Assessment of Coal Resources and Reserves in the Little Snake River Coal Field and Red Desert Assessment Area, Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming
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- Document: Report (pdf)
- Related Work: Coal Geology and Assessment of Resources and Reserves in the Little Snake River Coal Field and Red Desert Assessment Area, Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming
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Abstract
The assessment of the Little Snake River coal field and Red Desert area covers approximately 2,300 square miles in the eastern portion of the Greater Green River Basin in south-central Wyoming. Coal-bearing formations are present throughout the Eocene, Paleocene, and Cretaceous strata in the assessment area. Paleogene-age coal beds are present in the Eocene Wasatch Formation and Paleocene Fort Union Formation. Cretaceous-age coal beds are present in the Lance, Almond, and Allen Ridge Formations. Utilizing over 4,000 data points, 55 individual coal beds were identified in the assessment area. Coal resources were calculated using geologic models generated from these data points, using criteria for minimum thickness and areal extent. The geologic modeling criteria indicated that 33 of the 55 individual coal beds had sufficient thickness and areal extent to be economically significant. Calculated original coal resources within the assessment area were approximately 73.2 billion short tons (BST). After excluding coal resources lost due to land use and technical restrictions, recoverable coal resources were approximately 19.37 BST, including 2.14 BST of coal resources that could be extracted using surface mining methods and 17.23 BST of coal resources that could be extracted using underground mining methods. Due to mining costs and projected low potential sales value of the coal resources, only approximately 167 million short tons (MST) can be classified as reserves, which is less than 1 percent of the recoverable coal resources
Suggested Citation
Shaffer, B.N., Pierce, P.E., Kinney, S.A., Olea, R., and Luppens, J.A., 2019, Assessment of coal resources and reserves in the Little Snake River coal field and Red Desert assessment area, Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 2019–3053, 6 p., https://doi.org/10.3133/fs20193053.
ISSN: 2327-6932 (online)
ISSN: 2327-6916 (print)
Study Area
Table of Contents
- Abstract
- Introduction
- Setting and Background Information
- Assessment Criteria
- Assessment Results
- Conclusions
- References Cited
Publication type | Report |
---|---|
Publication Subtype | USGS Numbered Series |
Title | Assessment of coal resources and reserves in the Little Snake River coal field and Red Desert assessment area, Greater Green River Basin, Wyoming |
Series title | Fact Sheet |
Series number | 2019-3053 |
DOI | 10.3133/fs20193053 |
Year Published | 2019 |
Language | English |
Publisher | U.S. Geological Survey |
Publisher location | Reston, VA |
Contributing office(s) | Central Energy Resources Science Center |
Description | 6 p. |
Country | United States |
State | Wyoming |
Other Geospatial | Little Snake River coal field, Red Desert assessment area |
Online Only (Y/N) | N |
Google Analytic Metrics | Metrics page |