In the same year he took charge of a large expedition to the Altai. He reached the sources of the rivers Abakan, Chu, and Chulyshman. Traveling across the Southern Altai, Chikhachyov reached territories hitherto undiscovered. He investigated also the Sayan Mountains, about which the most fantastic stories were told, not only in Western Europe but also in Russia. In the Northern Altai he found the richest coal deposits in the world, which he called the Kuznetsk Coal Basin. He also studied the culture, life, and customs of various nomadic and settled tribes of this region.