Over 200 deposits and finds of coal and brown coals, which are the basic source of Mongolia's fuel and energy, were identified in 15 basins. Exploration works were done in 76 of the aforementioned deposits and coal mines were established in 40 coal deposits. Approximately 4,900 tons of coal is extracted in a year from the main coal deposits in Baganuur, Sharin Gol, Shivee Ovoo, Aduun-chuluun and Talbulag. There are 25 oil shale deposits in Mongolia, of which 23 are in Tuv and Dundgobi aimags. Also there is conjecture that the Uvdug Bulag, Khugshingol and Zuunbulag oil shale deposits have large-scale resources.
Reserves
Mongolia's current coal production is approximately 5 million metric tons, which is mostly consumed by domestic power producers. The country is estimated to have potential reserves of 125 bil-»on metric tons. Many of these reserves have been proven, but remain undeveloped due to a lack of infrastructure. Such reserves include the huge Tavantolgoi deposit in the Gobi, which contains over 5,000 million metric tons of coking and steam coal, but lies more than 400 kilometres from the nearest railway. Several of the country's largest coal mines have been selected for privatisation in the near future. These include the BagaNuur mine, the largest in the country with a design capacity of more than 6 million metric tons per year. These mines are located along the country's main railway line, and supply coal primarily to power plants in the major cities. Several smaller mines are also slated for privatisation.
Mongolia is included in the list of ten world countries, which have great natural wealth and coal resources.
Distribution. Currently, coal deposits are quite consistently distributed in the territory of Mongolia. There are over 200 deposits, and finds of coal and brown coals were identified in 15 basins and four regions, of which about 50 deposits have undergone geological and exploration works. Most of the coal reserves are in Umnugobi aimag and it occupies 65 percent of the total resources. The remaining 35 percent are in Bayankhongor, Selenge, Khentii, Sukhbaatar and Uvs aimags.
Exploitation.
