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State Coal Profile: Arkansas
As a source of coal, Arkansas is relatively insignificant. Its 1992 output of 58,000 short tons was the smallest of all States. The value of the coal was less than 1 percent of the estimated value of all mineral commodities produced in the State. The Arkansas coal deposits consist mostly of bituminous coal and semianthracite in the western Arkansas Valley. The area, an eastern extension of the Oklahoma coalbearing region, is about 30 miles wide and 90 miles long. The geologic formations in the Arkansas Valley have been considerably folded and faulted, and the coalbeds often thin out. These features have contributed to the cost of mining in the area. Lignite occurs in the coastal plain in the southern and northeastern parts of the State. Currently, only bituminous coal is mined in Arkansas. The Lower Hartshone coalbed, which averages about 2 feet in thickness, is the most productive and extensive coalbed in the State. It has a heat value averaging 26 million Btu per short ton (as-received basis) and a sulfur content averaging between 1 and 2 percent (by weight). Coal was first mined in Arkansas around 1840, but production did not become economically important until about 1870, after railroads expanded into the Arkansas Valley. Although the output was chiefly bituminous coal, small amounts of lignite were also produced for use as boiler fuel, local heating, and a source of distilled oil. After reaching a peak of nearly 3 million short tons in 1907, production declined due to competition from other fuels, including oil and natural gas discovered in the State. It rose slightly during World War II, but afterwards fell sharply to an annual average of less than 100,000 short tons. Virtually all production has been bituminous coal, including some used in the past for making metallurgical coke, and some semianthracite. A small amount of lignite was mined in the late 1930's and early 1940's to produce Van Dyke brown dye and montan wax, a fossil plant wax used for industrial purposes. In 1988, a small amount of lignite was used for test-burning as a blend with western coal in a local power plant. Underground mines accounted for the bulk of the early coal production in Arkansas, but surface mines have predominated since 1958. Coal was last mined underground in Arkansas in 1978. Production in 1992 was from Johnson and Sebastian counties. The State's largest coal producer was the Wilken No. 1 surface mine of MidAmerica Mining and Development Company, in Sebastian County. In 1992, about half of the coal produced was shipped out of the State. Virtually all of the 13 million short tons of coal consumed in Arkansas in 1992 was used to generate electricity. All of the utility coal was subbituminous coal from Wyoming. This was consumed at two power plants with nearly equal coal-fired electricity generating capabilities, both operated by Arkansas Power and Light Company: the 1,678-megawatt Independence plant, in Independence County, and the 1,659-megawatt While Bluff plant, in Jefferson County. A small amount of coal was consumed for other industrial use, mainly at a paper mill and a cement plant.

Energy Information Administration/ State Coal Profiles

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Arkansas
Coal Production, 1890-1992

Million Short Tons 3

2

1

0 1 89 0 1 90 0 1 91 0 1 920 1 930 19 40 19 50 19 60 19 70 19 80 199 0

Coal-bearing area Coal-producing county Coal-fired power plant 0 50 Miles 100

Total Area of State: 53,104 square miles Area Underlain by Coal: 1,700 square miles

First Year of Documented Coal Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1840 (220 short tons) Peak Year of Coal Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1907 (2,670,000 short tons)

Coal Reserves (Million Short Tons)
Type of Reserve Demonstrated Reserve Base: (January 1, 1992) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Estimated Recoverable Reserves: (January 1, 1992) Sulfur Content (pounds per million Btu) < 0.61 (low sulfur) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.61-1.67 (medium sulfur) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > 1.67 (high sulfur) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Estimated Recoverable Reserves at Active Mines, Year-End 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Underground Surface Total

273

145

417

7 110 10 127 0

2 97 3 101 W

8 207 13 228 W

Production
Salient Data by Mine Type Underground Quantity (thousand short tons) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Miners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Productivity (short tons per miner per hour) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Average Mine Price (dollars per short ton) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Surface Quantity (thousand short tons) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Miners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Productivity (short tons per miner per hour) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Average Mine Price (dollars per short ton) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992

0 0 0 ---

0 0 0 ---

0 0 0 ---

0 0 0 ---

0 0 0 ---

319 4 75 1.21 41.83

80 7 26 1.80 W

59 7 13 1.46 W

52 7 14 2.27 W

58 6 14 1.68 W

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Energy Information Administration/ State Coal Profiles

