GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 171

COAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA

By Andrew Brown, Henry L. Berryhill, Jr., Dorothy A. Taylor,

and James V. A. Trumbull
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Oscar L. Chapman, Secretary

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

W. E. Wrather, Director

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 171

COAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA

By Andrew Brown, Henry L. BenyhilL Jr., Dorothy A. Tayknr, and James V. A. Trumbull 

Prepared in cooperation with the Virginia Geological Survey

Washington, D. C., 1962

Free on application to the Geological Surrey, Waatiii«ton 26, D. C.
PREFACE

This report on the coal resources of Virginia has been prepared 

by the U. S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Virginia Geological 

Survey. It is the seventh of a series of reports published by the U. S. 

Geological Survey as part of a program to reappraise the coal reserves 

of the United States. Studies of reserves in other States are contained 

in the following publications: Geology of the Deep River coal field, Chatham, 

Lee, and Moore Counties, N. C., Preliminary map, 1949; Coal resources 

of Montana, Circular 53, 1949; Coal resources of Michigan, Circular 77, 

1950; Coal resources of Wyoming, Circular 81, 1950; Coal resources of 

New Mexico, Circular 89, 1950; and Lignite resources of South Dakota, 

Circular 159, 1952.

W. E. WRATHER, 

Director
CONTENTS

Page

Introduction .............................. 1

Acknowledgments ..................... 1

Summary of Reserves...................... 2

Methods of preparing reserve estimates ...... 2

Classification according to characteristics of the coal.................. 3

Rank of coal ...................... 3

Weight of coal ..... .............. 3

Thickness of beds ................. 3

Thickness of overburden.......... . 3

Classification accerding to abundance

and reliability of data ................ 3

Measured reserves............... . 3

Indicated reserves ................. 3

Inferred reserves ................ . 3

Distinction between original, remaining,

and recoverable reserves............. 3

Methods of recording data and making

calculations ......................... 5

Comparison of past and present estimates.... 6

The Southwest field.......,................ . 6

Location .............................. 6

Topography and drainage................ 6

Climate, vegetation, and land use.......' 8

Population........................... . 8

Transportation....................... . 8

Stratigraphy .......................... 9

Lee formation..................... 9

Norton formation.................. 9

Gladeville sandstone............... 10

Wise formation.................... 10

Harlan sandstone ................. 10

Structure............................. 10

The Cumberland block ....... ... 10

Buchanan, Tazewell, and northeastern Russell Counties ......... 10

Coal beds in the Lee formation .......... 10

Description ....................... 10

The Pocahontas beds........... 11

Pocahontas No. 3 bed ...... 11

Pocahontas No. 4 bed ...... 11

Pocahontas No. 5 bed ...... 11

Coal beds above the Pocahontas

beds in Tazew'ell County...... 11

Lower Horsepen bed....... 11

War Creek bed............. 11

"C" bed .................. 11

Middle Horsepen bed........ 12'

Upper Horsepen bed ....... 12

Lower Seaboard bed........ 12

Middle Seaboard and........

Greasy Creek beds....... 12

Upper Seaboard bed......... 12

Coal beds in the Lee formation

in Scott and Russell Counties .. 12

Reserves in the Lee formation ...... 12

Coal beds in the Norton formation........ 15

Description ............ .......... 15

Tiller bed..................... 15

Jawbone bed .................... 15

Raven bed ......... ........... 15

Page

The Southwest field Continued

Coal beds in the Norton formation Con. 

Description Continued

Aily bed ..................... . 19

Kennedy bed ................... 19

Caldwell bed ................... 19

Big Fork bed .................. 19

Lower Banner bed.............. 19

Upper Banner bed .............. 22

Splash Dam bed................ 22

Hagy bed....................... 24

Norton bed .................... 24

Reserves in the Norton formation .... 24

Coal beds in the Wise formation ......... 24

Description ....................... 24

Dorchester bed................. 24

Lyons bed...................... 27

Blair bed ..................... 27

Eagle bed .................... 27

Clintwood bed.................. 27

Addington and Rocky

Fork beds .................. 28

Imboden or Campbell

Creek bed ................... 28

Stone Creek bed ............... 28

Kelly bed ..................... 28

Little Alma and Alma beds ;..... 28

Lower Cedar Grove bed ........ 28

Cedar Grove bed .............. 28

Pinhook bed .................. 28

Lower St. Charles bed ......... 28

Upper St. Charles bed .......... 29

Harlan or Upper Standiford

bed ........................ 29

Kirk bed ..................... 29

Taggart Marker or "B" bed..... 29

Taggart bed .................... 29

Low Splint bed ................. 29

Phillips bed ................... 30

Gin Creek bed ................. 30

Wax bed ....................... 30

Pardee bed.................... 30

Morris bed ................... 30

High Splint bed ................ 30

Reserves in the Wise formation...... 30

The Valley fields........................... 31

General features ....................... 31

Stratigraphy........................... 31

Structure ............................. 31

Coal beds ............................. 32

Coal fields ............................ 32

Description .. ..................... 32

North River field .............. 32

North Mountain field............ 33

Brushy Mountain field........... 33

Price Mountain field ............ 33

Little Walker Mountain field ..... 33

Pulaski field .................. 34

Max Meadows field ............. 34

Reed Creek field............... 34

Bland field ....;.............. 34

ill
C ONTENTS Continued

Page

The Valley fields Continued 

Goal fields Continued

Description C ontinued

Lick Creek field ................ 35

Reserves of the Valley fields......... 35

The Eastern fields .......................... 35

Richmond basin ........................ 35

General features ................... 35

Stratigraphy ....................... 35

Structure ......................... 38

Coal beds .......................... 38

Reserves .......................... 39

Farnwille basin ........................ 39

Page

Production of coal in Virginia ............. . 39

The first period, 1748-1882........... . 39

Richmond basin.................... 39

Valley fields ...................... 41

The second period, 1883-............. . 41

Valley fields ...................... 41

Southwest field.................... 41

Coal mining in Virginia .................... 55

Mining methods ....................... 55

Recoverability in mining................ 55

Selected bibliograpny....................... 56

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

Plate 1. Geologic map of the Southwest Virginia coal field ....................................... In pocket

2. A. Generalized map of the Clintwood coal bed, Southwest Virginia field; 

B. Generalized map of the Imboden or Campbell Creek coal bed, Southwest

Virginia field ............................................................... in pocket

3. Chart showing stratigraphic position of coal beds in the Southwest Virginia field........... In pocket

Figure 1. Index map of Virginia, showing location of coal fields................................... 7

2. Generalized map of the Tiller coal bed, Southwest Virginia field ......................... 16

3. Generalized map of the Jawbone coal bed, Southwest Virginia field ....................... 17

4. Generalized map of the Raven coal bed, Southwest Virginia field ......................... 18

5. Generalized map of the Kennedy coal bed, Southwest Virginia field ....................... 20

6. Generalized map of the Lower Banner coal bed, Southwest Virginia field .................. 21

7. Generalized map of the Upper Banner coal bed, Southwest Virginia field .................. 23

8. Generalized map of the Splash Dam coal bed, Southwest Virginia field .................... 25

9. Generalized map of the Dorchester coal bed, Southwest Virginia field .................... 26

10. Sketch map of coal fields in Montgomery, Pulaski, Wythe, and Bland Counties, Va. ....... 31

11. Map of the Richmond and Farmville basins, Virginia ................................... 40

12. Graph showing production of Southwest Virginia field by counties, 1882-1948 .............. 44

TABLES

Page

Table 1. Classification of coals by rank ...................................................... . 4

2. Estimated remaining reserves of bituminous coal in the Southwest Virginia field as of

January 1, 1951 by beds ....................................................... . 13

3. Estimated remaining reserves of bituminous coal in the Southwest Virginia field as of

January 1, 1951, by counties ................................................... . 14

4. Estimated original reserves of semianthracite in the Valley fields of Virginia, by

counties........................................................................ 36

5. Production of coal from tne Richmond basin, 1748-1882 ................................ 37

6. Recorded production of coal in Virginia, 1748-1950 .................................... 42

7. Estimated remaining reserves of bituminous coal in the Southwest Virginia field as of

January 1, 1951, by beds and counties ............................................ 45

8. Estimated remaining reserves of bituminous coal in the Southwest Virginia field as of

January 1, 1951, by counties and beds ........................................... 52

iv
COAL RESOURCES OF VIRGINIA

INTRODUCTION

The U. S. Geological Survey and the Virginia 

Geological Survey have cooperated in preparing 

this reappraisal of the coal resources of Virginia, 

which is based on a study of all information" on 

the reserves of the State available in the publications and files of the two organizations, supplemented by mine and drill-hole information provided 

by mining companies and private individuals.

Coal is found in Virginia in three widely 

separated and entirely dissimilar areas: the 

Southwest Virginia field, or simply the Southwest 

field, which comprises all or part of Tazewell, 

Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell, Scott, Wise, and 

Lee Counties; the Valley fields, a series of long, 

narrow coal-bearing areas in the Valley of Virginia 

that are concentrated largely in Montgomery, Pulaski, 

and Wythe Counties; and the Eastern fields, consisting of two relatively small basins near Richmond 

and Farmville, respectively. Of the total reserves 

of the State, about 97 percent are in the Southwest 

Virginia field.

In estimating reserves of the Southwest Virginia 

field the cooperating agencies were assisted by 

a series of excellent county reports covering the 

entire field and by the generous cooperation received 

from the coal-mining companies. Because of 

this help, it was possible not only to prepare 

estimates of reserves in that field by individual 

coal beds, but to outline most of the important 

mined-out areas on the bed maps and thus to prepare 

an estimate that takes into consideration the coal 

mined and lost in mining prior to January 1, 1951.

The Valley fields, which were mined to some 

extent prior to 1860 and which have an almost 

continuous production record since 1883, have been 

mapped and studied in some detail, but the data 

on the area are in general inadequate and the 

structure is too complex to permit a detailed 

estimate of reserves. Estimates of indicated and 

inferred reserves in six. of the ten Valley fields 

were prepared, however, and are presented in 

subsequent pages. The estimates for the Valley 

fields are on the basis of original reserves, as 

mine information is too scanty and production figures

too generalized to be of value in translating original reserves into remaining reserves.

