia (1.647 trillion tonnes)

In Yakutia and partly in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, there is the second largest coal basin in the world - Lensky - with reserves of 1.647 trillion tons of brown and bituminous coal. The main part of the block is located in the Lena River basin, in the area of the Central Yakutsk Lowland. The area of the coal basin reaches 750 thousand square kilometers. Like the Tunguska basin, the Lensky block has been insufficiently studied due to the inaccessibility of the area. Extraction is carried out in mines and open-pit mines. At the Sangar mine, which was closed in 1998, a fire broke out two years later, which has not been extinguished to this day.

Abandoned mine "Sangarskaya", Yakutia

Kansk-Achinsk Basin, Russia (638 billion tonnes)

The third position in the ranking of the largest coal blocks in the world went to the Kansk-Achinsk basin, whose reserves amount to 638 billion tons of coal, mostly brown. The basin is about 800 kilometers long along the Trans-Siberian Railway. The block is located in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Irkutsk and Kemerovo Regions. About three dozen deposits have been discovered on its territory. The basin is characterized by normal geological conditions for development. Due to the shallow bedding of the strata, the development of the sites is carried out in a quarry way.

Borodinsky coal mine, Krasnoyarsk Territory

Kuzbass, Russia (635 billion tonnes)

The Kuznetsk Basin is one of the largest developed blocks in the country. Geological reserves of Kuzbass coal are estimated at 635 billion tons. The basin is located within the Kemerovo region and partly in the Altai Territory and the Novosibirsk Region, where sub-bituminous coal and anthracite are mined, respectively. In Kuzbass, the predominant method is underground mining, which allows you to extract higher quality coal. Another 30% of the fuel volume is mined by open pit mining. The rest of the coal - no more than 5% - is extracted hydraulically.

Open-pit mine "Bachatsky", Kemerovo region

Illinois Basin, USA (365 billion tonnes)

The fifth largest coal reserve in the world is the Illinois Basin with an area of 122 thousand square kilometers, located in the state of the same name, as well as in the territories of neighboring regions - Kentucky and Indiana. Geological coal reserves reach 365 billion tons, of which 18 billion tons are available for opencast mining. The depth of extraction is average - within 150 meters. Up to 90% of the coal produced comes from only two of the nine available seams - "Harrisburg" and "Herrin". Approximately the same amount of coal is used for the needs of the heat and power industry, the rest is coked.

Crown III Coal Mine, Illinois, USA

Ruhr Basin, Germany (287 billion tonnes)

The famous German Ruhr block is located in the basin of the river of the same name, which is the right tributary of the Rhine. This is one of the oldest coal mining sites, known since the thirteenth century. Commercial reserves of coal lie on an area of 6.2 thousand square kilometers, at a depth of up to two kilometers, but in general, the geological strata, the total weight of which is within 287 billion tons, reaches six kilometers. About 65% of the deposits are coking coal. The extraction is carried out exclusively by underground method. The maximum depth of mines in the field is 940 meters (Hugo mine).

Workers of the Auguste Victoria coal mine, Marl, Germany

Appalachian Basin, USA (284 billion tonnes)

In the eastern part of the United States, in the states of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky and Alabama, the Appalachian coal basin is located with reserves of 284 billion tons of fossil fuels. The basin area reaches 180 thousand square kilometers. There are about three hundred coal mining areas in the block. 95% of the country's mines are concentrated in the Appalachian Mountains, as well as about 85% of the quarries. The coal mining enterprises of the basin employ 78% of the industry workers. 45% of coal is mined by open pit mining.

Removal of mountain peaks for coal mining, West Virginia, USA

Pechora Basin, Russia (265 billion tonnes)

In the Nenets Autonomous Okrug and Komi there is the eighth largest coal basin in the world with an area of 90 square kilometers - Pechora. The coal deposits of this block are 265 billion tons. Fishing is carried out in permafrost regions, forest-tundra and tundra. In addition, difficult production conditions are associated with the fact that the reservoirs are unevenly occurring and are characterized by a high level of methane content. Working in mines is dangerous due to high concentrations of gas and dust. Most of the mines were built directly in Inta and Vorkuta. The development depth of the plots reaches 900 meters.

