A Characterization and Determination of the Coal Reserves and Resources of Southwest Virginia

Coal mining and timber are the two primary industries supporting the people of Southwest Virginia. Coal mining has occurred for more than 100 years, but production has dropped since reaching a peak in 1990. In order to properly plan with remaining coal production a study was conducted to characterize and estimate coal resources. Seam thickness was found to be the parameter which most influenced resource levels. An economic model was developed to determine which portion of the reserves could economically be extracted. It was found that 3.95 billion tons, or 14% of the remaining resource, is economic under current mining conditions. More than 60% of these reserves, however, are in deep seams which require shafts to be constructed prior to initiation of mining.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph. D.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mining and Minerals Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Mining and Minerals Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1999

Author dc:creator

• Westman, Erik C.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Haycocks, Christopher
• Suboleski, Stanley
• Wilson, John
• Karmis, Michael E.
• Luttrell, Gerald H.
• Topuz, Ertugrul

• Virginia
• Economic Model
• Coal Resources
• Coal Reserves

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Dc Identifier Other

etd-040899-151628

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/26708