Geology of the fushun coalfield, Liaoning Province, People's Republic of China

The Fushun coalfield is located in Liaoning Province 45 km east of Shenyang in a relatively small east-west-trending exposure of Mesozoic and Cenozoic rocks surrounded by Precambrian terrane. The coal is included in a sequence of early Tertiary rocks consisting of Paleocene basalt and tuff, and Eocene coal, oil shale and mudstone. These units have been folded into a syncline that plunges gently to the east. The overturned north limb of this fold has been partly removed by a thrust fault. The principal coal beds are low-sulfur subbituminous and bituminous in rank, are of limnic origin, and are contained in the 55-m-thick Eocene Guchengzi Formation. The field, which has been active since the turn of the century, has both open pit and underground mines. The largest operation is the West Open Pit mine, which measures 2.0 km wide, 6.6 km long, and 300 m deep. Coal is mined by means of power shovels, trucks, and an electric rail system. Oil shale from the Eocene Jijuntun Formation is also mined.