THE FUTURE OF COAL MINING IN THE RATON BASIN: PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM A COAL AVAILABILITY STUDY IN LAS ANIMAS COUNTY, COLORADO

The Raton Mesa Coal Region of Colorado has been mined since 1878, and over 261 million short tons of coal from 385 mines were recovered from the coal-bearing intervals of the Upper Cretaceous and Paleocene Vermejo and Raton formations. This represents about 22 percent of Colorado’s historic coal production. Raton Mesa coal was economically important for its bituminous and coking coal qualities mostly between 1890 and 1953. Most of the estimated in-place resource of nearly 12.8 billion short tons of original coal from coal beds greater than 14 inches to a depth of 2,000 ft remains.

Coals from the Trinidad coal field in Las Animas County range in heat value from 10,170-13,870 Btu/lb for the Raton Formation coals, and 11,430-13,510 Btu/lb for the Vermejo Formation coals. Coking coal quality occurs only in the southern part of Las Animas County. Coal mining in Las Animas County declined due to coal quality issues (high ash content requiring washing), cost-effective transportation issues, and competition from compliance coal areas in western Colorado. Many of the old mines closed as seams split and thinned. The last mine was the Lorencito Canyon Mine, a surface contour operation that supplied 13,000 Btu/lb coal between October 2001 and May 2002, producing only 168,000 short tons of coal.

A current study by the authors shows that the Trinidad coal field could still provide several billion short tons of underground minable coal from both formations. New data available from a plethora of coalbed methane drilling has opened new areas for possible development. The drilling has shown new areas of previously unknown, thick, minable coal seams. The best area for mining with net coal greater than 17 ft extends north and south of the former Frederick Mine, as drill hole data indicates basal Vermejo Formation minable coal beds over 9 ft thick. However, coalbed methane development is such that future coal mining must now wait until methane production is completed, likely a 30-year wait.