Open-pit mine "Yunyaginsky", Vorkuta, Komi Republic

Taimyr Basin, Russia (217 billion tonnes)

Another Russian coal block entered the world's top ten - the Taimyr Basin, which is located on the territory of the peninsula of the same name and covers an area of 80 thousand square kilometers. The structure of the seams is complex, part of the coal deposits is suitable for coking, and most of the reserves are energy grades. Despite the significant volumes of fuel reserves - 217 billion tons - the basin's fields are currently not being developed. The prospects for the development of the block are rather vague due to its remoteness from potential consumers.

Coal layers on the right bank of the Shrenk River, Taimyr Peninsula

Donbass - Ukraine, RF, DPR and LPR (141 billion tons)

Donbass closes the rating of the largest coal basins with a volume of deposits of 141 billion tons, which covers the territory of the Russian Rostov region and a number of regions of Ukraine. On the Ukrainian side, part of the administrative territory in the basin area is engulfed in an armed conflict, is not controlled by the Kiev authorities, while being under the control of the unrecognized republics - DPR and LPR in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, respectively. The basin area is 60 thousand square kilometers. All major brands of coal are distributed in the block. Donbass has been intensively developed for a long time - since the end of the 19th century.

Mine "Obukhovskaya", Zverevo, Rostov region

The above rating in no way reflects the real situation with field development indicators, but only shows the scale of the largest geological reserves in the world without reference to the actual levels of exploration and extraction of minerals in a particular country. The total amount of proven reserves at all deposits in the states that are leaders in the coal mining industry is significantly less than the volume of geological deposits even in one large basin.

From the above diagram, it is obvious that there is no dependence not only between the volumes of proven and total geological reserves. There is also no link between the scale of the largest basins and the proven amount of coal in the countries in which they are located. For example, despite the fact that Russia has four of the largest basins in the world, in terms of proven reserves, the country is inferior to the leadership of the United States.

The ratings show the wealth of Russian mineral resources, but not at all the possibility of their development. In turn, production rates depend on other factors. For example, we recall that Pronedra wrote earlier that Russia in 2017 will increase its coal exports. Decisions of this kind are made taking into account a number of conditions that do not depend on the volume of reserves. We are talking about the complexity of work at the fields, the technologies used, economic feasibility, the policy of the authorities and the position of industry operators.

Since I live in the land of miners, I could not help but become interested in the methods of extracting this mineral, of which, by the way, there are not so many. Taking this opportunity, I will try to briefly talk about the pros and cons of each of them.

Coal mining: mine method

Mining the fossil in this way offers a huge advantage, since the most valuable fuels are found at great depths. At the same time, coal practically does not contain waste rocks, which cannot be said about the open method, but about it a little later. So, in order to get to the deposits, deep vertical tunnels are drilled. As soon as a formation is found, its horizontal development begins. Sometimes the depth reaches 1.5 km, for example, the Gvardeyskaya mine, which is located in the Donbass. However, this method contains many disadvantages:

the threat of flooding;
since methane is an eternal companion of coal seams, it is fraught with suffocation of workers or undermining;
the deeper the depth, the higher the temperature, which means there is a risk to people and equipment.

In the world, about 40% of the world's reserves are mined in this way.

Coal mining: open-pit or open-pit mining

In this case, there is no need not only for expensive drilling, but also for the construction of a number of ground communications. The bottom line is to undermine waste rock, and then huge excavators, crushers and trucks come into play, which process the rock and take it to the dumps. This method is less dangerous, but still there are some risks associated with it. This is the threat of unplanned detonation, and the poisoning of workers by exhaust, and careless handling of traumatic equipment.

Hydraulic coal mining

In principle, this is the same mine, but there is one peculiarity: the transportation of the fossil is carried out by a stream of water under enormous pressure. It turns out that underground waters are a headache for miners, they work for their benefit. Today, this method is considered one of the best, since it replaces the laborious process of transportation. The disadvantages include the dependence of production on the type of rock, and the constant contact of water with equipment.

Today, coal is one of the most essential minerals.

This resource is formed naturally, has huge reserves and a lot of useful properties.

What is bituminous coal and what does it look like

The construction of a mine is a very expensive investment, however, after the expiration of time, all costs are fully paid off. When coal is mined, other resources also come to the surface.

