Lvov-Volyn Coal Basin

located in L’vov and Volyn’ oblasts of the Ukrainian SSR. Stretching 125 km from north to south (from Ustilug in Volyn’ Oblast almost to Velikie Mosty in L’vov Oblast) and 60 km from west to east, the basin has a total area of about 10,000 sq km. The overall geological coal reserves are estimated at 1.65 billion tons, including 700 million tons in categories A + B + C₁ (as of Jan. 1, 1972).

In 1912, M. M. Tetiaev suggested that the region contained coal deposits, but planned exploration was not begun until after the Great Patriotic War (1941-45). Preparation of the mines was initiated in 1948, and industrial operations began in 1949. About 70 percent of the industrial reserves are concentrated in the Mezhrechenskoe and Zabugskoe deposits. Other important deposits are the Volynskoe, Sokal’skoe, and Tiaglovskoe. In 1972 there were 20 mines in the basin.

The basin is a monocline gently dipping in a northwesterly direction; the monocline is bounded by large faults on the north and south and extends into Poland on the west. The coal-bearing parts are associated with deposits of the Namurian and Visean stages of the Lower Carboniferous and the Westphalian stage of the Middle Carboniferous; there are more than 50 seams and intercalations.

The six chief industrial seams range from 0.7 m to 1 m in thickness. The coal is humic with occasional thin layers of sapropelic coal and contains 0.5-6 percent water, 5-23 percent ash (generally 7-12 percent), and 0.5-5.0 percent sulfur. The heat of combustion is 32.6-35.3 megajoules per kg (7,800-8,430 kilocalories per kg). The increase in the thickness of the seams from north to south is accompanied by an increase in the degree of metamorphism of the coal; there is a transition from long-flame to rich coals, and the content of volatile substances decreases from 41 percent to 31 percent. The gas coal is used by the power system of the Southwestern Economic Region. It is also shipped to Kaliningrad Oblast of the RSFSR, to the Byelorussian SSR, and to the Baltic republics. The principal cities in the basin are Novovolynsk, Chervonograd, Sokal’, and Belz.