Moscow Coal Basin

Large lignite (brown coal) deposit in the western Russian Federation, covering some 120,000 sq km/46,332 sq mi. It extends across the Leningrad, Novgorod, Tver, Smolensk, Moscow, Kaluga, Ryazan, and Tula oblasti (regions), but the main area of extraction is in the last of these.

Lignite extraction first began in the Moscow Coal Basin in 1855. Mining of this resource was once vital for meeting the region's energy requirements, and production grew rapidly from 1.7 million tonnes in 1930 to 43.7 million tonnes in 1960. Thereafter, however, it has been steadily on the decline, due to the growing importance of oil and natural gas.