The Richmond basin, the easternmost of the 

Eastern fields, was first mined in 1748, and operations were carried on almost continuously for 

150 yr of more after that date. Activity died 

rapidly as rail transportation made the more easily 

mined Appalachian coals available, and the Eastern 

basins have seen little activity since about 1905. 

Despite the fact that an all-time total of more than 

8 million tons has been taken from the Richmond 

basin, the data now available on the coal beds are 

considerably less than those on the Valley fields 

and it was impossible to estimate the reserves with 

any degree of accuracy. The reserves of the 

Eastern fields are therefore omitted from the tables, 

though the fields are discussed in later sections of 

this report.

Whether presented as remaining reserves 

(Southwest field) or original reserves (Valley 

fields) the estimates presented in this report 

have been calculated on a most conservative 

basis, and in all probability these estimates 

will be increased rather than diminished as 

additional field work is done. Undoubtedly much 

of the coal reserves shown herein as indicated 

or inferred reserves will be changed to the 

measured or indicated category as development 

work progresses.

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their appreciation for the cooperation and courtesies extended 

by numerous individuals and corporations that contributed the information used in compiling this 

report. Nearly all of the coal-mining companies 

operating in the State were most generous in permitting the use of their mine maps, drill-hole 

information, and other data, and thanks are due 

to the officers and representatives of those companies, who are too numerous to list here but 

without -whose cooperation this report could not 

have been prepared. Among the private individuals who rendered invaluable service in procuring 

data, thanks are due particularly to Mr. Emmett 

Jones, of Norton, and Mr. Larry Patrick, of 

Tazewell.
SUMMARY OF RESERVES

The original and remaining coal reserves of 

Virginia are estimated at 12,051 million tons and

11,119 million tons, respectively, divided as 

follows:

Reserves of coal in Virginia 

All estimates in millions of tons

Rank of coal

Bituminous (Southwest field) ............

Semianthracite (Valley fields). ...........

Total. ............................

Original 

reserves

11, 696

355

12,051

Production 

and mining 

losses

920

12

932

Remaining 

reserves as of 

Jan. 1, 1951

10, 776

343

11, 119

Because of the lack of reliable data, no 

estimate of reserves for the Eastern region, which 

includes the Richmond and Farmville basins, is 

included in this report. The estimates for the 

Southwest and Valley fields were made on somewhat 

different bases, as described below.

In preparing work maps of the coal beds in 

the Southwest field it was found that enough closely 

spaced information was available to permit the 

mapping of mined-out areas for most beds, thus 

making it possible to estimate the acreage and 

tonnage of coal in these areas with reasonable 

accuracy. Therefore, the estimates of reserves 

in the Southwest field were made on the basis of coal 

shown on the work maps as remaining in the ground 

on January 1, 1951; the mined-out areas were omitted. 

The final estimates show that 5,041 million tons of 

coal, or 47 percent of the total, are classed as thin 

(14 to 28 in.) coal; 3, 793 million tons or 35 percent 

of the total, as intermediate (28 to 42 in.)-coal; and 

1,942 million tons, or 18 percent of the total, as 

thick (more than 42 in.) coal. Considered from 

another point of view, 786 million tons, or 7 percent 

of the total, are classed as measured coal; 5,616 

million tons, or 52 percent of the total, as indicated 

coal, and 4, 374 million tons, or 41 percent of the 

total, as inferred coal. This distribution differs 

from that of most coal-bearing areas, in which the 

inferred reserves are usually the largest category, 

and reflects the relative abundance of information on 

the Southwest field.

The original tonnage of reserves in the minedout areas, which were known in sufficient detail to 

be shdwn on the work maps, is estimated at about 

920 million tons. As the reported all-time production from the field is about 534 million tons, at least 

386 million tons were lost in mining during the life 

of the field. From these figures it may be deduced 

that the recoverability of mining in Virginia has 

been somewhat less than 58 percent, possibly near 

the 50 percent figure, which is probably typical of 

most coal-mining areas in the United States.

More than 99 percent of the estimated reserves 

in the Southwest Virginia field is under less than 

1,000 ft of cover, and for that reason the reserves 

are not divided into depth categories. Those beds

and areas containing coal at depths greater than 

1,000 ft are indicated in the tables by asterisks.

In preparing estimates of reserves in the Valley 

fields, very few mine data were available and it was 

necessary to make the estimates on the basis of original reserves in the ground. This figure was made 

current by subtracting from the original total the reported production of the fields plus an equivalent amount 

of coal considered to have been lost in mining. Because of the wide spacing of the data no estimate of 

measured coal was made, though the coal in and near 

the mines would normally be placed in that category. 

Further, because of the complex geologic structure 

in the Valley fields and uncertainty as to the continuity 

of the beds, no coal was estimated for depths greater 

than 1,000 ft, though some mines are known to have 

gone more than 1,000 ft below the surface. In brief, 

the estimates of indicated and inferred reserves for 

the Valley fields are necessarily made on a most 

general basis.

The original reserves in the Valley fields, calculated as described above, are estimated at 355 

million tons. The all-time reported production is 

6 million tons, and mining losses are estimated to 

have been approximately the same amount. Subtracting the production and mining losses of 12 million 

tons from the original total .gives the remaining 

reserves as of January 1, 1951, as 343 million tons.

METHODS OF PREPARING RESERVE ESTIMATES

Any estimate of the, coal reserves of a large 

area is necessarily based on a number of assumptions 

as to thickness, extent, and correlation of the coal 

beds, and other pertinent factors. It follows that 

such an estimate is of value to the reader only to the 

extent that the definitions and procedures used are 

explained and understood. Therefore, the criteria 

used -in preparing this report are described briefly 

below.

The estimates of reserves are arranged according to the characteristics of the coal, the 

of reserves based on the abundance and 

of information, and the date to which the
applies. Discussion of each of these classifications 

follows:

Classification according to characteristics 

of the coal"

Characteristics considered in calculating coal 

reserves are the rank of the coal, the thickness of 

the bedsj and the thickness of the overburden. The 

weight of the coal, necessarily a starting point in 

computing tonnages, is in large part a function of 

the rank.

Rank of coal

American coals are ranked in accordance 

with the Standard Classification of the American 

Society for Testing Materials, which is reproduced 

as table 1. Most of the Virginia coals, including 

all those in the Southwest field, range in rank from 

high-volatile A to low-volatile bituminous. Most 

of the coal in the Valley fields is of semianthracite 

rank. In the Eastern fields it is mostly mediumto low-volatile bituminous, but the area contains 

some semianthracite and a small amount of natural 

coke.

Weight of coal

The average weight of bituminous coal, as 

determined by numerous specific gravity determinations, is 1,800 tons per acre-ft; that of semianthracite is 2,000 tons per acre-ft (Averitt and 

Berryhill, 1950). These weights have been used in 

calculating the coal reserves of Virginia.

Thickness of beds

In order to provide as much information as 

possible on the distribution of reserves, the estimates 

presented herein are broken down into three thickness categories termed "thin, " "intermediate, " and 

"thick." For semianthracite and bituminous coal, 

beds 14 to 28 in. thick are classed as thin; those 

28 to 42 in. thick, as intermediate; and those more 

than 42 in. thick, as thick. These figures are based 

primarily on mining characteristics: 14 in. is 

approximately the minimum thickness of coal mined 

by hand methods; 28 in. is the minimum usually 

considered suitable for machine mining and hand 

loading; and 42 in. is the approximate minimum thickness required at present for completely mechanized 

mining.

Thickness of overburden

In computing the coal reserves of the Southwest Virginia field it was found that more than 99 

percent of the coal considered minable under the 

criteria and definitions discussed in the preceding 

sections lay under less than 1,000 ft of cover, and 

therefore no classification of reserves according to 

the thickness of the overburden was attempted. The 

small known reserves that lie under more than 1,000 

ft but less than 2,000 ft are indicated in the tables 

by asterisks and explained in footnotes.

In the Valley fields the coal is folded to a 

considerable degree and in a number of areas the 

beds dip so steeply that the 3,000-foot limit is

reached within a fairly short distance from the outcrop. Not only is the coal crushed at many such 

localities, but the overlying and underlying strata 

are deformed by faulting and folding; and mining 

conditions, difficult near the surface, are much worse 

at depth. For this reason no reserves lying deeper 

than 1,000 ft were computed for the Valley fields.

Classification according to "abundance 

and reliability raHita

According to the abundance and reliability of 

data upon which estimates are based, coal-reserve 

estimates are divided into three categories termed 

"measured, " "indicated, " and "inferred. "

Measured reserves

Measured reserves are those for which tonnage 

is computed from dimensions revealed in outcrops, 

trenches, mine workings, and drill holes. The points 

of observation are so closely spaced and the thickness 

and extent of the coal so well defined that the computed tonnage may be considered to be within 20 percent or less of the true tonnage. Although the spacing 

of points of observation necessary to demonstrate 

continuity of coal varies in different regions according to the character of the coal beds, structural conditions, and other factors, the points of observation 

are, in general, about half a mile apart*

Indicated reserves

Indicated reserves are those for which tonnage 

is computed partly from specific measurements and 

partly from projection of visible data for a reasonable 

distance on geologic evidence. In general the points 

of observation are about 1 mile apart, but they may 

be as much as 1 1/2 miles apart in beds of known 

geologic continuity.

, Inferred reserves

Inferred reserves are those for which quantitative estimates are based largely on a broad knowledge of the character of the b«d or region and for 

whicti there are fewj if any, measurements. The 

estimates are based on an assumed continuity for 

which there is good-geologic evidence. In general, 

inferred coal lies more than 2 miles from the outcrop.

Distinction between original, remaining, 

and recoverable reserves

Estimates of reserves may be made on the 

basis of original reserves in the ground as of a 

certain date, remaining reserves as of a certain 

date, or recoverable reserves as of a certain date. 

