What is the biggest coal deposit in the United States?
The biggest coal deposit by volume is the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana, which the USGS estimated to have 1.07 trillion short tons of in-place coal resources, 162 billion short tons of recoverable coal resources, and 25 billion short tons of economic coal resources (also called reserves) in 2013. The coal in the Powder River Basin is subbituminous in rank. Large coal deposits can also be found in the Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana (lignite in rank), the Appalachian Basin in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, and Alabama (bituminous in rank), and the Illinois Basin in Illinois and Indiana (bituminous in rank).
Learn more: U.S. Coal Resources and Assessment
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Coal geology and assessment of coal resources and reserves in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana
This report presents the final results of the first assessment of both coal resources and reserves for all significant coal beds in the entire Powder River Basin, northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana. The basin covers about 19,500 square miles, exclusive of the part of the basin within the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservations in...
Luppens, James A.; Scott, David C.; Haacke, Jon; Lee M. Osmonson; Pierce, Paul E.
Map Showing Principal Coal Beds and Bedrock Geology of the Ucross-Arvada Area, Central Powder River Basin, Wyoming
The Ucross-Arvada area is part of the Powder River Basin, a large, north-trending structural depression between the Black Hills on the east and the Bighorn Mountains on the west. Almost all of the study area is within Sheridan and Johnson Counties, Wyoming. Most of the Ucross-Arvada area lies within the outcrop of the Wasatch Formation of Eocene...
Molnia, Carol L.
Assessment of coal geology, resources, and reserve base in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated in-place resources of 1.07 trillion short tons of coal in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana. Of that total, with a maximum stripping ratio of 10:1, recoverable coal was 162 billion tons. The estimate of economically recoverable resources was 25 billion...
Scott, David C.; Luppens, James A.
Drill hole data for coal beds in the Powder River Basin, Montana and Wyoming
This report by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) of the Powder River Basin (PRB) of Montana and Wyoming is part of the U.S. Coal Resources and Reserves Assessment Project. Essential to that project was the creation of a comprehensive drill hole database that was used for coal bed correlation and for coal resource and reserve assessments in the PRB...
Haacke, Jon E.; Scott, David C.
Assessment of coal geology, resources, and reserves in the Southwestern Powder River Basin, Wyoming
The availability of abundant new borehole data from recent coal bed natural gas development was utilized by the U.S. Geological Survey for a comprehensive evaluation of coal resources and reserves in the southwestern part of the Powder River Basin in Wyoming. This report on the Southwestern Powder River Basin assessment area represents the third...
Osmonson, Lee M.; Scott, David C.; Haacke, Jon E.; Luppens, James A.; Pierce, Paul E.
A critical review of published coal quality data from the southwestern part of the Powder River Basin, Wyoming
A review of publicly available coal quality data during the coal resource assessment of the southwestern part of the Powder River Basin, Wyoming (SWPRB), revealed significant problems and limitations with those data. Subsequent citations of data from original sources often omitted important information, such as moisture integrity and information...
Luppens, James A.
Assessment of coal geology, resources, and reserves in the northern Wyoming Powder River Basin
The abundance of new borehole data from recent coal bed natural gas development in the Powder River Basin was utilized by the U.S. Geological Survey for the most comprehensive evaluation to date of coal resources and reserves in the Northern Wyoming Powder River Basin assessment area. It is the second area within the Powder River Basin to be...
Scott, David C.; Haacke, Jon E.; Osmonson, Lee M.; Luppens, James A.; Pierce, Paul E.; Rohrbacher, Timothy J.
Megascopic lithologic studies of coals in the Powder River basin in Wyoming and in adjacent basins in Wyoming and North Dakota
Between 1999 and 2007, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) investigated coalbed methane (CBM) resources in the Wyoming portion of the Powder River Basin. The study also included the CBM resources in the North Dakota portion of the Williston Basin of North Dakota and the Wyoming portion of the Green River Basin of Wyoming. This project involved the...
Trippi, Michael H.; Stricker, Gary D.; Flores, Romeo M.; Stanton, Ronald W.; Chiehowsky, Lora A.; Moore, Timothy A.
Assessment of Coal Geology, Resources, and Reserves in the Gillette Coalfield, Powder River Basin, Wyoming
The Gillette coalfield, within the Powder River Basin in east-central Wyoming, is the most prolific coalfield in the United States. In 2006, production from the coalfield totaled over 431 million short tons of coal, which represented over 37 percent of the Nation's total yearly production. The Anderson and Canyon coal beds in the Gillette...
Luppens, James A.; Scott, David C.; Haacke, Jon E.; Osmonson, Lee M.; Rohrbacher, Timothy J.; Ellis, Margaret S. Cross sections showing coal stratigraphy of the southwestern Powder River basin, Wyoming
Hardie, J.K.
Landsat Reveals Industrial Growth in Powder River Basin
The expanding coal fields in Wyoming's Powder River Basin serve as prime examples of Landsat's ability to monitor land cover change related to industrial growth across the American landscape.
Coal mine in the Powder River Basin
Coal mine in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana
USGS Coalfields of the Conterminous United States
A map of the various coal fields of the conterminous United States.
