g, p

an internationally recognized capability for assessing 

coal resources and defining their geochemical and 

physical characteristics. More recently, these data have 

been incorporated into digital databases and Geographic 

Information System (GIS) digital map products. The 

USGS has developed a high level of expertise in assessing the technological, economic, environmental, and 

human health impacts of coal occurrences and utilization 

based on comprehensive characterization of 

representative coal samples.

Working closely with counterparts in the host 

countries, the USGS has conducted coal-related studies 

aimed at solving a variety of problems in numerous 

international settings, generally with the sponsorship of 

international donor agencies, such as the U.S. Agency 

for International Development (USAID) or the Asian 

gy j

and worldwide impacts of the occurrence, d

and use of coal on human health.

Nations which do not possess sufficient e

sources are commonly the most environmen

because of chronic poverty and the lack of i

to provide for clean water and air, efficient 

collection and disposal, adequate transporta

housing, and domestic and commercial elec

nations that do not have an abundance of pe

resources, the orderly development of coal 

methane resources, or the upgrading of exis

production and consumption facilities, can l

sources of new energy that are relatively be

mentally, and that can contribute to long-ter

and economic stability. 

Comprehensive USGS cooperative programs or detailed topical studies

Pilot studies or cooperative activities

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Geological Survey

USGS F

Printed on recycled paper

During the last 30 years the U.S. Geological Survey has been engaged in coal exploration and characterization 

30 foreign countries and has analyzed coal resources in most regions of the world. 

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FOLD
India

Africa

USGS provided GSP and PCSIR 

with training for use of analytical 

equipment in Pakistan.

USAID and USGS pr

with drilling equipm

for coal exploration 

Human health impacts

Coal and coal-gas 

exploration and resource 

assessment

Reclamation 

Training and institution 

building 

The USGS is:

 Working with the Geological Survey of

 India to define the characteristics of

 industrial coal in the Sohagpur Basin,

 Madhya Predesh

 Working with the Central Arid Zone

 Research Institute in Rajasthan on

 surface mine reclamation

 Working cooperatively with the Central

 Fuel Research Institute on coal

 characterization

USGS works with Indian agencies on 

reclamation studies in open-pit mines 

such as the one shown above.

In India, a USGS geolog

water in an open-pit mi

mation studies. 

The USGS has: 

 Evaluated the coal resource potential of Sub-Saha

 areas of North Africa 

Mediterranean Sea

Indian Ocean

Atlantic Ocean

0 1000 km

Sedimentary basin

Peat deposit

Known coal occurrence

USGS has compiled peat and coal information for Sub-Sahara

the use of indigenous energy resources not currently utilized 

relieve the stress of deforestation associated with using timbe

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Latin America

China and Asia

Eastern Europe

USGS geophysicists work with Armenian 

counterparts at a drill site in Armenia.

USGS and Armenian geologists work to locate 

coal deposits in Armenia. 

The USGS has:

 Developed a digital coal map of South America 

 Worked in Costa Rica to explore and characterize that nation's

 coal deposits 

The USGS is working in China to help understand the causes of arsenic 

poisoning in rural populations. High concentrations of arsenic in coal that 

is used as cooking fuel often contributes to skin diseases such as keratosis. 

The USGS conducted:

 Joint Chinese and American

 investigations of the geology

 and geochemistry of coal to

 find causes of various health

 problems in China

 Coal resource assessments in

 Bangladesh and the Philippines

 Peat and coal resource studies in

 Indonesia 

Outline of coal field

Cretaceous schist, phyllite

Cretaceous crystalline

 limestone, schist

Paleozoic andesite, dacite,

 and tuff

Paleozoic sepentinite

 and peridotite

Cretaceous flysch

 limestone, sand, schist

Quaternary soils

Pliocene gravel

Pliocene sediments

Kosovo Basin

0 

k

Urosevac

Vucitrn

Mitrovica

N

N

V

V

V

Pb-Zn

Hg

Cu

Magnetite

Ni-Co, siliceous

Peridotite, serpentine

Pristina

150

90

60

90 [Ni] ppm 30

120

60

90

90

180

Lipljan

N

USGS map of the Kosovo Basin, Yugoslavia. 

Lignite in this area is the source of trace metals th

may be economically recoverable.

