Coal Diver Everything you wanted to know about coal, but were afraid to ask.

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State Coal Profile: Alaska
Alaska has an extensive reserve base of coal, but very little of it has been developed because of competition from the petroleum and natural gas produced in the State. Currently, only one surface mine actively produces coal in the State, and about half of its annual output of 1.5 million short tons is exported.1 The value of coal production to the economy of Alaska is also small. In 1992, coal was estimated to account for less than 1 percent of the total value of all mineral commodities produced in the State, including crude oil and natural gas. Coal mining in Alaska began on a commercial scale in 1855, while the area was still a Russian territory. A mine was developed near Port Graham, on the Kenai Peninsula, with the hope of exporting coal to California. Unable to compete in the export market, the mine instead supplied coal to steamers, whaling ships, and local consumers for about 10 years. After Alaska was purchased by the United States, in 1867, many small mines were opened to provide coal for riverboats, domestic heating, and thawing frozen ground for gold mining. Production at the turn of the century was about 3,000 short tons per year. This represented about 3 percent of the total coal consumed in Alaska. Canada and Washington State supplied most of the rest. In the early 1900's, coal production trended upward as mines were opened near Anchorage and Healy to supply coal for the U.S. Navy, for developments at Anchorage and Fairbanks, and for the Alaska Railroad. In addition to consuming coal, the Alaska Railroad played an important role in opening up coal markets along its route. Production rose from about 100,000 short tons in the late 1920's to more than 700,000 short tons in the 1950's. During and after World War II, the military buildup near Anchorage and Fairbanks expanded markets for coal. In the postwar period, markets were lost and mines closed when the Alaska Railroad converted to diesel-electric locomotives, and when oil and natural gas produced from large deposits discovered in the Cook Inlet captured most of the coal market in the Anchorage area. Afterward, coal production fluctuated from 600,000 to 900,000 short tons until 1985, when it rose sharply to 1.4 million short tons with the beginning of exports to Korea. Since the early 1970's, the only active coal mine in Alaska has been operated by Usibelli Coal Mine, Inc., near Healy in the Nenana field, south of Fairbanks. Several other coal mines are planned in Alaska, pending an expansion of Alaska coal exports to the Asian market. The Usibelli mine produces subbituminous coal mainly from three beds that range from 18 to nearly 30 feet in thickness. Overburden is removed by a dragline that reportedly is the largest land-based machine in Alaska. Coal is transported from the mine by the Alaska Railroad. As mined, Usibelli coal averages 15.6 million Btu per short ton, 0.2 percent sulfur (by weight), and 8.1 percent ash. Usibelli's domestic customers include a minemouth power plant at Healy, and cogeneration power plants, which supply both electricity and steam for heating, that are operated by the Fairbanks Municipal Utilities System, the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and military bases near Fairbanks. The State's largest coal-fired electric generating facilities are the 28-megawatt Chena plant, operated by the City of Fairbanks, and the 27-megawatt Healy plant, operated by Golden Valley Electric Association. Small amounts of coal are also used for heating residences and schools in the Healy and Fairbanks areas. Usibelli exports coal to the Korean Electric Power Company. The export coal is transported on the Alaska Railroad about 300 miles to Seward, a year-round ice-free port.

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1 In 1992, Arctic Slope Consulting Group was developing a coal mine in the Deadfall Syncline area, near Kotzebue; production was less than 1,000 short tons.

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Energy Information Administration/ State Coal Profiles

Alaska
Coal Production, 1890-1992

Coal-bearing area Coal-producing area Coal-fired power plant
1 .5 Million Short Tons 2

0

100 Miles

200

1

0 .5

0 189 0 1 90 0 1 91 0 1 92 0 1 93 0 1 940 1 950 19 60 19 70 19 80 19 90

Total Area of State: 586,412 square miles Area Underlain by Coal: 35,000 square miles

First Year of Documented Coal Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1897 (2,000 short tons) Peak Year of Coal Production . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1988 (1,745,000 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

5,423

713

6,136

2,120 0 0 2,120 0

432 0 0 432 W

2,552 0 0 2,552 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 ---

791 1 33 6.12 W

1,433 1 96 6.20 W

1,706 1 84 8.46 W

1,436 1 99 6.82 W

1,534 2a 111 6.93 W

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Alaska
Quantity (thousand short tons) Mines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Miners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Productivity (short tons per miner per hour) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Average Mine Price (dollars per short ton) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 791 1 33 6.12 W 1,433 1 96 6.20 W 1,706 1 84 8.46 W 1,436 1 99 6.82 W 1,534 2 111 6.93 W

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Energy Information Administration/ State Coal Profiles

Alaska
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 1 1 Percent 0 100 100 500 to 999 Number 0 0 0 Percent 0 0 0 100 to 499 Number 0 0 0 Percent 0 0 0 Number 0 1 1 < 100 Percent 0 <1 <1

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

272 0 0 0 272

296 0 W W 733

290 0 0 494 784

298 0 0 504 802

267 0 0 514 782

5

2

2

8

6

3,090 10 0 90

4,285 7 0 93

4,493 7 0 93

4,286 8 0 92

4,129 7 0 93

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 -------

Energy Information Administration/ State Coal Profiles

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Alaska

Estimated Total State Energy Consumption, 1991: 588 trillion Btu (coal, 13; natural gas, 368; petroleum, 198; nuclear electric power, 0; hydroelectric power, 9; other, 0; net interstate flow of electricity and associated losses, 0).

Includes one mine under development with a small output during part of the year. 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.

a

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Energy Information Administration/ State Coal Profiles

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

AK O.8

Domestic Exports Total

0.8 0.7 1.5

Transportation modes, domestic markets (percent): rail, 81; truck, 19. Note: Total may not equal sum of components because of independent rounding. Source: Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-6, “Coal Distribution Report.”

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

AK 0.8

Total

0.8

Note: Total may not equal sum of components because of independent rounding. Source: Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-6, “Coal Distribution Report.”
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Energy Information Administration/ State Coal Profiles