Bituminous coal production in the Appalachian basin--Past, present, and future

Maps Provide an overview of coal production from the Appalachian basin, by
county.

This report on Appalachian basin coal production consists of four maps and
associated graphs and tables, with links to the basic data that were used to
construct the maps. Plate 1 shows the time (year) of maximum coal production,
by county. For illustration purposes, the years of maximum production are
grouped into decadal units. Plate 2 shows the amount of coal produced (tons)
during the year of maximum coal production for each county. Plate 3
illustrates the cumulative coal production (tons) for each county since about
the beginning of the 20th century. Plate 4 shows 1996 annual production by
county. During the current (third) cycle of coal production in the Appalachian
basin, only seven major coal-producing counties (those with more than 500
million tons cumulative production), including Greene County, Pa.; Boone,
Kanawha, Logan, Mingo, and Monongalia Counties, W. Va.; and Pike County, KY.,
exhibit a general increase in coal production. Other major coal-producing
counties have either declined to a small percentage of their maximum production
or are annually maintaining a moderate level of production. In general, the
areas with current high coal production have large blocks of coal that are
suitable for mining underground with highly efficient longwall methods, or are
occupied by very large scale, relatively low cost surface mining operations.
The estimated cumulative production for combined bituminous and anthracite coal
is about 100 billion tons or less for the Appalachian basin. In general, it is
anticipated that the remaining resources will be progressively of lower
quality, will cost more to mine, and will become economical only as new
technologies for extraction, beneficiation, and consumption are developed, and
then only if prices for coal increase.