The Upper Pennsylvanian Pittsburgh Coal Bed: Resources and Mine Models |
| |
Authors: | Watson William D Ruppert Leslie F Tewalt Susan J Bragg Linda J |
| |
Institution: | (1) U.S. Geological Survey, National Center MS 956, Reston, Virginia, 20192;(2) School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, 30332-0345 |
| |
Abstract: | The U.S. Geological Survey recently completed a digital coal resource assessment model of the Upper Pennsylvanian Pittsburgh coal bed, which indicates that after subtracting mined-out coal, 16 billion short tons (14 billion tonnes) remain of the original 34 billion short tons (31 billion tonnes) of coal. When technical, environmental, and social restrictions are applied to the remaining Pittsburgh coal model, only 12 billion short tons (11 billion tonnes) are available for mining. Our assessment models estimate that up to 0.61 billion short tons (0.55 billion tonnes), 2.7 billion short tons (2.4 billion tonnes), and 8.5 billion short tons (7.7 billion tonnes) could be available for surface mining, continuous mining, and longwall mining, respectively. This analysis is an example of a second-generation regional coal availability study designed to model recoverability characteristics for all the major coal beds in the United States. |
| |
Keywords: | Coal assessment geology mining technology GIS analysis available coal |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|