Recent Coal Developments in San Juan Basin, Colorado and New Mexico: ABSTRACT

Abstract

The principal San Juan basin coals are in the Upper Cretaceous Fruitland Formation; smaller reserves of somewhat better quality are found in several formations of the Mesaverde Group. Nearly all are subbituminous A or B, or high-volatile bituminous C, with sulfur content averaging about 0.7%. Since 1953, when coal exploration began in earnest in the basin, 5 major lease blocks totaling on the order of 2 3/4 billion tons of potentially strippable coal have been established. Additional areas underlain by perhaps another 2 billion tons are in preliminary stages of exploration. In 1971 the Navajo mine at Fruitland probably will be the largest in the United States. Of this reserve, about 485 million tons (10%) is committed to electric power generation. Much of the rest, particularly a large lease held jointly by El Paso Natural Gas Co. and Conoco's Consolidation Coal subsidiary, is likely to leave the basin in the form of synthetic liquid hydrocarbons or gas. Gasification and liquefaction technology is moving rapidly, and that, plus availability of major reserves of suitable coal, rising demand for fuels, and increasing availability of pipeline and marketing capacity as gas production declines, seems to indicate the future for the basin. The ultimate reserve would appear to be equivalent to about 14½ billion bbl of oil. End_of_Article - Last_Page 541------------