78 



SIBERIA. 



This deposit consists of ono vnin tliroo sagcnos thick. Tho coal from this seam gives a good 

 coke, which has been siiccossfully used in motalinrgical operations. 



A.S thi; abmt! estimate of tho stores of coal contained in tlni diflereut seams only 

 refers to the outerop of th(jse lyint,' above the level of the river, and the lower levels 

 of those viiins wero not includiid in tin; calculation, and as moii;over. In the majority of 

 cases, the strike of the seams was mily fojiuwed up for an inconsiderable distance, .so there 

 can be no doubt that the actual stores of coal in this southern poitimi of the basin must 

 be many times ^Meati-r than the above cited figures, and this portion of the basin with its 

 inexhaustibli! stores of fuel lying in close proximity with the richest deposits of magnetic 

 iron ori', may suicly have a great industrial future. 



'Jlio Afoninsk coal field lies near the village of Afonin and at a distance of 6u versts 

 i'loui tlie Tomsk works, on the one haml, and from the (jourievsk and Gavrilovsk on the other. 

 Three coal seams have been found, one of which has been destroyed by an underground fire, 

 and all tli;it p'luains is a bed of ash l'/» sagene thick. The second seam, situated on the 

 hanging wall of the first, is about IV-'j sagenes thick, consists of a bitumenous coal of 

 good quality and was explored to a small depth in 1851. The third seam is thin and has not 

 therefore been explored. 



The Bachatsk coal field is situated to the north-east of the village of Bachaisk at 

 27 versts distance from tho Gourievsk works. This seam is not of uniform thickness through- 

 out, but narrows in some parts and widens in others, and in some places is as much as 

 25 sagenes thick. In some places it is intersected by bands of schistose clay, which divide 

 it into several separate seams. It has a dip of 65° to 75" and is sometimes almost 

 vertical. The coal varies greatly in quality in different portions of the seam; in the centre 

 It is a dry, non-caking, dense, dull coal, which burns almost without any flame; while towards 

 the roof and floor it is a semi-bitumenous, friable, bright, caking coal, burning with a flame. 

 Five coal seams have been discovered to the north of the Bachatsk coal mine, on the river 

 Cherta. These seam vary from ','2 to 1 sagene in thickness and have been explored by work- 

 ings for three versts distance. The same seams which appear in such abundance in the 

 southern portion of the basin, outcrop in the north along the Great and Little Bachat rivers. 

 Deposits of coal were discovered along the river Ina as early as 1796. The first of these 

 deposits was found to contain two beds ^2 and 1 sagene thick, and the second deposit to 

 consist of one seam 1 sagene thick. In the latter, the surrounding sandstone rock contains 

 portions of trees, and even entire fossil trees, 1 to 2 feet in diameter. The Bachatsk and 

 Kalcliouginsk deposits are the only ones which are now under exploitation. The coal is couveited 

 into coke and consumed at the Salairsk works. 



The following table gives the yield of these mines during the last five years. 



