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Show WATER FOR UTAH UTAH'S CARBON AND HYDROCARBON INDUSTRIES .. . Resource Base, Characteristics of Materials ... ... Production and Present Markets ... There is a greater concentration of high quality coal, bituminous and sub- bituminous, in the Colorado River Drainage Basin than in any similar area in the world. Most of it is in the Green River area and its estimated reserves of 800,000,000,000 tons represent almost 30% of the total coal in the United States and approximately 10% of the world's reserve. That portion which lies mainly in Utah has been estimated at slightly less than 200,000,000,000 tons; most of it is situated in reasonable proximity to existing and potential sources of necessary processing water. ( See Map 20 - Mineral Fuels and Other Hydrocarbons - page 78.) Although all of this coal reserve is important, its coking portions in Utah, Colorado and New Mexico are the West's major source of coking coal. In Utah the major field is the Book Cliff, which contains the well- known Sunnsyside operations, and to the south the Huntington field. Aside from their tremendous tonnages in Utah, all of these coals have unusually good physical and chemical characteristics. Those which are not considered suitable for coking are high in volatiles and yield much more oil by synthesis and hydrogenation than any other bituminous coals of large fields in the United States. As domestic and industrial fuel, they are generally low in ash and sulphur, and high in fixed carbon. Although their moisture content is slightly higher than those of eastern fields, their heat content is reasonably high, ranging mostly around 13,000 B. T. U. per pound. The coking coals of Utah yield somewhat less coke per ton than do eastern coking coals - 60% as against 72%. However, their coking characteristics are satisfactory for chemical and metallurgical purposes. In addition, low- temperature carbonization is being considered for the charring of otherwise noncoking coals to produce a high- quality carbon for domestic, chemical and metallurgical use where high- physical strength is not required. The coal industry of Utah is well developed and highly mechanized, providing large output per miner. In 1940, 7.58 tons were mined per man- day as compared to the United States' high of 5.67 in 1944. The State's coal production in 1946 and 1947 was 6,000,000 and 7,500,000 tons, respectively, valued in excess of $ 22,- 000,000 per year. The total tonnage mined since the beginning of coal operations in Utah has been estimated at 150,000,000 tons, or less than one- tenth of I % of its reserves. About one- half of Utah's total coal production is shipped to consuming markets in the Western States. The principal outlets, in order of their importance, are California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Washington and Oregon. The consumption in these states also includes substantial quantities of Utah's coke and coking coal which represents their principal source of supply. The coking coal operations in Utah, which are primarily in the Sunnyside field, probably supply two- thirds of the demands of the eleven Western States. In the Sunnyside area four mines are operated by the Utah Fuel Company, by Kaiser- Frazer Company and Geneva Steel Company, and most of their output is processed into coke at by- product and beehive ovens in Utah. At Ironton and Geneva, there are 308 by- product coke ovens, operated by Geneva Steel Company, with a total annual capacity of over 1,200,000 tons of coke. At Sunnyside, there are 797 beehive ovens, most of which are operated by the Kaiser- Frazer Company and the Utah Fuel Company. The State's total coke capacity is estimated at over ! 300,000 tons per year. The total western coke production in 1945, supported to a major extent by Utah's Sunnyside fields, was roughly 2,800,000 tons, or about 2.8% of the Nation's total. [ 77] . |