There is a likelihood of mining precious metals and rare earth elements, which can subsequently be sold for additional profit.

Oil is virtually the most precious resource and the main source of fuel today. However, not a single company or country that extracts coal will neglect its extraction in the name of oil, because solid fuel is also of great importance and high value.

Coal formation

Coal in nature is formed by changing the surface relief. Branches of trees, plants, leaves and other natural residues that did not have time to rot are saturated with moisture from the swamps, which is why they are transformed into peat.

Next, seawater enters land, and when it leaves, it also leaves a layer of sediment. After the rivers make their own adjustments, the land becomes swampy, again forms or covers the soil. Therefore, the composition of coal is highly dependent on age.

Bituminous coal is medium in age between brown, the youngest, and anthracite, the oldest.

Types of coal, their composition and properties

There are several types of coal:

long-flame;
gas;
fatty;
coke;
slightly baked;
skinny.

Also common are species consisting of several, the so-called mixed, with the properties of two groups.

Coal is distinguished by its black color, hard, layered, easily destructible structure, and has shiny inclusions. The flammability properties are quite high, since the material is used as a fuel.

Consider physical characteristics:

Density (or specific gravity) varies greatly (the maximum can reach 1500 kg / m³).
The specific heat capacity is 1300 J / kg * K.
Combustion temperature - 2100 ° С (during processing 1000 ° С).

Coal deposits in Russia

About a third of the world's reserves are located on Russian territory.

Deposits of coal and oil shale in Russia (click to enlarge)

The largest coal deposit in Russia is Elginskoye. It is located in the region of Yakutia.

According to approximate estimates, the reserves amount to more than 2 billion tons.

The relief close to the Kuznetsk coal basin (Kuzbass) was severely damaged due to large-scale resource extraction.

The largest coal deposits in the world

Map of coal deposits in the world (click to enlarge)

In the United States, the Illinois is considered the most famous coal basin. The total reserve of deposits in this field is 365 billion tons.

Coal mining

Bituminous coal is mined today in three fundamental ways. Such as:

career method;
mining through adits;
mining method in mines.

The open pit mining method is used when coal seams lie on the surface, about a hundred meters in depth or more.

Quarries involve the simple digging of earth or a sand pit from which mining is carried out, usually in such cases the coal seam is thick enough to make it easier to mine.

Adits mean wells with a large angle of inclination. Through it, all the mined minerals are delivered to the top, and there is no need to use serious equipment or pull out the basin.

Usually deposits in such places are thin and not buried very deeply. Therefore, the mining method through adits allows you to quickly mine without significant costs.

Mining through mines is the most common method of mining, and at the same time the most productive, but at the same time dangerous. Shafts are drilled to a great depth, reaching several hundred meters. However, this requires a permit confirming the justification for such large-scale work, evidence of the presence of deposits.

Sometimes mines can reach a kilometer, or even more in depth, and stretch for several kilometers in length, forming interconnected cobwebs of corridors under the ground. In the 20th century, settlements and small towns were formed around the mines over time, in which miners lived with their families.

It is because of the mining conditions that work in the mines is considered very difficult and dangerous, because a huge number of times the mines collapsed, burying dozens or even hundreds of people working there.

Application of hard coal

Bituminous coal is used in various fields. It is widely used as a solid fuel (main purpose), in metallurgy and in the chemical industry, plus many other components are produced from it.

It is from coal that some aromatic substances, metals, chemicals are produced, more than 360 other processed products are obtained.

In turn, the substances produced from it have a market value ten times higher, the most expensive is the method of converting coal into liquid fuel.

To make 1 ton of liquid fuel, 2-3 tons of coal will need to be processed. All industrial waste obtained during processing is often sent to the production of building materials.

Conclusion

There are many coal deposits on earth that are actively developed to this day. In biology lessons in grade 5 and even earlier, in nature studies in grade 2, children are introduced to this concept. In this paper, we briefly repeated the basic facts about bituminous coal - origin, formula, grades, chemical composition and use, mining and much more.

Coal is one of the most important resources widely used in industry. However, you should still be careful when disrupting the natural course of substances, because the development violates the relief and gradually depletes natural reserves.

The range of its use is very wide. Coal is used to generate electricity, as an industrial raw material (coke), for the production of graphite, for the production of liquid fuel by hydrogenation.

