COAL. 1S5 



thick, which unite at a depth of 13 sagenes into one ted which dips at an angle of 

 32° to 42". The Dzhemantouzsk coal is an anthracite of a gray colour. It is dense and bright 

 with a roughly conchoidal fracture and gives a great heat, hut no coke. It contains a very 

 small amount of sulphur, pyrites and gypsum. This deposit is situated at 60 versts distance 

 from the river Irtysh. In the Semipalatinsk district coal was first discovered in 1869, by 

 Mr. Permikin a gold mine owner, at 7 versts distance from the Grachevsk station and 120 

 versts from the town of Semipalatinsk. 



A whole group of coal fields occurs in the north-eastern portion of the Kirghiz steppes 

 at 18 to 20 versts distance from the left bank of the river Irtish and about 120 versts to 

 the west of the town of Semipalatinsk. The presence of coal in the neighbourhood of the 

 Irtysh was known at au earlier period, as in the sixties a gold mine owner, Mr. Kouznetsov, 

 erected a copper smelting works on the left bank of the Irtish, which consumed coal from a 

 mine situated near lake Dongoulek-Sor. This deposit contains two seams of coal, whose total 

 thickness is about one sagene. They are separated by a layer or clay slate two feet thick. 

 The coal from this mine is black and very bright, rather dense and gives a coke of good 

 quality. This coal must be regarded as the best in the Kirghiz steppes. The Ouzouu-Sor 

 deposit is situated 8 versts to the south of the above mine, and the Oinak-Sor at 6 versts 

 distance to the south-east of the latter. The Oinak-Sor deposit includes several coal seams, 

 from two to fifteen feet thick, but the seams are very distorted. The coal of these three 

 and other adjacent out-cropping seams, can not only furnish the inhabitants of the steppes 

 with fuel, but could also have an important significance for the steam navigation of the Irtish 

 and for the Siberian Railway, as well as for the metallurgical works of the Altai and Kirghiz 

 steppes. 



Deposits of coal have been found in several places in the neighbourhood of Sergiopol 

 over a distance of 20 versts along the river Ayagouz and its tributaries. The following four 

 are among these deposits: 1. The Spassk mine on the left bank of the Ayagouz, above the 

 river Baiboulak. Several thin seams of coal from IV2 to 3 feet thick were discovered here, 

 the thickest of them being over 4 feet. This coal is not of particularly good quality; 

 it is black, finely laminar, disintegrates in the air into a fine powder. It is only used as 

 smithy coal. 2. The Krestovsk mine, on the right bank of the river Ayagouz, in the upper 

 sources of the Kyzyl-Chilik, is at two versts distance from the Spassk mine. The seam of 

 coal, which was found at an inconsiderable depth, proved exceedingly thin and the coal was 

 found to contain a large amount of ash. 3. The Troitsk or Chekartinsk mine lies at eight 

 versts distance from the Spassk mine, near the river Chekarta. The coal seams are here con- 

 siderably thicker than in the Spassk pit and are as much as 1 sagene thick in some places; 

 it is of good quality and is used in smithies and for house heating. 4. The Yoskresensk de- 

 posit is situated at 10 versts from the Spassk pit, on the left side of the river Ayagouz, 

 above the river Chekarta. The inconsiderable exploratory workings made in this deposit do 

 not give any idea of its extent or quality. 



The above concise enumeration of the coal deposits of the Kirghiz steppes, show that 

 this region, which is so in want of fuel for the exploitation of its mineral wealth in silver, 

 lead, and copper ores, may apparently be considered as fully guaranteed in this respect. But 



