Mineral resources of Alaska and the impact of Federal land policies on their availability. Coal: Alaska open file report 51

Technical Report · Sat Mar 01 04:00:00 EDT 1975

OSTI ID:7294623

McGee, D L; O'Connor, K M

It is estimated that Alaska has 41,552 square miles of land on shore and 4,389 square miles of land underlying contiguous offshore areas along the western Arctic coast and in Cook Inlet that have the potential of containing economic deposits of coal; these areas are outlined on a map. Area by area, estimates of the demonstrated, inferred, and hypothetical coal resources in Alaska are indicated. Total recoverable coal resources, considered to be the coal listed under demonstrated and inferred coal resources, are 132.9 billion tons. In addition, hypothetical coal resources are 1.9 trillion tons. Total demonstrated, inferred, and hypothetical coal resources are 2.029 trillion tons. The present impact of the public lands withdrawn under section 17(d) of ANCSA is not as great on the availability of coal as it is on oil and gas. At this time, 82 percent of the total coal potential land is not leasable for coal development, and 83 percent of the total number of scattered coal occurrences (of unknown potential) are found on unleasable land. The greatest single impact is caused by Naval Petroleum Reserve Number 4, which includes approximately 44 percent of the total known coal potential land in Alaska. Approximately half of the total cost potential in the State may be closed to private development indefinitely. Ninteen percent may be opened in one to five years, and 17 percent may be open in five to ten years. If the present trend of Federal land administration continues in Alaska, its natural resource development will be chaotic. (from Conclusions)

• Research Organization: Alaska State Dept. of Natural Resources, Anchorage (USA). Energy Resources Section
• OSTI ID: 7294623
• Report Number(s): NP-20758
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
011000 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
293000 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Policy
Legislation
& Regulation
294001* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Coal
510600 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Regulations-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ALASKA
AVAILABILITY
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COAL
COAL RESERVES
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
LAND USE
NORTH AMERICA
PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION
RESERVES
RESOURCES
USA