Russia has vast reserves of coal deposits and coal basins.

The coal basin is the area (often over 10 thousand square kilometers) of development of coal-bearing deposits, formed under certain conditions over a certain period of time. The coal deposit has a smaller area and is a separate tectonic structure.

Platform, folded and transitional basins are found on the territory of Russia.

The largest amount of coal deposits was found in the territory of Western and Eastern Siberia.

60% of Russian coal reserves are humus coals, including coking coal (Karaganda, Yuzhno-Yakutsk, Kuznetsk basin). Brown coals are also found (Ural, Eastern Siberia, Moscow region).

Coal reserves are scattered across 25 coal basins and 650 separate deposits.

Coal mining is carried out in a closed or open way. Closed mining is carried out in mines, open - in quarries (open-pit mines).

The mine has been operating for an average of 40-50 years. Each layer of coal is removed from the mine for about 10 years, followed by the development of a deeper layer through reconstruction. Reconstruction of the mine horizons is a prerequisite for preserving the environment and ensuring the safety of workers.

In the sections, coal is excavated in successive strips.

For the period of 2010 coal in Russia was mined in 91 mines and 137 open-pit mines. The total annual capacity was 380 million tonnes.

After coal is mined in mines or open-pit mines, it goes directly to the consumer or goes to coal enrichment enterprises.

In special factories, lumps of coal are sorted by size and then enriched.

The enrichment process is the purification of fuel from waste rock and impurities.

Today coal in Russia is mined mainly in the territory and 10 main basins. The largest deposit of hard and coking coals is the Kuznetsk Basin (Kemerovo Region), brown coal is mined in the Kansk-Achinsk Basin (Krasnoyarsk Territory, Eastern Siberia), Anthracites - in the Gorlovka Basin and in the Donbass.

The coal in these pools is of the highest quality.

Other well-known coal basins in Russia include the Pechora basin (Polar region), the Irkutsk-Cheremkhovsky basin in the Irkutsk region, and the South Yakutsk basin in the Far East.

The Taimyr, Lensky and Tunguska basins are being actively developed in Eastern Siberia, as well as deposits in the Trans-Baikal Territory, Primorye, and the Novosibirsk Region.

The largest industry (in terms of the number of workers and the cost of production fixed assets) of the fuel industry is coal mining in Russia.

The coal industry extracts, processes (enriches) coal, brown coal and anthracite.

How and how much coal is produced in the Russian Federation

This mineral is mined depending on the depth of its location: open (in open-pit mines) and underground (in mines) methods.

During the period from 2000 to 2015, underground production increased from 90.9 to 103.7 million tons, and open-pit production increased by more than 100 million tons from 167.5 to 269.7 million tons. The amount of fossil mined in the country during this period, broken down by production method, is shown in Fig. 1.

Rice. 1: Coal mining in the Russian Federation from 2000 to 2015 by production method, in mln.

According to the Fuel and Energy Complex (FEC) in the Russian Federation, 385 million tons of black minerals were produced in 2016, which is 3.2% higher than the previous year. This allows us to draw a conclusion about the positive dynamics of the industry's growth in recent years and about the prospects, despite the crisis.

The types of this mineral, mined in our country, are divided into power-generating and coking coals.

In the total volume for the period from 2010 to 2015, the share of energy production increased from 197.4 to 284.4 million tons. The volumes of coal production in Russia by type, see Fig. 2.

2: Structure of coal production in the Russian Federation by types for 2010-2015, in million tons

How much black fossil is in the country and where is it mined

According to Rosstat, the Russian Federation (US $ 157 billion)

tons) ranks second after the United States (237.3 billion tons) in the world in terms of coal reserves. The Russian Federation accounts for about 18% of all world reserves. See Figure 3.

Rice. 3: World reserves by leading countries

Rosstat information for 2010-2015 indicates that production in the country is carried out in 25 constituent entities of the Federation in 7 Federal Districts.

There are 192 coal enterprises. Among them are 71 mines and 121 open-pit mines. Their combined production capacity is 408 million tons. More than 80% of it is mined in Siberia. Coal production in Russia by region is shown in Table 1.