The type of estimate given for any coal field depends 

on a number of factors, chief among which is the 

amount of information available not only on the coal 

in the ground, but on mines, production, and mining 

losses. In most coal-bearing areas the data on 

mined-out areas in particular are scanty, and the 

only practical way in which a reserve estimate can 

be made current is to compute first the original tonnage before mining, and subtract from the figure 

thus obtained from the recorded production plus an 

allowance for mining losses. This method gives a 

fairly reliable over-all total for a large area, such
Toil*.

Legend: F,C. Fixed.Carbon.

CLASSIFICATION OF COALS BY RANK.8 

VM. - Volatile Matter. Btu. > British thermal qnits.

Class Group

Limits of Fixed Carbon or

Btu. Mineral-Matter-Free

Basis

Requisite Physical 

 Properties

1. Meta-anthracite.....

2. Anthracite.

I. Anthracitic

3. Semianthracite.

.. 98 per cent or more 

V.M., 2 per cent or

Dry F.C., 92 per cent or more 

and less than 98 per cent 

(Dry V.M., 8 per cent or less 

and more than 2 per cent)

Dry F.C., 86 per cent or more 

and less than 92 per cent 

(Dry V.M., 14 per cent or 

less and more than 8 per 

cent)

Nonagglomeratingb

II. Bituminous4

1. Low volatile bituminous coal....

2. Medium volatile bituminous coal.

3. High volatile A bituminous coal.

4. High volatile B bituminous coal.

5. High volatile C bituminous coal.

Dry F.C., 78 per cent or more 

and less than 86 per cent 

(Dry V.M.. 22 per cent or 

less and more than 14 per 

cent)

Dry F.C., 69 per cent or more 

and less than 78 per cent 

(Dry V.M., 31 per cent or 

less and more than 22 per 

cent)

Dry F.C., less than 69 per cent 

(Dry V.M., more than 31 per 

cent); and moist0 Btu., 

14,000* or more

Moist0 Btu., 13,000 or more 

and less than 14,000*

Moist Btu., 11,000 or more 

and less than 13,000*

Either agglomerating or 

nonweathering'

HI. Subbituminous

1. Subbituminous A coal.

2. Subbituminous B coal.

!

3. Subbituminous C coal.

Moist Btu., 11,000 or more 

and less than 13,000*

Moist Btu., 9500 or more and 

less than 11*000*

Moist Btu., 8300 or more and 

less than 9500*

Both weathering and 

nonagglomerating

IV. Lignitic 1. Lignite.....

2. Brown coal.

Moist Btu., less than 8300 

Moist Btu., less than 8300

Consolidated 

Unconsolidated

* This classification does not include a few coals which haveunusual physical and chemical properties and which come 

within the limits of fixed carbon or Btu. of the high-volatile bituminous and Subbituminous ranks. All of these coals 

either contain less than 48 per cent dry, mineral-matter-free fixed carbon or have more than 15,500 moist, mineral-matterfreeBtu.

* If agglomerating, classify in low-volatile group of the bituminous class.

e Moist Btu. refers to coal containing its natural bed moisture but not including visible water on the surface of the 

coaL

" It is recognized that there-may be noncaking varieties in each group of the bituminous class.

* Coals having 69 per cent or more fixed carbon on the dry, minerawnatter-free basis shall be classified according to 

fixed carbon, regardless of Btu.

'There are three varieties of coal in the high-volatile C bituminous coal group, namely, Variety i, agglomerating 

and nonweathering; Variety 2; agglomerating and weathering; Variety 3, nonaggkunerating and nonweathermg.
as a state, but is not satisfactory for small areas 

or for individual beds. In some areas, however, 

it is the only method that can-be used; this is U'ue 

in the Valley fields of Virginia, where there is 

insufficient detailed information about the minedout areas.

In reappraising the reserves of the Southwest 

Virginia field sufficient mine information was 

available to make it possible to plot on the work 

maps both the coal beds and the mined-out areas, 

and thus to measure separately the remaining coal 

and the mined-out areas in each bed. This made 

it possible to present an estimate of coal remaining 

in the ground, in each bed, as of January 1, 1951. 

No claim is made that the data on the mined-out 

areas are 100 percent accurate, any more than 

that information on coal beds can attain that degree 

of perfection; the data on at least one fairly large 

mined area are known to be incomplete, and unquestionably a considerable tonnage of coal has been 

taken from small mines that have never been mapped. 

But it is considered that for most of the beds the 

tonnage figures for mined-out areas are within 

20 percent of the true figures, and the estimates 

may therefore be placed in the measured category.

The reliability of the estimates of mined-out 

areas may be checked by comparisons with the reported production. The workings contain coal in 

pillars, around the edges, and the like; and though 

the amount of such coal is difficult to determine 

exactly it is usually considered, on the basis of 

long experience, to be approximately equal in amount 

to the coal actually recovered from the mine 

(Averitt and Berryhill, 1950). The total recorded 

production in the Southwest Virginia field through 

1949 is approximately 534 million tons. (See tabl<=> 

6.) The total tonnage included in the mined-out 

areas shown on the work maps is about 920 million 

tons; and allowing for areas not mapped,because of 

inadequate data, it is probably safe to assume that 

the mined-out areas represent at least one billion 

tons of coal mined and lost in mining. This figure 

is comparable with the average mining loss of 50 

percent, which was quoted above.

As it was impossible to compile estimates of 

the coal in the Valley fields except on the basis of 

original reserves, the remaining reserves in that 

region may be approximated by subtracting from the 

original reserves the reported production of about 

6 million tons, plus an equal amount to take care 

of the mining losses, or 12 million tons in all. 

This leaves a total of 343 million tons remaining 

in the Valley fields as of January 1, 1951. This 

figure, added to the 10, 776 million tons in the 

Southwest Virginia field, gives a total of 11,119 

million tons for the State, as of that date. As 

mentioned previously, no reserves have been 

estimated for the Richmond and Farmville basins, 

which make up the Eastern fields.

How much of the coal in the Southwest and 

Valley fields should be considered recoverable 

cannot be estimated without more detailed information and study than are possible in a report of this 

nature. Recoverabillty of coal from any property 

is essentially an engineering problem, with so 

many facets, of ownership, location, accessibility,

dip of beds, technical mining considerations, and 

other factors that no general statement that is applicable to an area as large as a state can safely be 

made. In addition, technologic advances in many 

cases alter the original picture within a relatively 

short time. For example, certain coal beds about 

a foot thick in the interior of the United States 

were ignored when most mining was by underground 

method? but they are now being recovered profitably 

by stripping. The reverse of this condition applies 

in some areas where the cost of labor is so high that 

coal' too thin for mechanized mining cannot be recovered profitably, and beds that were considered "good 

coal" in the not-distant past are now reduced to at 

least a marginal status. Because, of the present 

varying and rapidly changing conditions it is impossible to make a definite statement as to the amount 

of recoverable, as opposed to the remaining, coal 

in Virginia. However, a figure that has a certain usefulness as an average estimate, but admittedly is not 

applicable to individual properties or individual beds, 

is based on the commonly accepted figure of 50 percent mining losses in underground operations. On 

the assumption that the amount of coal now lost in 

mining is approximately equal to the tonnage recovered, and on the further assumption that this ratio 

will continue into the future, _the recoverable coal 

reserves of Virginia, as of January 1, 1951, may be 

considered to be 5, 559 million tons.

Methods of recording data 

and making calculations

All tonnages presented in this report were 

calculated by individual beds, using counties and 

15-minute quadrangles as areal units. Work maps 

were prepared from published topographic sheets 

on the scale of 1:24,000; on each map the outcrop 

of a single coal bed was traced, and all measured 

sections, drill holes, mine information, and other 

data pertinent to that bed were plotted. Isopach lines 

were then drawn on the basis of the plotted information, dividing the coal into three thickness ranges. 

Other lines were then drawn, breaking the deposit 

down into measured, indicated, and inferred categories on the basis of the spacing of the data. As 

practically all the Virginia coal included in the estimates lies under less than 1,000 ft of cover, few 

overburden lines were necessary.

The thickness of the coal was obtained by taking 

a weighted average of all thickness figures from outcrop and mine measurements and from drill-hole 

logs. The figures used are the actual thicknesses 

of the coal, eliminating partings, unless the partings 

exceed half the total thickness of the coal bed; in 

such cases the coal is considered to be of no value 

and is not included in the estimate.

The lateral extent of the coal was determined 

by the extent of the outcrop and by drill-hole and 

mine data. It was assumed, at most places, that 

the coal extends at least half as far back of the outcrop as it is exposed along the outcrop; therefore an 

arc having half the length of the outcrop as its radius 

was drawn to delimit the coal to be included in the 

estimate. In many areas the arc was modified in 

the light of the trace of the outcrop, known thickening 

or thinning of the coal within short distances, or
other local conditions. In all cases conservative 

methods were used in preparing the estimates.

The areas outlined on the maps as described 

above were measured with a planimeter to obtain 

the acreage underlain by coal in the different thickness groups and reserve categories. The tonnage 

was calculated by multiplying together the number of 

acres, the weighted average thickness of the coal to 

the nearest tenth of a foot, and 1, 800 (for bituminous 

coal) or 2,000 (for semianthracite), the weight of 

the coal in tons per acre-foot. The figures were . 

then tabulated by beds and counties, and broken down 

into thickness and quantity of information categories.

In making the actual arithmetical calculations 

the figures were carried to the nearest 10,000 tons, 

which small amount represented the reserves in a 

few thin beds in small areas. For the sake of uniformity, larger figures including county and State 

totals were carried to the same cut-off point. The 

figures for the reserves in the thicker beds and in 

the larger areas are, however, significant only to 

the nearest million tons.

COMPARISON OF PAST AND 

PRESENT ESTIMATES

The only previous estimate of the coal resources 

of Virginia as a whole is that made by M. R. Campbell in the period between 1913 and 1928, reprinted 

by Averitt and Berryhill (1950). Campbell estimated 

the original reserves of the State at 21,149 million, 

tons of bituminous coal in the Southwest and Eastern 

fields and 500 million tons of semianthracite in the 

Valley fields. It is worthy of note that 33 percent of 

the total estimate of bituminous coal was considered 

to be in coal beds in the Lee formation in Southwest 

Virginia, mainly in Dickenson and Buchanan Counties. 

