Publicly available geological maps will provide much, if not all, of the information you need.
If you live in a coal-rich area such as Western Kentucky, which has an estimated 35 billion tons of coal underground, you may wish to calculate how much of this valuable resource lies underneath your property. Calculating coal fields is a complex and potentially expensive enterprise, often requiring that one hire geologists, heavy machinery operators and other experts. But given the right resources, you can reliably estimate the tons of coal per acre underneath your land.
Instructions
1. Consult maps available from the U.S. Geologic Survey and determine whether your property is located within a recognized coal field. If it is not, you can stop here. If your land sits near the edge of a coal field, consult a more detailed geological quadrangle map.
2. Collect information on coal thickness. The U.S. government maintains publicly available databases on known coal fields, broken down by county. Consult with local coal companies, or drill boreholes to sample the thickness. This last option is expensive, requiring heavy equipment with crews.
3. Determine coal density, which varies based on the type of coal. The density value for anthracite, for instance, is 2,000 tons per acre-foot. Other types of coal with the accompanying values for density include bituminous, 1,800 tons per acre-foot; sub-bituminous, 1,770 tons per acre-foot; and lignite, 1,750 tons per acre-foot.
4. Calculate the gross coal reserve -- an estimate of the total tons of coal lying underground. Multiply the coal thickness in inches by the number of acres. Multiply the resulting value again by the coal density in acre-inches.
5. Divide the gross coal reserve by the number of acres. This gives you an estimate of tons of coal per acre on your piece of property.
Tags: tons acre-foot, tons coal, coal density, coal acre, coal field