In 2016, 227 400 thousand.

tons were mined in the Kemerovo region (such cities with one industry affiliation are called monocities), of which about 125,000 tons were exported.

Kuzbass accounts for about 60% of domestic coal production, there are about 120 mines and open-pit mines.

At the beginning of February 2017, a new open-pit mine - Trudarmeysky Yuzhny with a design capacity of 2,500 thous.

In 2017, it is planned to produce 1,500 thousand tons of minerals at the open pit, and, according to forecasts, the open pit will reach its design capacity in 2018. Also, in 2017, three new enterprises are planned to be launched in Kuzbass.

Largest deposits

There are 22 coal basins on the territory of the Russian Federation (according to Rosstat information for 2014) and 129 separate deposits.

More than 2/3 of the reserves that have already been explored are concentrated in the Kansk-Achinsk (79.3 billion tons) and Kuznetsk (53.4 billion tons) basins. They are located in the Kemerovo Region of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Also among the largest pools are: Irkutsk, Pechora, Donetsk, Yuzhno-Yakutsk, Minusinsky, and others.

Figure 4 shows the structure of proven reserves by major basins.

Rice. 4: Explored reserves for the main basins in Russia, billion tons.

Import Export

The Russian Federation is one of the three largest coal exporters after Australia (export volume $ 390 million).

tons) and Indonesia (330 million tons) in 2015. The share of Russia in 2015 - 156 million tons of black fossil was exported. This figure for the country has grown by 40 million tons in five years. In addition to the Russian Federation, Australia and Indonesia, the six leading countries include the United States of America, Colombia and South Africa.

The structure of world exports is shown in Fig. 5.

Rice. 5: Structure of world exports (largest exporting countries).

The Central Dispatch Office of the Fuel and Energy Complex reports that in 2016 the total volume of exports from the country increased, while imports decreased.

Data on export-import in 2016 are presented in Table 2.

Head of the Information and Analytical Division of the Department of Coal and Peat Industry of the Ministry of Energy of the country V.

Grishin predicts an increase in exports by 6% in 2017, its volume may reach 175 million tons, that is, increase by 10 million tons.

Which companies are the largest manufacturers

Large oil companies of Russia are on everyone's lips, and the largest coal producing companies in the country in 2016 are: OJSC SUEK (105.47), Kuzbassrazrezugol (44.5), SDS-coal (28.6 ), Vostsibugol (13.1), Yuzhny Kuzbass (9), Yuzhkuzbassugol (11.2), Yakutugol (9.9), Raspadskaya OJSC (10.5), in parentheses it is indicated the amount of coal produced in millions of tons, see

Rice. 6. Largest manufacturers in the Russian Federation in 2016, in mln.

The companies OJSC SUEK, Kuzbassrazrezugol and SDS-Ugol have been leaders in production over the past years.

The largest manufacturers for 2014-2015 are shown in Fig.

7. Among them, in addition to the two above-mentioned industry leaders, there are also processing enterprises: Kuzbass Fuel Company, Holding Sibuglement, Vostsibugol, Russian Coal, EVRAZ (one of the largest private companies in the country), Mechel-Mining, SDS-coal.

7. Largest producers in the Russian Federation for 2014-2015, in million tons.

In November 2016, Evgeny Kosmin's team of section No. 1 of the V.D.

Yalevsky JSC SUEK-Kuzbass set a new Russian production record for the year from one working face - 4,810 thousand tons.

Results and conclusions

The coal complex of Russia is actively developing.
Imports have declined slightly in recent years, while exports and production have grown.
In terms of exports, the Russian Federation is one of the three leading countries after Australia and Indonesia.
In the coming years, it is planned to open new mining and processing enterprises.
The three leaders include companies from the Siberian region, which accounts for more than 80% of production from the total volume of the country.

Lyudmila Poberezhnykh, 2017-03-29

Questions and answers on the topic

No questions have been asked about the material yet, you have the opportunity to do it first

Related References

Coal basins of Russia

The role of this or that coal basin in the territorial division of labor depends on the quality of the coal, the size of the reserves, the technical and economic indicators of production, the degree of preparedness of the reserves for industrial exploitation, the size of production, and the peculiarities of the transport and geographical location.

