The Availibility of the Danville Coal Member for Mining in Indiana

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Date

2000-06

Journal Title

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Publisher

Indiana Geological Survey

Abstract

This study assesses the resources of the Danville Coal Member in Indiana and identifies those resources that have the most favorable geologic and land use characteristics for mining. The tonnage of original coal in place, remaining coal after mining, coal unlikely to be mined due to geologic and land use factors, and available coal resources were calculated for the Danville Coal in Indiana. The geologic and land use factors which restrict the mining of the Danville Coal were identified through interviews with geologists and mining engineers mining the Danville Coal in Indiana and Illinois. These restrictions were applied to the tonnage of remaining Danville Coal resources in order to calculate the tonnage of available resources. The original, remaining, and available coal resources are reported in terms of potential method of mining, "surface" or "underground," coal thickness, "14-28 inches," "28-42 inches," or "greater than 42 inches," and overburden thickness, "0-200 feet," and "greater than 100 feet." Coal that lies between depths of 100 and 200 feet is considered minable by both surface and underground methods. Additionally, the resources are categorized by three levels of geologic assurance or reliability. The reliability categories express the degree of reliability of the resource estimate based on the density of coal thickness data points that are used to derive the resource estimate. The three reliability categories are: measured (0-0.5 miles from the data point), indicated (0.5-2.0 miles), and inferred (2.0-4.0 miles). The total volume of original Danville Coal resources in Indiana is calculated to be 6.55 billion short tons. Of the 6.55 billion short tons, 0.36 billion short tons have been removed by mining or lost in the mining process, thus leaving 6.19 billion short tons of remaining Danville resources. Technological and land use restrictions remove 5.36 billion short tons from potential mining, leaving 0.83 billion short tons (13% of the original resources or 13% of the remaining resources) available for mining in Indiana. Of the 0.83 billion short tons of total available resources, 0.52 billion tons (8% of the original resources or 63% of the total available resources) are available for underground mining, while 0.31 billion short tons (5% of the original resources or 37% of the total available resources) are available for surface mining.

Description

Indiana Geological Survey Open-File Study 2000-1

Keywords

Economic Geology, Coal, Energy Resources, Danville Coal Member, Dugger Formation, Carbondale Group, Indiana

Citation

Conolly, Carol L. and Zlotin, Alex, 2000, The Availibility of the Danville Coal Member for Mining in Indiana. Indiana Geological Survey Open-File Study 00-01, 47 p., 18 fig.

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Type

Technical Report