ABSTRACT
The unequal distribution of mineral wealth has been an important hindrance in the establishment of the 'complex' and 'balanced' economies which the Soviets have sought to build in the country's major economic regions. Russia is fortunate in having large reserves of fuel minerals to which should also be added water power. Besides the technical problems of the geological nature of the deposit and petrological occurrence of the mineral, development has been directly influenced by the physical environment of the site. The richest mineral-bearing areas are the exposed roots of the older folded mountain systems, including the remains of the great shields, where deep-seated igneous and metamorphic activity is now revealed at depths accessible to modern mining. Many important deposits of lignite, coal, petroleum, and salt also occur in the almost undisturbed sediments overlying the great shields or deposited in geosynclinal structures.
