Ilmen Nature Reserve

Ilmen Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' that was created by decree of Vladimir Lenin, in 1920 as a mineralogical nature reserve. It is the site of deposits of many rare-earth minerals - 16 minerals were first discovered here, including Ilmenite, Monazite, Cancrinite, and Samarskite-. There have been over 400 mines in the area over the years. The Reserve's geological museum is one of the largest in Russia. The forest cover is pine and larch forest on low hills of the Ilmensky Mountains and foothill ridges on east side of the south Ural Mountains. The reserve is situated just north and east of the city of Miass, in the Chebarkulsky District of Chelyabinsk Oblast. It is also 20 kkm east of Taganay National Park and 75 km west of Chelyabinsk.