Print this pageColorado Coal - High BTU, Low Sulfur Coal for the 21st Century
TREMAIN, CAROL M.,
Colorado coal production has risen five-fold in the last 25 years, and Colorado was 13th among coal producing states in 1995 at nearly 26 million tons. At $14 per ton, the 1995 production is valued at $363 million. By the end of the year, the 17 producing mines employed 1,694 miners. Production from the dozen underground mines was two-thirds of the total. Thirteen mines, accounting for over 90% of the production, mined Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Formation bituminous coal in northwest Colorado.
Half of Colorado's coal production is burned in the state. The remainder is shipped to 14 other states and Asia; Kentucky, Texas, and Illinois are the largest consumers. Over 70 percent of the coal being mined is bituminous (9,900 to 13,100 British thermal units), and all is low-sulfur. Productivity of longwall mines in Colorado in 1993 was the highest in the country at 5.92 tons per worker. In 1995, the Twentymile and West Elk mines traded the world Longwall production record.
Coal underlies nearly 30,000 square miles or 28 percent of the state. Resources range from lignite near Denver to anthracite at Crested Butte, but more than 70 percent of the resource is bituminous. Recoverable reserves under lease were 676-million short tons in 1994 for a 26 year supply at current production rates. Colorado's demonstrated reserves are nearly 17 billion tons - eighth among the states; the state is second in bituminous reserves. Of the 17-billion ton total, over 11 billion are low sulfur. Recent coalbed methane studies have indicated even greater resources, and federally funded coal assessment, availability, and reserve studies are being conducted to determine new minable reserves.