On the basis of scattered drill holes it appears likely 

that coals in the Lee formation do underlie much of 

the area to which they were assigned in the previous 

estimate; they are, however, at depths greater than 

1,000 ft and have not been prospected except in a 

small way. Because of lack of specific data, tonnage 

calculations of coal in the Lee formation in the counties named are not included in this report.

A series of county reports covering the Southwest Virginia field, prepared jointly by the U. S. 

Geological Survey and the Virginia Geological Survey 

between 1918 and 1923, estimate the original reserves of the Southwest field at 27, 200 million tons. 

The estimates for the individual counties range from 

705 million tons for Russell County to 12,000 million 

tons for Buchanan County. It will be noted that these 

estimates, which also include reserves in the buried 

Lee formation of Buchanan and Dickenson Counties, 

are somewhat higher than the Campbell estimate, just 

as the Campbell estimate is higher than the present 

'figures of 11,696 million tons of bituminous coal in 

the Southwest field and 355 million tons of semianthracite in the Valley fields.

The present estimate is smaller than the earlier 

estimates partly because more conservative methods 

were employed in estimating the extent of the beds 

underground, and partly because coal presumed to

be in the deeply buried Lee formation in certain 

counties in the field is not included in the present

estimate.

THE SOUTHWEST FIELD 

Location

The Southwest Virginia coal field occupies an 

area about 110 miles long and a maximum of about 

30 miles wide in the southwest part of the State and 

includes all of Buchanan and Dickenson Counties 

and parts of Wise, Tazewell,. Russell, Scott, and 

Lee Counties. (See fig. 1.) The southeastern 

boundary of the field is the edge of the Appalachian 

Plateau,which, except for a re-entrant along the 

Powell River anticline in Lee and Wise Counties, 

follows a fairly straight line southwest from Pocahontas in Tazewell County to the Kentucky-Virginia 

State line about 6 miles west of Pennington Gap in 

Lee County. Other boundaries are the Kentucky and 

West Virginia State lines, which generally follow 

the crests of ridges and thus are natural boundaries 

topographically, but are artificial from the viewpoint of coal occurrence except in Pine Mountain, 

where the normal sequence of the coal beds is broken 

by the Pine Mountain fault.

The total area of the Southwest Virginia coal 

field is about 1, 552 sq mi, of which 507 sq mi are 

in Buchanan County, 332 sq mi in Dickenson County, 

451 sq mi in Wise and Scott Counties, 78 sq mi in 

Lee County, 84 sq mi in Russell County, and 100 

sq mi in Tazewell County. The general location of 

the field within the State is shown on the index map 

(fig. 1).

Though the Southwest Virginia coal field is 

economically important in its own right, it is 

actually only a small part of the southeastern edge 

of the great Appalachian coal region, which extends 

from Alabama to Pennsylvania, and its geology and 

structure cannot be fully understood unless conditions in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee 

are taken into consideration. This is particularly 

true of the Pocahontas field: most of it is in West 

Virginia, but the southwestern tip is in Tazewell 

County, Va.

Topography and drainage

The Southwest Virginia coal field is in the 

Appalachian Plateau province. All parts of the 

coal-bearing area are highly dissected and are 

characterized by steep slopes, narrow ridges, and 

stream valleys, which only at intervals contain 

enough flat land to permit farming. Local relief 

of about 800 to 1, 200 ft within a radius of a mile 

is not uncommon. Near the southeastern edge of 

the field the influence of the adjoining Valley and 

Ridge province is evidenced by the roughly parallel 

courses of Powell, Stone, and Little Stone Mountains, of Sandy Ridge, and of the principal streams. 

(See pi. 1.) The greatest altitudes in the coal 

field are in this general area. The highest point 

is Powell Mountain in Wise County, which stands 

at 4,162 ft above sea level, and the next highest 

is Big A Mountain on the line between Buchanan
 - ^. jPumvawkMiA' jt* to»r A x a/

 *?L. -&& &*

7

Figure 1. Index map of Virginia, showing location of coal fields.
and Russell Counties., which reaches 3, 765 ft. 

The lowest point in that part of the field-is in 

southern Wise County and stands at 1, 333 ft above 

sea level. In the northwestern part of the field both 

the highest and lowest points are on the VirginiaKentucky State line. The highest is 3,137 ft on the 

crest of Pine Mountain,which averages 3,000 ft 

above sea level for a long distance; the lowest elevation is 845 ft, where the Levisa Fork of the Big 

Sandy River crosses the State line from Buchanan 

County into Kentucky.

The Southwest Virginia coal field drains in 

part northwestward into the Big Sandy River and 

thence into the Ohio River, and in part southwestward into the Tennessee River through the Clinch 

and Powell Rivers. The Ohio River drainage system 

includes the northern third of Wise County, all of 

Buchanan County, nearly all of Dickenson County, 

and the northeastern portion of Tazewell County. 

The coal-bearing portions of Lee, Scott, and Russell 

Counties are within the Tennessee River drainage 

system, as are approximately the southern twothirds of Wise County, two small areas on the 

southern edge of Dickenson County, and the southwestern half of the coal-bearing portion of Tazewell 

County.

The most important stream in the Tennessee 

River drainage system, so far as the coal field is 

concerned, is the Clinch River, which flows westsouthwest parallel to and a few miles south of the 

southeastern boundary of the coal field. It drains 

all the coal-bearing parts of Russell and Scott 

Counties, the southwestern part of Tazewell County, 

and, through its tributary the Guest River, the southeastern part of Wise County. The streams of Lee 

County and the remainder of the Tennessee River 

drainage area in Wise County drain into the Powell 

River, which flows in the same general southwesterly 

direction as the Clinch and about 15 miles northwest 

of that stream. It eventually flows into the Clinch 

in Campbell County, Term.

The pattern of the Ohio River drainage in 

southwest Virginia is essentially dendritic, though 

it shows important modifications in Wise and Dickenson Counties owing to the underlying rock structure. 

The principal stream is Russell Fork, which flows 

northwest; its principal tributary is the Pound River, 

which rises in the northcentral part of Wise County 

and flows northeastward to the main stream. The 

principal tributaries of the Pound River, Indian 

Creek in Wise County and McClure River and the 

Cranesnest River in Dickenson County, flow generally north. Except for a small area draining into 

Russell Fork through Russell Prater Creek, the 

drainage of Buchanan County is northwesterly 

through Levisa Fork, Knox Creek, and Tug Fork, 

and thence into the Big Sandy River. Unlike that of 

Wise and Dickenson Counties, the drainage pattern 

of Buchanan County shows little evidence of structural control.

All of the larger streams of the Southwest 

Virginia coal field are perennial and supply sufficient

water for all present uses and for all foreseeable 

needs of the near future.

Climate, vegetation, 

and land use

The meah average temperature of the Southwest Virginia coal field ranges from 34° in January 

and February to 73° in July, and throughout the year 

the thermometer seldom goes below zero or above 

95°. The daily range of temperature is wider than 

that in any other part of the State, particularly in 

the summer months when many of the days are hot 

but the nights are cool or cold. The precipitation 

averages about 50 in. and is well distributed throughout the year. The average snowfall is 21 in.; the 

average number of days with snow, 14.

Population

The 1950 population of the three counties lying 

entirely or almost entirely in the coal-bearing area-- 

Wise, Dickenson, and Buchanan Counties was 114, 790. 

The population of Lee, Scott, Russell, and Tazewell 

Counties, which are partly within the coal field, was 

136, 743; but of this total only a small part, possibly 

not more than 30,000, are in the coal-bearing parts 

of the counties. On that assumption, the total population of the Southwest Virgima coal field is about 

145,000.

A characteristic of the area, as of most coalbearing areas that are mined on a large scale, is 

the scattering of the population in mining towns, all 

comparatively small but in many instances grouped 

close together along the railroad lines. Partly for 

this reason there are no large towns in the field; the 

two largest are Big Stone Gap and Norton in Wise 

County, with 5,158 and 4,293 inhabitants,respectively. 

The next largest towns are Pocahontas, in the northeast end of Tazewell County, and Dante, in Russell 

County, with 2, 500 inhabitants each. Other important towns and their population are Pennington Gap, 

in Lee County, 1,990; Clintwood, the county seat of 

Dickenson County, 1, 354; Grundy, the county seat of 

Buchanan County, 1, 936; and Wise, the county seat 

of Wise County, 1, 568. No other town in the area 

contains as many as 1,000 inhabitants.

Transportation

The Southwest Virginia coal field is adequately 

served by rail transportation. (See pi. 1.) The 

greatest amount of trackage in the area is that of the 

Norfolk and Western Railway which, through several 

branch lines, handles the production of Buchanan and 

Tazewell Counties and shares in transporting the 

Russell and Wise County output by way of its Bluefield-Norton line. The Carolina, Clinchfield, and 

Ohio Railway, usually known simply as the Clinchfield Railroad, enters the field in Russell County, 

passes through Dante, and then crosses Dickenson 

County into Kentucky. Practically all of the Dickenson County coal is handled by this line, as is a 

considerable tonnage from Russell County. Other 

railroads in the field are the Interstate Railroad,
which runs east and west across southern Lee and 

Wise Counties through Norton; the Louisville & 

Nashville Railroad, which extends southwest from 

Norton to Cumberland Gap; and the Southern Railway, which operates a north-south line that passes 

through Big Stone Gap and Appalachia. A spur of 

the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway enters northeastern Lee County from Kentucky and hauls the 

coal produced in a small part of that county.

Development of the coal field has followed 

closely the building of the railroads. Tazewell, 

Wise, Russell, and Lee Counties, the oldest producers in the area, are served by the oldest rail 

lines. Little large-scale mining was carried on in 

Dickenson County until the Clinchfield Railroad was 

built into the county in 1915, and the Buchanan 

County mining districts were not opened until 1932, 

when branch lines of the Norfolk and Western Railway were extended into the county.