Arkansas
Quantity (thousand short tons) Mines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Miners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Productivity (short tons per miner per hour) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Average Mine Price (dollars per short ton) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 4 75 1.21 41.83 80 7 26 1.80 W 59 7 13 1.46 W 52 7 14 2.27 W 58 6 14 1.68 W

Energy Information Administration/ State Coal Profiles

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Arkansas
Number of Mines by Production Range and Percent of Production, 1992
Production Range (thousand short tons) Mine Type 1,000 and over Number Underground . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . All Mines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 0 Percent 0 0 0 500 to 999 Number 0 0 0 Percent 0 0 0 100 to 499 Number 0 0 0 Percent 0 0 0 Number 0 6 6 < 100 Percent 0 100 100

Coal Demand
Disposition Consumption (thousand short tons) Electric Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Coke Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other Industrial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Residential and Commercial . . . . . . . . . . . Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Year-End Utility Stocks (thousand short tons) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Electricity Generation Total (million kilowatthours) . . . . . . . . . . . Coal (percent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nuclear (percent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other (percent) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1980 1985 1990 1991 1992

1,774 0 296 6 2,076

12,302 0 379 1 12,682

11,836 0 256 0 12,092

11,978 0 283 0 12,261

12,325 0 295 2 12,622

1,964

2,513

1,722

2,150

1,572

19,685 15 40 45

35,565 57 28 15

37,053 52 30 18

38,365 51 33 16

37,507 54 30 16

Utility Coal Data, 1992
Average Quality and Average Delivered Cost Heat Content (million Btu per short ton) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sulfur Content (percent by weight) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ash Content (percent by weight) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pounds of Sulfur per million Btu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dollars per million Btu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dollars per short ton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Produced in State ------Receipts, All Sources 17.45 .32 5.12 .37 1.65 28.84

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Energy Information Administration/ State Coal Profiles

Arkansas

Estimated Total State Energy Consumption, 1991: 770 trillion Btu (coal, 216; natural gas, 213; petroleum, 271; nuclear electric power, 136; hydroelectric power, 37; other, 0; net interstate flow of electricity and associated losses, -103).

W = Withheld to avoid disclosure of individual company data. Notes: Totals may not equal sum of components because of independent rounding. Data coverage—Production: all mines. Number of mines: 1980, mines that produced 10,000 short tons or more; other years, all mines. Number of miners and productivity: mines that produced 10,000 or more short tons and preparation plants that had 5,000 or more employee hours. Average mine price: mines that produced 10,000 or more short tons. Average quality and average delivered cost of utility coal: power plants with a generator nameplate capacity of 50 megawatts or more. Extent of coal-bearing areas and locations of coal-consuming plants shown on map are approximate; small coal deposits are not shown. Coal-producing counties shown on map exclude any county where all 1992 output was from mines producing less than 10,000 short tons. Sources: Energy Information Administration—U.S. Coal Reserves: An Update by Heat and Sulfur Content, February 1993; Coal Production 1992 and prior issues; Coal Data: A Reference; Quarterly Coal Report October-December 1992 and prior issues; Electric Power Annual 1991 and prior issues; Electric Power Monthly, March 1993; Cost and Quality of Fuels for Electric Power Plants 1992; Inventory of Power Plants in the United States 1992; State Energy Data Report 1991: Consumption Estimates ; Map of coal-bearing areas is based mainly on U.S. Geological Survey map, Coalfields of the United States, 1960. Data for historical graph 1890-1975, U.S. Department of the Interior, Geological Survey and Bureau of Mines (Minerals Yearbook and annual predecessor Mineral Resources of the United States); 1976 forward, Energy Information Administration, Coal Production 1992 and prior issues.

Energy Information Administration/ State Coal Profiles

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Destination of Coal Produced in Arkansas, 1992 (Million Short Tons)
VT

*

OK

* * *

MO

AR

*

Quantity is less than 0.1 million short tons.

Domestic Exports Total

* * *

Transportation modes, domestic markets (percent): truck, 100. Source: Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-6, “Coal Distribution Report.”

Origin of Coal Received in Arkansas, 1992 (Million Short Tons)

WY 11.6

PA

OK 0.1

* *
AR

IL

*

KY

*

AL

*

Quantity is less than 0.1 million short tons. 11.8 Note: Total may not equal sum of components because of independent Total rounding. Source: Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-6, “Coal Distribution Report.”

*

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Energy Information Administration/ State Coal Profiles