Coal resources of Kyrgyzstan
- Geological Survey, Denver, CO (United States)
- CQ Inc., Homer City, PA (United States)
The rugged, mountainous country of Kyrgyzstan contains about one-half of the known coal resources of central Asia (a geographic and economic region that also includes Uzbekistan, Tadjikistan and Turkmenistan). Coal of Jurassic age is present in eight regions in Kyrgyzstan in at least 64 different named localities. Significant coal occurrences of about the same age are present in the central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, China, and Russia. Separation of the coal-bearing rocks into individual deposits results more than earth movements before and during formation of the present-day mountains and basins of the country than from deposition in separate basins.Separation was further abetted by deep erosion and removal of the coal-bearing rocks from many areas, followed by covering of the remaining coal-bearing rocks by sands and gravels of Cenozoic age. The total resources of coal in Kyrgyzstan have been reported as about 30 billion tons. In some of the reported localities, the coal resources are known and adequately explored. In other parts of the republic, the coal resources are inadequately understood or largely unexplored. The resource and reserve inventory of Kyrgyzstan is at best incomplete; for some purposes, such as short-term local and long-range national planning, it may be inadequate. Less than 8% of the total estimated resources are categorized as recoverable reserves, and the amount that is economically recoverable is unknown. The coal is largely of subbituminous and high-volatile C bituminous rank, most has low and medium ash and sulfur contents, and coals of higher rank (some with coking qualities) are present in one region. It is recommended that appropriate analyses and tests be made during planning for utilization.
- OSTI ID:
- 257096
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-950952--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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