All of southwest Virginia is served by a network of paved State and Federal highways, which 

make it possible to reach any part of the coal field 

at practically all times. The principal highways 

are U. S. No. 23, which runs north from Kingsport, 

Tenn., through Big Stone Gap, Appalachia, and 

Norton, Va., into Kentucky; U. S. No. 460, extending northwest and southeast across Buchanan 

County; U. S. No. 19, which runs a few miles southeast of the coal field from Bluefield and turns south 

to meet U. S. No. 11 at Abingdon; State Route 70, 

which connects U. S. No. 19 with U. S. No. 23; and 

U. S. No. 421, which runs east and west through 

Pennington Gap. Other important highways are 

State Routes 64, 72, and 80, which serve Dickenson 

County.

Stratigraphy

The coal-bearing rocks of southwest Virginia 

are the Pottsville group of the Pennsylvanian series 

of Carboniferous age. The Pottsville, the basal 

group of the Pennsylvanian in the Appalachian region, consists predominantly of alternating beds of 

sandstone, shale, and coal, with a few conglomeratic 

and calcareous strata. Although the rocks throughout the group are generally similar in composition 

and sequence, the group is divided, in ascending 

order, into the Lee formation, the Norton formation, 

the Gladeville sandstone, and the Wise formation. 

The Harlan sandstone, which overlies the Wise 

.formation and may be of Allegheny rather than 

Pottsville age, occupies a small area of the highest 

land in Wise arid Lee Counties.

Lee formation

The oldest of the coal-bearing formations, the 

Lee, overlies the Bluestone formation of Mississippian age throughout the Southwest Virginia coal 

field. The sedimentary rocks of the Bluestone 

formation are mostly red and olive-green shales, 

buff siltstones, fine-grained sandstones, and some 

limestone beds that are generally nonfossiliferous. 

At no place in the Virginia coal fields has a sharp 

contact between the Bluestone and the overlying Lee 

been found, and the two formations appear to grade 

into each other through a succession of beds of

sandstone and shale that lack diagnostic features of 

either the Mississippian or the Pennsylvanian.

The Lee formation consists of coal, shale, 

conglomerate, and sandstone, which contains scattered 

quartz pebbles. The formation carries the same 

name across Virginia and Tennessee; it is approximately equivalent to the New River and Pocahontas 

formations of West Virginia, though the top of the 

New River is usually placed higher stratigraphically 

than that of the Lee. In Virginia, the top of the Lee 

formation is the top of a highly resistant conglomeratic 

sandstone that has been correlated with the Rockcastle 

sandstone of Tennessee.

The outcrops of the Lee formation are confined 

to the northwest and southeast sides of the coal field. 

The northwestern exposures are in the southeast 

slope of Pine Mountain, at or near the crest, and 

extend across Dickenson and Wise Counties southwest of the Breaks of Sandy. In this area the formation is about 800 ft thick and the outcrop belt averages about a mile wide. On the southeast side of the 

coal-bear ing area the Lee is exposed in the Powell 

Valley anticline where it reaches its maximum width 

of outcrop, about 7 miles, not far northeast of Big 

Stone Gap. From that point northeast the outcrop 

belt narrows and the dips steepen so that across 

Scott and Russell Counties and the extreme southern 

part of Buchanan County the exposures are narrow 

and the rocks are badly crushed. The Lee is not 

exposed at Big A Mountain, but a short distance to 

the northeast it is well exposed in the valleys of the 

coal-bearing part of Tazewell County. The thickness 

of the Lee throughout the southeastern part of the 

coal field is 1, 530 to 1, 800 ft, which is about twice 

its thickness in Pine Mountain. There is. no noticeable thickening or thinning along a northeast-trending 

line.

Though the Lee formation contains coal at 

nearly all places where it is exposed, most of the 

known minable beds in Virginia are in Tazewell 

County. In addition to the Pocahontas befls, which 

are mined at the northeastern tip of the county, higher 

beds crop out toward the southwest. The total number 

of named coal beds in the formation in Tazewell County 

 is at least 17. ( See pi. 3.)

Norton formation

The Norton formation is exposed in the southwestern part of the coal-bearing part of Tazewell 

County, in the deeper valleys in Buchanan County, 

and over much of Dickenson and Russell Counties. 

In Wise County the Norton is exposed in outliers in 

Powell Mountain, in a band less than half a mile 

wide north of Stone and Little Stone Mountains, and 

in a wider band south of Pine Mountain. It also crops 

Out in many places north and east of Powell Mountain. In Lee County it crops out across the county in 

a band northwest of the Lee formation outcrop.

Like the underlying Lee formation, the Norton 

formation thickens from northwest to southeast, being about 800 ft thick in the vicinity of Pine Mountain 

and 1,300 to 1,500 ft thick in the southeastern part 

of the field. Within Virginia there is little change in 

the thickness of the formation from northeast to south-
west, but southwest of Lee County' it thins and 

probably wedges out west of Cumberland Gap.

The Norton formation contains 11 named coal 

beds. (See pi. 3.)

Gladeville sandstone

The Gladeville sandstone is a massive mediumgrained quartzose sandstone that is locally conglomeratic and that persists over large areas in the 

Southwest Virginia field. It is, however, somewhat 

difficult to trace across Buchanan County. In the 

southeastern part of the field the Gladeville is 90 

to 150 ft thick, but like the Lee formation and the 

Norton formation it thins toward the northwest and 

is only about 40 ft thick in Pine Mountain. It contains no minable coal beds. The Gladeville sandstone has been included with the Norton formation 

on plate 1.

Wise formation

The Wise formation, which overlies the 

Gladeville sandstone, is exposed over most of Wise 

County north of Stone, Little Stone, and Powell 

Mountains, and over most of the coal-bearing portions of Lee County. The lower part of the formation caps much of the higher land in Dickenson 

County and the northern half of Buchanan County. 

The Wise is about 2, 300 ft thick at Big Stone Gap, 

and where its full thickness is exposed in northern 

Wise County it averages about 2,100 ft. It is composed of shale, sandstone, and 20 or more named 

coal beds. It is estimated that about one-third of 

the formation is sandstone that differs from the 

sandstones in the Lee and Norton formations in that 

much of it is arkosic and contains a large number of 

feldspar grains, which gives it a white speckled appearance at weathered outcrops. It is the highest coalbearing formation in Virginia. (See pi. 3.)

Harlan sandstone

The Harlan sandstone, which overlies the Wise 

formation, is composed mostly of sandstone. Its - 

base is 5 to 50 ft above the base of the High Splint coal; 

its age has been determined ( White, 1905) on the 

basis of fossil plants to be late Pottsville or early 

Allegheny.

Structure

The Southwest Virginia coal field may be 

divided, for convenience in discussing the structure, 

into two parts: the one lying in the Cumberland 

overthrust block, which comprises approximately 

the southwestern two-thirds of the field in Lee, Wise, 

Scott, Dickenson, and southern Russell Counties, 

as well as a small area in the southwest corner of 

Buchanan County; and the other northeast of the Cumberland block, in Buchanan, northern Russell, and 

Tazewell Counties. (See pi. 1.)

The Cumberland block

The Cumberland block, a unique structural 

feature of the Appalachian region in Virginia and 

Tennessee, is about 120 miles long northeast and 

southwest and averages about 10 miles wide except

10

near its northeastern end, where its width increases 

to a maximum of about 23 miles. It is bounded on 

all sides by faults: the St. Paul or Hunter Valley 

fault on the southeast, the Pine Mountain fault on 

the northwest, the Russell Fork fault on the northeast, and the Jacksboro fault on the southwest. The 

Pine Mountain and St. Paul faults are low-angle 

thrusts from the southeast. The displacement of 

the Russell Fork and Jacksboro faults is mainly 

lateral and the fault planes are nearly vertical. All 

of these faults are shown on the map (pi. 1) except 

the Jacksboro fault, which is in Campbell County, 

Term.

In the Southwest Virginia coal field, a large 

part of the Cumberland block is occupied by the 

Middlesboro syncline, an asymmetrical depression 

the axis of which is parallel to and about 4 miles 

southeast of the crest of Pine Mountain. Other 

structural features are the Powell Valley anticline 

and the Newman Ridge syncline, known locally in . Virginia as the Powell Mountain syncline; these are 

southeast of and roughly parallel to the Middlesboro 

syncline. These folds and a number of smaller anticlines and synclines are shown on the map (pi. 1). 

Though the faults influence mining conditions in the 

Southwest Virginia field to some- extent, the folds 

exert little influence because the dips of the synclines and anticlines are so gentle that in most parts 

of the field the coal beds may be considered, for 

all practical purposes, to be flat lying.

Buchanan, Tazewell, and 

northeastern Russell Counties

The northeastern part of the Southwest Virginia 

coal field is bounded on the southeast side by a continuation of the series of thrust faults that form the 

southeastern boundary of the Cumberland block. 

Otherwise, the most important structural features 

in the area are the Dry Fork anticline in Buchanan 

County and the Pocahontas syncline in the extreme 

northeastern part of Tazewell County. The locations 

of these and other structural features are shown on 

the map (pi. 1).

Coal beds in the Lee formation 

Description

The coal beds of the Lee formation are exposed in relatively small areas in Virginia, mostly 

in Tazewell County. Generally speaking, the oldest 

beds are exposed in the northeastern part of the 

field, and the thickest parts of the higher beds are 

successively farther southwest. Southwest of Tazewell County the rocks of the Lee formation are upT 

turned and deformed adjacent to the fault system 

that bounds the coal field, and at most places the 

coal beds are so crushed that they cannot be mined 

commercially. The only important exception to this 

rule is the Burtons Ford bed, which crops out over 

a considerable distance in the south side of Powell 

Mountain in Scott County and contains a small reserve of minable coal. Neither the Burtons Ford 

bed nor the other local beds exposed in Scott and 

Russell Counties have been correlated with the Lee 

formation coals that crop out in Tazewell County.

