skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Technical and cost evaluation of candidate large-scale open-pit oil shale mining methods in Colorado. Volume I. Technical and economic study of an integrated single-pass mining system for open-pit mining of deep oil shale deposits. Final report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:7175158

This report describes the feasibility of mining the oil shale deposits of the Piceance Creek basin in Colorado by an integrated open pit system. The study is based upon a comprehensive analysis of pertinent environmental, economic, and engineering factors. Ten mining cases are investigated, and the mine design and cost estimates for each case are presented in this report. Nine of the cases represent three cutoff grades, defining oil shale ore as equal to and above 15 gallons per ton (gpt), 20 gpt, and 25 gpt, at three ore production levels of 500,000 tons per day (TPD), 1,250,000 TPD, and 2,500,000 TPD. The tenth case is an alternate design of the 500,000 TPD production rate at the above 15 gpt cutoff grade. The report consists of Volume I, a technical and cost comparison of the ten cases; Volume II-Part 1, a detailed explanation of the estimating methods used; and Volume II-Part 2, a more detailed discussion of the technical and cost features of the ten cases than is presented in Volume I.

Research Organization:
Suntech, Inc., Richardson, Tex. (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
S0241046
OSTI ID:
7175158
Report Number(s):
PB-274435
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English