"Rosnedra" Federal mining agency declared void the auction to explore and develop Zapadnyy parcel of Eastern part of Ulug-Khemsk coal basin (Republic of Tuva) when no bids had been offered.
Balance reserves of the parcel amount to c 497 m t (C1+C2 categories, by Russian classification).
Probable reserves of the whole basin hold c 20 bn t, 14.5 bn t of coking coal included. Since 2008, pilot production at 1-bn-t Elegestskoye deposit, part of the basin, has been underway.