The named coals of the Lee formation (except 

the local beds in Scott and Russell Counties that
have been mentioned above) are shown on the 

correlation chart (pi. 3). These are discussed 

briefly below.

The Pocahontas beds

The Pocahontas coals consist of nine coal beds 

numbered from the bottom upward, which occur in 

the basal 745 ft of the Lee formation. The thickest 

of the Pocahontas beds in Virginia are the Pocahontas 

No. 3, about 360 ft above the base of the Lee; the 

Pocahontas No. 4, about 75 to 105 ft above the No. 3 

bed; and the Pocahontas No. 5, 30 ft or less above 

the Pocahontas No. 4. The No. 1 and No. 2 beds, 

near the base of the Lee formation, and the highest 

bed of the series, the No. 9, contain no known coal 

of minable thickness in Virginia; the No. 6, No. 7, 

and No. 8 beds contain comparatively small indicated 

and inferred reserves in Tazewell County. No mining 

operations in these beds are recorded in Virginia, but 

the No. 6 bed has been mined on a small scale in 

West Virginia not far from the Virginia-West Virginia 

State line.

The Pocahontas coal possesses distinctive 

qualities that make it one of the most highly regarded 

fuels in the Nation. It is of medium- to low-volatile 

bituminous rank; it possesses excellent combustion 

qualities; and when properly fired it burns with little 

smoke. It is widely used as a blending coal in the 

manufacture of metallurgical coke and is shipped 

great distances for use by coke manufacturers. The 

No. 3 bed, in the two available analyses of mine samples, ranges from medium- to low-volatile bituminous; the No. 5 bed, in one analysis of a mine sample is lOw-volatile bituminous (U. S. Bureau of 

Mines, 1944, pp. 72-75). The range in composition 

of these three analyses, on the as-received basis, 

follows:

Moisture.......

Volatile matter. 

Fixed carbon... 

Ash...........

Sulfur.........

2.2- 4:5

18.5-21.7

72.0-72.8

3.3- 5.0

0.5- 0.8

Btu: 14,270-14,940

The outcrop area of the Pocahontas beds in 

Virginia is relatively small, extending a maximum of 

20 miles southwest of the town of Pocahontas, the 

center of mining activity in the beds.

Pocahontas No. 3 bed. The Pocahontas No. 3 

bed crops out in the extreme northeastern part of the 

Tazewell County field. Its thickness in that vicinity 

reaches a maximum of 11 ft and ranges from 97 to 

100 in. in mines now operating in the bed. The coal 

thins southwestward but it is at least 30 in. thick close 

to the Tazewell-Russell County line, and drill-hole 

information shows that it is 1.4 to 3.8 ft thick under 

a large area in Buchanan County. Throughout its 

outcrop area the bed is overlain by a massive sandstone, directly upon or only a few feet above the coal 

which in most places extends up to the next highest 

bed, the Pocahontas No. 4.

The Pocahontas No. 3 was the first of the 

Pocahontas beds to be mined in Virginia, the first 

recorded production being in 1883. Although exact

figures are not obtainable, it is undoubtedly true 

that a large proportion, probably more than half, of 

the total all-time production of about 117 million tons 

from Tazewell County has been taken from this bed. 

Though much of the easily obtained coal has been 

mined out, the bed still furnishes about 4 percent of 

the annual production of Virginia.

Pocahontas No. 4 bed. --The Pocahontas No. 4 

is 105 ft above the NoTli at Pocahontas, but the interval thins to 75 ft southwest of that town. The coal is 

1.3 to 7.0 ft thick in Tazewell' County, where it -contains fairly large reserves. No commercial mining 

of the No. 4 coal is now being carried on in Virginia, 

though it has been mined in past years and some 

production was reported in 1950 fuom.nearby mines 

in West Virginia.

Pocahontas No. 5 bed. The Pocahontas No. 5 

bed is a maximum of 3D ft above the No. 4 and in 

some localities appears to be a split off that bed. It 

is 1.3 to 6.5 ft thick over considerable areas, and 

where it is now being mined its thickness ranges from 

66 to 78 in. The coal contains more volatile matter 

than the Pocahontas No. 3 bed, but otherwise there 

is little difference between the two beds. In 1950 

approximately 14 percent of the Virginia production 

was recovered from this bed.

Coal beds above the Pocahontas beds in 

Tazewell County

The interval of about 910 ft between the Pocahontas No. 9 coal and the top of the Lee formation 

contains in Tazewell County nine named coal beds. 

These are, in ascending order, the Lower Horsepen, 

War Creek, "C, " Middle Horsepen, Upper Horsepen, 

Lower Seaboard, Middle Seaboard, Greasy Creek, 

and Upper Seaboard beds. All of these beds except 

the Middle Seaboard, which is badly split by partings, 

' contain sufficient coal of minable thickness to be included in the reserve estimates. Each of these beds 

is discussed briefly below.

Lower Horsepen bed. The Lower Horsepen 

bed is about 95 ft above the Pocahontas No. 9 and 

has a maximum thickness of about 30 in.; it is 

separated into three benches, however, by partings 

that total 6 in. The bed, which probably should be 

correlated with the Little Fire Creek bed of West 

Virginia, contains only small indicated and inferred 

reserves in Virginia.

War Creek bed. The War Creek bed, 160 to 

170 ft above the Lower Horsepen, is 1.3 to 4.0 ft 

thick and averages 3 ft or more over a considerable 

area. In addition to its outcrops in Tazewell County 

the bed underlies a small area in the southern part of 

Buchanan County, where it is 2.9 to 4.3 ft thick. 

The bed is not being.mined commercially at the present time but contains fairly large indicated and inferred reserves.

"C" bed. The "C" bed is a local bed that crops 

out over a small area in Tazewell County and contains small indicated and inferred reserves. It is 

about 60 ft above the War Creek coal and ranges 

in thickness from 1.7 to 3.2 ft.

11
Middle Horsepen bed. The Middle Horsepen 

coal is 110 to 120 ft above the War Creek and is 1.5 

to 4.1 ft thick. In some parts of the outcrop area 

the value of the coal is lessened by partings, and in 

many localities the bed is thin or absent. The Middle 

Horsepen bed is not now being mined on a commercial scale.

Upper Horsepen bed. The Upper Horsepen 

bed, locally known as" the Smith bed, is about 50 ft 

above the Middle Horsepen. It ranges from 1.5 to 

more than 11 ft in thickness in places and averages 

as much as 6.6 ft over sizable areas. The bed is 

correlated with the Welch coal of McDowell County, 

W. Va., and contains considerable indicated and 

inferred reserves. It is not now being mined in 

Virginia.

Lower Seaboard bed. The Lower Seaboard 

bed, 180 to 200 ft above the Upper Horsepen, is one 

of the most extensive coals in the western part of 

Tazewell County and underlies a small area in 

Buchanan County. It ranges in thickness from 1.8 

to 4.4 ft and has been mined on a fairly large scale 

in the past, though no production from it has been 

reported in recent years. The coal, in an analysis 

of one mine sample, is of medium-volatile'bituminous rank and has been correlated with the Sewell 

bed of West Virginia. A sample from the Patrick 

mine, formerly operating in the bed, shows, on the 

as-received basis, 3.6 percent ash, 1.1 percent 

sulfur, and 14, 560 Btu (U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1944, 

pp. 72-73).

The Lower Seaboard bed contains considerable 

reserves in Tazewell and Buchanan Counties, and 

an unusually large proportion of the estimated reserves are in the measured category.

Middle Seaboard and Greasy Creek beds. About 

40 to 50 ft above the Lower Seaboard is the Middle 

Seaboard bed, which is correlated with the Sewell A 

bed of West Virginia. -In Virginia the bed is not 

only thin but contains so many partings that it has 

not been mined except on a very small scale. No 

reserves have been estimated for this bed in this 

report.

The Greasy Creek bed is exposed only in the 

area north of the Dry Fork anticline, where it is 

70 to 90 ft above the Middle Seaboard. It is 1.8 to 

2.8 ft thick and has been correlated with the Sewell B 

bed of West Virginia. It contains small reserves 

and has been mined on a small scale in the past, 

though no production has been reported in recent 

years.

Upper Seaboard bed. The Upper Seaboard 

bed Is 50 ft above the Greasy Creek and 200 to 315 

ft below the top of the Lee formation. It is 2.0 to 

2.5 ft thick over considerable areas, and in one mine 

the Wcfa»«^« is given as 30 to 70 in. The coal ranges 

in rank from high-volatile A to medium-volatile 

bituminous; a composite of two analyses of .samples 

from the Carter No. 6 1/2 mine shows, on the asreceived basis, 6.1 percent ash, 0.6 percent sulfur, 

and 14,210 Btu (U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1944, pp. 

78-77). The Upper Seaboard has been mined on a 

fairly large scale in the past and at least one mine 

was operating in the bed in 1950. .

Coal beds in the Lee formation in Scott 

and Russell Counties

Aside from Tazewell and Buchanan Counties, 

the only commercially important bed in the Lee 

formation at the present time is the Burtons Ford 

bed, which crops out in the south side of Powell 

Mountain in Scott County and extends northeast into 

Russell County. Stratigraphically it is about 500 ft 

above the base of the Lee formation) but as the bed 

dips sharply and is overturned along most of the 

outcrop its exact stratigraphic position is difficult 

to determine. The Burtons Ford coal reaches a 

maximum thickness of 7 ft including partings and 

ranges from l'. 8 to 5.7 ft thick over considerable 

distances. It is of high-volatile A bituminous rank; 

a composite of two analyses of samples from the 

J. S. T. mine in Scott County shows, on the asreceived basis, 6.9 percent ash, 1.0 percent sulfur, 

and 13, 690 Btu (U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1944, pp. 

72-73). The bed contains fairly large reserves in 

Scott and Russeli Counties but is not being mined 

commercially at the present time.

In Scott County the Lee formation contains, in 

addition to the Burtons Ford bed, a number of named 

coal beds of lenticular character and local extent. 

