Kuznetsk coalfield is Swedish and Russian, and in one place the Government is working a coal mine to provide the Siberian railway with fuel other than wood, which is now generally burnt. The possibilities of coal mining in this district are very great, but the Siberian railway only skirts the basin at present, and until the branch Altai railway is built, tapping this coalfield at the centre, its development will be hindered.
In addition to the above minerals the Altai is also rich in copper and lead, the former being especially found in the north of the Semipalatinsk province. Lead is universal, but at present there is little activity in its production, except as a by-product of silver.
But as in the case of coal, so as regards the whole mining industry of Western Siberia, there will not be any great development until the branch railway to the Altai from the main Siberian railway is built. Only then will it be possible to compete with the mining industries of the Ural Mountains, from which there is at present good rail communication with Europe.
The Commercial and Industrial Centres
of Western Siberia
In north-west Siberia the principal towns were formerly Tiumen and Tobolsk. Through them all the trade between European Russia and Siberia passed. In those days trade crossed the Urals by pack horses to certain points on the Obi River system and was conveyed thence by water route to all parts of Western and even to Central Siberia. The building of the railway, however, along the great
