Coal Resources of the Douglas Group in East-Central Kansas

Abstract

Rocks of the Douglas group, Missourian series, Pennsylvanian. crop out in eastern Kansas in a belt a few miles wide extending from Leavenworth County to Chautauqua County. Several coal beds occur in these rocks and a few million tons of bituminous coal are available for mining. Because this coal is of relatively low grade and occurs generally in thin beds it has not been mined very extensively. The greatest mining developments have been in Franklin County, but the deposits have been mined intermittently in several other places. Both open pit and underground mines have been operated.

These coal deposits are known to be of sufficient quality and quantity to be potential sources of emergency fuel. They lie in a rather densely populated area. In some locations, economical strip mining can be developed and coal can be easily and quickly obtained.

Chemical tests indicate that although this coal is not of the same grade as that from the larger Kansas fields, it lies well within the limits of coal classed as bituminous, and that the heating value ranges up to 13,900 B.T.U's. per pound.