These are the Cove Creek bed (which also underlies 

a small area in Wise County), and the Egan (Duncan?), 

Carter, Tacus (Milner?), and Starns beds. The 

coal in these beds ranges from 1.3 to 4.2 ft in thickness; the total reserves for all of them, as of January 

1, 1951, are estimated as 22 million tons of indicated and inferred coal. (See table 2.) No present-day operations in the beds are known, and the 

only one of the group that has been mined commercially in the past is the Cove Creek bed.

Reserves in the Lee formation

The total estimated reserves, excluding 

known mined-out areas, of coal in the Lee formation 

in Virginia, as of January 1, 1951, were 789 million tons, of which 23 million tons are classed as 

measured reserves, 384 million tons as indicated 

reserves, and 382 million tons as inferred reserves. 

Of this total, approximately 70 percent is in Tazewell County and 15 percent in Buchanan County; the 

remaining 15 percent represents the Burtons Ford 

and the local beds in Scott and Russell Counties. 

The reserves by beds and counties are summarized 

in tables 2 and 3, respectively; the complete distribution-by beds, counties, and categories of reservesare given in tables 7 and 8.

The largest reserves in the Lee formation in 

Virginia are in the Pocahontas beds, especially 

Pocahontas No. 3, though this bed has been mined 

so extensively that the remaining measured reserves 

are small as compared to the indicated and inferred 

tonnage. Next to the Pocahontas No. 3, the War 

Creek bed contains the largest estimated reserves, 

but the points of information on this coal are so 

widely spaced that all reserves are classed as indicated or inferred. The Lower Seaboard contains 

the third largest total reserves and a large amount 

of measured coal.

12
Table 2.--Estimated remaining reserves of bituminous coal In the Southwest Virginia field, es of January 1, 19

(In millions of short tons)

Ham* of bed

Measured reserves

In beds 

14 to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to 42 

In. thick

In beds 

more than 

42 in. 

thick

Total

In beds 

lit. t° 28 

In. tniek

In beds 

28 to 4? 

In. thick

In beds 

more than 

42 In. 

thiok

Total

Inferred reserves

In beds 

l4 to 28 

In. tulck

In bads 

28 to 42 

in. ti.lck

In bods 

more than 

42 in. 

thick

Total

Wise formation

High Splint ........

Wax................

Oin Creek..........

Phillips ...........

Taggart Marker ..... 

Kirk. ..............

Upper St. Charles..

Eagle..............

Blair..............

Total. ...........

0.21

0.51

0 24

0 54

0.44

....

0.08

1.79

1.20

1.90

2.37

9.33

1.55

2.87

2.15

14.49

13.63

11.42

3.50

0.92

6.59

4.37

U.5k

O6

77.30

7.21

12.36

28.82

0.34

9.15

30.5B

1.35

17.79

14.14

0.2?

22.31

183.13

8.97

15.23

31.48

0.50

23.93

11.86

4-85

0.92

20.15

22.52

5.61

6.71

32.84

269.76

2.11

1.63

1.13

1.13

1.51

15.91 

1.76

0.46

2.25

0.43

1.15

0.63

6

-79

0.30

31.10

39.83

5.50

30.05

63.66

208.87

3.72

2.26

16.77

25.27

55,97

65.31

7.33

72.73

2.60 

5.70

1.44

70.52

76169

1.94

73.13

96.72

62.35

669.18

5.22

9.90

24.81

2.46

7.64

11.66

60.19

5

fll

* *

0.32

64.30

0.51

132.13

19.78

13.'4l

458.30

9.57

13.14

43.69

2.46

1.63

11.6?

38.06

117.67

81.22 

1.76

13.114

103-02

2.60

5-Z2 

3.69

3.80

0.75

100.94

0.63

147.71

41.09

40.07

139.42

1,336.35

0.07

1.71

1.33

i?.4o

53.57

1.33

24O9

iro A A

3.03 

24.50

9.31

0.71

43.4?

0.24

1.2?

» 69.84

34.90

86.91

97.15 

»199.44

777.46

10.38

3.43

«...

0.48

5.44

0.61

3.54

» 9.80

0.13 

3.43

23-51

62.35

O.J3

53.52

3.27 

70.33

3.22

24.11

280.01

* *

....

..,..

....

1.92

8

1 L

....

24.71

38.39

....

73J99

10.45

3.14

1.33

12.88

59.01

5.46

?5.60

57.20

3.16 

27.93

9.31

1.52

123.13

0.24

1.61

148.07

195.63

100.37

223.55

1,131.46

Norton formation

Big Fork...........

Caldwell...........

Ally. ..............

Tiller.............

Total ..........

3.23

3.70

1 1 R&

4.00

0.64

10.02

1.66

3.44

40.55

24.10

40.1?

38.24

2

1fl

34-88

f Ci

6.77

182,12

1.49

35.81

97.27

....

15.46

 57 Le\

4?. 31

269.47

oQ Oo

69.62

151.25

81.68

60.36

44.87

5>.52

492.14

46.69

331.50

43.97

195.90

1.17

350.52

,5-50 

142.01

78. **

1,317.25

46. 89

170.84

2?6 '$

69.08

151.52

2.75

479.92

216)43

308.45

58.56

1,800.8«

11.44

109. ?4

Ao 5A

0.95

34.0?

44.96

309.31 

124.27

777. 41

194. kl

0.98

4.87

864.46

, 5-50 

403.1*0

706.97

«6l.71

3,8o6.o4

65.07

284.53

7.39

37J.14

Aafl ?i

-A * M«

366.57

59.64

2,263.61

22.90

20.12

13-43

6.95

163.52

2.34

571.16

* * * *

 * 

*

 *

 

 *

13.90

11.56

C.?fl

25.72

65.07

135.42

244.01

95.70

297.96

14.34

5^8.90

46.95

768.25

541.65 

62. ?4

2,860.49

o Overburden 0-2,000 ft.
Table 2.--Estimated remaining reserves of bituminous coal In the Southwest Virginia field, as of January 1, 1951, b

(In millions of short tons)

Nan* of bed

Upper Seaboard ....

Middle Seaboard.... 

Lower Seaboard.....

"C" ........ f. .....

Pooahonta* No. 5...

Poeahontas No. 3...

Kg an

Burton* Ford*

Grand total ....

Measured reserve*

In beds 

14 to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to 42 

In. thick

In beds 

tore than 

42 In. 

thick

Total

Indicated reserves

In beds 

14 to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

26 to 42 

In. thick

In beds 

more than 

42 In. 

thick

Total

Inferred reserves

In beds 

14 to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to 42 

In. thick

In beds 

more than 

42 In. 

thick

Total

Lee formation

0.50

o!85

0.16

....

1.51

51.39

3.14

0.20 

6.40

0.85

0.03

10.62

270.04

....

1!27

1.69

5.65 

2.75

11.36

463.96

3.64

6.20 

6.52

2.70 

5.65

2.78

23.49

785.39

19-99

£& 

tt£

11.73 

7.48 

27.48 

4.02

0.03

5.30 

4.26 

0.42 

* 0.63

S:H

i.7l 

1.13 

2.49

168.44

1,694.56

8.96 

4.37 

1.29 

14.11 

1.40

L-g 

15.17

3.01

1.57

i'.'zi 

0.6* 

* 4.63

1.37

6!57 

3.52 

26.36

106.65

2,576.91

9^90 

4-33 

2! 23

5 '.13 

25.70 

*33.6k 

2.6?

2.23

6 '.61 

0.06 

22.03

108.56

1,344.77

28.95

$'.$. 

58.35 

38.11

24.08 

9.9k

44.$

7.03

'i!6o

5.30 

18.60 

26.80 

39.10 

2.65

4.04 

0.?2 

2.99 

4.71 

50.88

393.85

2.93 

3.02 

15.99 

15.16 

16.87

3.13

3l!6i 

14.37

P' 3, 5 

4.87

6.35

14.82 

2.87 

*6i.90

3.28

4.20

52.84

253.96

5, 6l6. 24] 3, 295'. 03

2!6a

5.65

8.17 

6.48

6! 64

6! 08 

3.53 

«62.22

....

....

....

L 94-65

946.02

6 96 

*32 30

....

....

....

33.26

2.9

3.0

15.9

15.1

18.9

8.7

6.1

38.4

14-3

0.3

5.5

6.3

20.9

6.4

156.4

3.2

4.2

52.8

332.07

132.971^,374.02

# Overburden 0-2,000 ft.

Tab Is 3. Estimated remaining reserves of bituminous coal In the Southwest Virginia field as of January 1, 1951, by c

(in millions of short tons)

County

Russell ...........

Wise ..............

Measured reserves

In beds 

14 to 28 

In. thick

8.74 

19.85 

0.08 

8.91

3.23

10.54

51.39

In beds 

28 to 42 

In. thick

53.06 

60.28 

18.01 

17.91

2k. 48 

96.30

270.04

In beds 

more than 

42 In. 

thick

69.11 

133.92 

17.51 

68.21

13.16 

162.05

463.96

Total

130.91 

214.09 

35.60 

95.03

40.87 

268.89

765.39

Indicated reserves

In Nsds 

14 to 28 

In. thick

875.65 

341.81 

13.21 

81.1? 

5.26 

191.66 

185.85

1.694.56

In beds 

28 to 42 

In. thick

1,111.68 

418.68 

143.12 

192.76 

18.66 

161.23 

530.56

2,576.91

In beds 

more than 

42 In. 

thick

as$74.48 

246.43 

26.97 

81.54 

355.41

1,344.77

Total

2,234.07 

1,073.89 

230.81 

520.31 

50.91 

434.43 

1,071.82

5,616.24

Inferred reserves

In beds 

14 to 28 

in. thick

1,838.44 

914.24 

127.59 

97.41 

53.66 

169.50 

694.19

3,295.03

In beds 

28 to 42 

In. thick

142.70 

441.52 

18.52 

6.43

54i76 

252.09

946.02

In beds 

more than 

42 In. 

thick

28.10

27.6?" 

