Tkibuli is a small town in southwestern Georgia, in the historical region of Imereti. In the past, it was widely known as the largest coal-mining center in Georgia. In Georgian, "Tkibuli" means "the heart of the forest".
The first reports on the discovery of the Tkibuli coal deposit were published by Antipov in the "Mining Journal". A systematic study of the deposit began only after Soviet power was established in Georgia.
The first most detailed geological survey of the deposit was carried out by L. K. Konjushevsky in 1918–1924.
Starting in 1926, systematic geological exploration work began at the Tkibuli deposit. Two mines with an annual capacity of 600,000 tons each and one with a capacity of 400,000 tons were developed in the explored areas. In 1951, the trust "Kavkazuglegeologiya" discovered the promising Shaori area, in the southwestern part of which a new mine, Vostochnaya-2, with an annual capacity of 600,000 tons, is being built.
1 Kopeck 1924.
Tkibuli Miners’ Consumers’ Cooperative Society “Tskhovreba” (“Life”). Administration of the Alesha Japaridze Coal Mines. Tkibuli. Georgia. USSR.
