Mined Areas of the Weir-Pittsburg Coal Bed

Abstract

The Weir-Pittsburg coal bed crops out in a narrow belt across the southeastern corner of Kansas. From the eastern limit of its outcrop it has been mined by stripping methods in areas where the overburden was less than 50 feet. The area of deep mines or shafts extends westward from the stripped areas for a distance of about 5 or 6 miles. The depth to the coal bed in the regions worked by the deep mines ranges from 25 to 285 feet. The Weir-Pittsburg coal bed lies near the middle of the Cherokee shale; however, the interval between the top of the Cherokee and the coal bed is not constant but ranges from 165 to 225 feet. The thickness of the coal bed ranges from 32 to 43 inches.

Large areas of coal have not yet been worked, but in most cases the unworked coal is in the deeper part of the field.