The USGS worked on:

 Identification of the probable cause of a widespread kidney disease in south-

 eastern Europe (Balkan endemic nephropathy) as in situ leaching of toxic and

 carcinogenic organic compounds from lignite beds 

 Identification of point sources for several potentially toxic coal-ash pollutants in

 Yugoslavia and in other areas of Eastern Europe, along with possible mitigating

 technologies for the recovery of coal-ash byproducts

 Coal resource and coal-bed methane studies in Poland

 Coal resource studies in the Czech Republic

 Coal resource studies in Hungary 

FOLD
SanFilipo, J.R., and Warwick, P.D., 1998, Bibliography of selected 

reports on USGS international coal-related activities: U.S. 

Geological Survey Open-File Report 98-350, 29 p.

SanFilipo, J.R., and Warwick, P.D., 1995, Selected worldwide coal 

activities of the U.S. Geological Survey, with emphasis on 

their environmental applications, in Shiao-Hung Chian (ed.), 

Coal–Energy and the Environment: Proceedings of the Twelfth 

Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conference, 1 tbl., 1 fig., 

p. 526-531.

SanFilipo, J.R., and Warwick, P.D., 1995, International coal-related 

activities of the U.S. Geological Survey and their 

environmental applications, in Carter, L.M.H. (ed.), Energy 

and the Environment–Application of Geosciences to DecisionMaking–1995 Program and Abstracts, V.E. McKelvey Forum 

on Mineral and Energy Resources: U.S. Geological Survey 

Circular 1108, p. 75-77, 1 fig., 1 tbl.

Warwick, P.D., Landis, E.R., Roberts, S.B., and Johnson, E.A., 

1993, Worldwide coal-related activities of the U.S. Geological 

Survey, in Shiao-Hung Chian (ed.), Coal–Energy and the 

Environment: Proceedings of the Tenth Annual International 

Pittsburgh Coal Conference, p. 1052-1055.

conduct resource assessments using integr

Information Systems (GIS). These scienti

developing and maintaining the largest pu

quality database in the U.S. and they have 

project to develop an international coal-qu

widely used domestic database has been a

Environmental Protection Agency and the 

Institute to address environmental and hum

data are available at:

 http://energy.er.usgs.gov/products/da

or in CD-ROM format.

The U.S. Geological Survey also cond

geology and environmental science. Cou

Armenia, the Czech Republic, Israel, Mex

given in the U.S. for foreign scientists. R

scientists have been from Armenia, Bangl

Rica, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Israel, N

and Poland.

Coal and environmental analysis is onl

as the underlying data. Problems arising f

fossil fuels transcend international politica

consumed in any nation may impact the en

the world. The USGS international coal te

the rigorous analytical and technical suppo

concerns and protocols. Contacts for more information on

worldwide coal activities:

Contacts for information on:

Peter Warwick

U.S. Geological Survey

MS 956 National Center

Reston, VA 20192

Email: pwarwick@usgs.gov

Phone: (703) 648-6469

Fax: (703) 648-6419

John SanFilipo

U.S. Geological Survey

MS 956 National Center

Reston, VA 20192

Email: jsan@usgs.gov

Phone: (703) 648-6436

Fax: (703) 648-6419

Robert Finkelman

U.S. Geological Survey

MS 956 National Center

Reston, VA 20192

Email: rbf@usgs.gov

Phone: (703) 648-6412

Fax: (703) 648-6419 Visit our Web site at: http://energy.er.usgs.gov

Central Asia

Hal Gluskoter

U.S. Geological Survey 

MS 956 National Center

Reston, VA 20192 

Email: halg@usgs.gov

Phone: (703) 648-6429

Fax: (703) 648-6419

Newly Independent States

Brenda Pierce 

U.S. Geological Survey 

MS 956 National Center

Reston, VA 20192 

Email: bpierce@usgs.gov

Phone: (703) 648-6421

Fax: (703) 648-6419

 

India

Robert Milici

U.S. Geological Survey 

MS 956 National Center

Reston, VA 20192 

Email: rmilici@usgs.gov

Phone: (703) 648-6541

Fax: (703) 648-6419

Africa, Eastern Europe

Michael Brownfield

U.S. Geological Survey 

P.O. Box 25046, 939 DFC

Denver, CO 80225

Email: mbrownfield@usgs.gov

Phone: (303) 236-7767

Fax: (303) 236-0459

 

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