By the combination of these conditions, interdistrict coal bases- Kuznetsk and Kansk-Achinsk basins, which together account for 70% of coal production in Russia, as well as the Pechora, Donetsk, Irkutsk-Cheremkhov and South Yakutsk basins.
The most important coal producer in Russia is the Kuznetsk Coal Basin.

Kuznetsk Basin

The balance reserves of Kuzbass hard coal of the A + B + C1 category are estimated at 57 billion tons, which is 58.8% of Russia's hard coal.

At the same time, the reserves of coking coal amount to 30.1 billion tons, or 73% of the country's total reserves.

Almost the entire range of coal grades is mined in Kuzbass. The bowels of the Kuzbass are rich in other minerals, such as manganese, iron, phosphorite, nepheline ores, oil shale and other minerals.

Kuznetsk coals are of high quality: ash content 8-22%, sulfur content - 0.3-0.6%, specific heat of combustion - 6000 - 8500 kcal / kg.

The average depth of underground mining reaches 315 m.
About 40% of the mined coal is consumed in the Kemerovo region itself and 60% is exported to other regions of Russia and for export.
In the structure of coal exports from Russia, Kuzbass accounts for over 70% of its physical volume.
High quality coal, including coking coal, is found here. Almost 12% of mining is carried out in an open pit.
Belovsky District is one of the oldest coal mining areas in Kuzbass.

The balance reserves of coal of the Belovsky region are more than 10 billion.

tons.
The development of the Kuznetsk coal basin began in 1851 with more or less regular production of fuel at the Bachatskaya mine for the Guryevsky metallurgical plant. The Bachat mine was located six versts northeast of the village of Bachaty. Now at this place are the mines "Chertinskaya - Koksovaya", "Novaya-2" and the open pit "Novobochatsky".
The firstborn of the coal industry in Belov is the Pionerka mine. the first ton of coal was mined here.

At present, the Belovsky District is the largest coal mining area in the Kuzbass.
The geographic center of the Kemerovo region is located in the Belovsky district.
The main centers are Novokuznetsk, Kemerovo, Prokopyevsk, Anzhero-Sudzhensk, Belovo, Leninsk-Kuznetskiy.

The Kansk-Achinsk Basin is located in the south of Eastern Siberia in the Krasnoyarsk Territory along the Trans-Siberian Railway and provides 12% of coal production in Russia.

Brown coal from this basin is the cheapest in the country as it is mined in an open pit. Due to its poor quality, coal is not easily transportable and therefore powerful thermal power plants operate on the basis of the largest open-pit mines (Irsha-Borodinsky, Nazarovsky, Berezovsky).

The Pechora Basin is the largest in the European part and accounts for 4% of the country's coal production.

It is remote from the most important industrial centers and is located in the Arctic Circle; mining is carried out only by the mine method. In the northern part of the basin (Vorkutinskoye, Vorgashorskoye deposits), coking coal is mined, in the southern part (Intinskoye deposit) - mainly energy coals.

The main consumers of Pechora coal are the Cherepovets Metallurgical Plant, enterprises of the North-West, Center and Central Black Earth Region.

The Donetsk Basin in the Rostov Region is the eastern part of the coal basin located in Ukraine.

It is one of the oldest coal mining areas. The mine method of mining led to the high cost of coal. Coal production is decreasing every year and in 2007 the basin gave only 2.4% of the total Russian production.

The Irkutsk-Cheremkhovsky Basin in the Irkutsk Region provides a low cost of coal, since mining is carried out in an open way and provides 3.4% of coal in the country.

Due to the great distance from large consumers, it is used at local power plants.

The South Yakutsk Basin (3.9% of the total Russian production) is located in the Far East. It possesses significant reserves of energy and technological fuel, and all production is carried out in an open pit.

The prospective coal basins include Lensky, Tunguska and Taimyr, located beyond the Yenisei to the north of the 60th parallel.

They occupy vast areas in underdeveloped and sparsely populated areas of Eastern Siberia and the Far East.

In parallel with the creation of coal bases of interregional significance, there was a widespread development of local coal basins, which made it possible to bring coal mining closer to the regions of its consumption. At the same time, in the western regions of Russia, coal production is declining (the Moscow region), and in the eastern regions, it is sharply increasing (deposits of the Novosibirsk region, the Trans-Baikal Territory, Primorye.