Kursk Magnetic Anomaly

The largest magnetic anomaly (iron ore field) in the Russian Federation, with an area of about 120,000 sq km/46,332 sq mi, and located mainly in the Kursk and Belgorod oblasti (regions) of the western Russian Federation. The massive iron-ore basin was discovered at the end of the 18th century and research into its extent and depth was carried out from 1896 to 1918.

Exploratory drilling around Kursk since World War II has revealed four distinct iron-ore regions, with a total deposit of up to 26 billion tonnes. This is extracted mainly by means of open-cast mining, with the ore going to iron- and steelmaking plants at Lipetsk and Tula, and to the Donets Basin.