24.19 

0.12

eiso 

44.09

132.97

Total

1,409.?4 

1,383.43 

200.30 

103.96 

53.66 

233.06 

990.37

4,374.02
Coal beds in the Norton formation 

Description

The Norton formation contains in Southwest 

Virginia 11 named coal beds. (See pi. 3.) All 

but three of the beds are exposed in Buchanan, 

Dickenson, and Wise Counties; the lower beds, as 

far up in the sequence as the Lower Banner bed, 

are also exposed in the southwestern part of Tazewell County. The lowest coal in the formation is 

the Tiller bed; the highest, lying practically at the 

top of the unit, is the Norton. Each bed is discussed 

briefly below.

Tiller bed.--The Tiller bed is about 160 ft 

above the base of the Norton formation in southeastern Tazewell County, the interval increasing 

toward the southwest and reaching about 200 ft in 

Dickenson County and 250 ft in Russell County. The 

bed underlies only a small area in Wise County. In 

Tazewell County the coal ranges from 1.3 to 3. 5 ft 

in thickness, probably averaging less than 3 ft; it 

varies considerably within short distances and contains partings that reduce its heating value. In 

southeastern Buchanan County the coal is 1.2 to 5.0 

ft thick, and in southeastern Dickenson County the 

thickness reaches a maximum of 5.9 ft. In Russell 

County, near Big A Mountain, it is 1.3 to 4.9 ft 

thick but thins toward the southwest. In Buchanan, 

Dickenson, and Russell Counties the Tiller bed 

unites locally with the higher Jawbone coal, the combined thickness of the two beds being from 7 to 15 

ft.

The distribution of the Tiller bed is shown on 

the bed map (fig. 2). The coal is high-volatile A 

bituminous in rank; the range in composition of 

analyses of five specimen samples, two from the 

East mine in Tazewell County and three from tne 

Clinchfield No. 201 mine in Russell County, is as 

follows (U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1944, pp. 70-71, 

76-77):

Moisture...................... 1.8- 3.0

Volatile matter................. 30.6-32. 5

Fixed carbon................... 57.4-60.3

Ash.......................... 6.1- 8.9

Sulfur........................ 0.4- 0.6

Btu: 13,500-14,180

Apparently the heating value of the Tiller coal 

increases from northeast to southwest, probably 

because of the greater number and thickness of the 

partings in the northeastern outcrops.

The Tiller bed has been mined in the past on 

a fairly large scale, but no commercial mines are 

at present operating in the bed.

Jawbone bed. -,-The Jawbone bed, which contains large reserves in Virginia, is correlated with 

the laeger bed of West Virginia; it is known locally 

in Virginia as the Shannon bed, the Ratliff bed, or 

the No. 5 coal. As the bed map (fig. 3) shows, it 

is exposed from southwestern Tazewell County to 

eastern Wise County, most of the reserve tonnage 

being in Dickenson, Buchanan, and Wise Counties.

In Tazewell County the Jawbone is separated 

from the lower Tiller bed by 30 to 50 ft of sandstone, 

and the bed is more than 30 in. thick at nearly all 

exposures, reaching a maximum thickness of 6 ft. 

Southwest of Tazewell County the Jawbone is locally 

as much as 100 ft above the Tiller, though in other 

places the two beds merge. Throughout its outcrop 

area the Jawbone coal is characterized by numerous 

bone partings, and consequently the analyses show a 

high percentage of ash. The coal is relatively thick 

over large areas, however; it is as much as 4.0 ft 

thick in Buchanan County and 5.3 ft thick in Dickenson County. Where the Jawbone and Tiller beds 

merge, the aggregate thickness is as much as 15 ft 

in Buchanan and Russell Counties and 10 ft in Wise 

County.

The northwestern limit of the Jawbone bed is 

not definitely known. Drill-hole records show that 

it underlies the central and western parts of Dickenson County, but it has not been reported at the 

Breaks of Sandy or in Pine Mountain and probably 

thins to extinction at depth in northwestern Buchanan, 

Dickenson, and Wise Counties.

The Jawbone bed ranges in rank from highvolatile A to low-volatile bituminous. It has been 

mined on a fairly large scale in Russell and Wise 

Counties, and on smaller scales in Buchanan and 

Tazewell Counties.

Raven bed. The Raven bed, which crops out 

from southwestern .Tazewell and southern Buchanan 

Counties on the northeast to eastern Wise County on 

the southwest, is one of the most valuable coals in 

Virginia. Because of its wide extent and economic 

importance it has been used as the datum bed for 

structure contours in Tazewell County, where it is 

near the base of a thin sequence of sandstone beds 

approximately 200 ft above the Jawbone bed, 400 ft 

above the base of the Norton formation, and 1,800 

ft above the Pocahontas No. 3 bed. The distribution 

of the bed is shown on the map (fig. 4).

The Raven bed is correlated with the Lower 

Douglas coal of West Virginia, and in Virginia is. 

known by a number of local names: Jewell and 

Jewell Ridge in Tazewell and Buchanan Counties; 

Red Ash, Qarden Hole, and "Imboden" (or False 

Imboden) in Buchanan County; and Garden Hole or 

"Imboden" in Russell, Dickenson, and Wise Counties. 

The coal is thickest in western Tazewell County, 

where the thickness ranges from 26 to 75 in. and 

averages 39 in., without partings. In southeastern 

Buchanan County the Raven bed generally occurs as 

two benches a few feet apart; where these benches 

are united, they contain 3 to 5 ft of minable coal. 

In this area the interval between the Jawbone and 

Raven beds is about 150 ft, and both the interval 

and the Raven bed thin toward the northwest. In 

Russell, southeastern Dickenson, and eastern Wise 

Counties, the Raven is 140 to 200 ft above the 

Jawbone and is generally thin, averaging about 3 ft 

in Wise County, somewhat less in Dickenson County, 

and 2 ft, split by partings, in Russell County.

The Raven bed has been identified in Pine 

Mountain but is not of commercial importance in 

that area at the present time.

15
Coal more than

£9 in thirk

Cool 28^2 in. 

Cool

EXPLANATION

Measured Indicated Inferred 

Reserves Reserves Reserves

Mined-out Cool less than I4in thick, Areo of complex

orea or data insufficient to structure-, cool

estimate reserves beds undifferenttated

BUCHANAN COUNTY

\

WEST 

VIRGINIA

28-inch line 14-inchline

K»MILE«

Figure 2. Generalized map of the Tiller coal bed, Southwest Virginia field.
Inferred 

Reserves Coal more than 

42 in. thick

Goal 28 to 42 in. 

thick

Coal 14 to 28 in. [I T I M 

thick " '..' "

Caal less than 14 in. thick, 

or data insufficient to 

estimate reserves

Area of complex structures', coal 

beds undifferentiated

TAZEWELL 

COUNTY

Figure 3. --Generalized map of the Jawbone coal bed, Southwest Virginia field.
Measured 

Reserves Coal more than 

42 in thick

Coal 28 to 42 in. |1|||||| thick IIIIIIH

Coal 14 to 28 in. II I I II 

thick " ' ' "

Area of complex 

structures-, coal 

beds undifferentiated

Coal less than 14 in. thick, 

or data insufficient to 

estimate reserves

Figure 4. --Generalized map of the Raven coal bed, Southwest Virginia field.
The average of four analyses of samples, two 

from the Jewell Ridge No. 1 mine and two from the 

Haven Red Ash mine in Tazewell County, shows, on 

the as-received basis, 5. 8 percent ash, 0. 7 percent 

sulfur, and 14, 310 Btu. The composite of two samples from the Boiling mine formerly operated in 

Wise County shows, on the as-received basis, 6. 5 

percent ash, 1.0 percent sulfur, and 13, 940 Btu, 

(U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1944, pp. 74-77, 84-85). 

The coal from the Raven bed ranges in rank from 

high-volatile A to medium-volatile bituminous, and 

it possesses distinctive characteristics that have 

earned for it a high reputation as domestic fuel. It 

burns with no soot and very little smoke, holds heat 

for a long time, and burns almost intact until entirely 

consumed. The ash is low and is reddish pink in 

color, hence the local and trade name, "Red Ash. " 

One highly desirable quality of the coal, when used 

in domestic stokers, is that the fusion temperature 

of the ash is high and clinkering in the stoker is 

reduced to a minimum.

The Raven bed is now being mined on an extensive scale in Buchanan and Tazewell Counties, 

and in 1950 accounted for approximately 12 percent 

of the Virginia production. It has been mined on a 

comparatively Small scale in the past in Dickenson 

and Wise Counties, but no commercial operations 

are now being carried on in those counties.

Aily bed. --The Aily bed crops out in Russell, 

Dickenson, Buchanan, and Tazewell Counties. It 

is 100 to 160 ft above the Raven bed and ranges in 

thickness from 1. 5 to 3.0 ft. It contains a small 

tonnage of indicated and inferred reserves but is of 

minor importance as compared with the underlying 

Raven or the overlying Kennedy coal.

Kennedy bed. The Kennedy bed is correlated 

with the Douglas coal of West Virginia and is known 

locally as the Widow Kennedy, Harris, or Douglas. 

It crops out in a small area in southwestern Tazeweil 

County, in the southeastern parts of Buchanan and 

Dickenson Counties, and in Russell and eastern Wise 

Counties. The distribution of the bed is shown on 

the map (fig. 5). Nearly everywhere in its outcrop 

area a coarse massive sandstone, which forms an 

excellent horizon marker, lies a few feet below the 

coal.

In Buchanan County the Kennedy coal is 2. 5 to 

4.0 ft thick. In Dickenson County the thickness varies from 1 to 10 ft within short distances, and in 

Russell and Wise Counties the coal is generally 2 to 

4 ft thick. The bed thins to the north and in northwestern Buchanan and Dickenson Counties is of less 

than minable thickness or absent. Southwest of 

Russell Fork in Dickenson County, and over considerable areas in Russell and Wise Counties, the 

coal is badly crushed because of the proximity of 

the faults in those areas.

The Kennedy coal is of medium-volatile bituminous rank. The ash content varies from place to 

place, particularly in the crushed beds where it is 

impossible to separate the coal from foreign material in mining. The range of the ash, on the asreceived basis, is 5.1 to 27.0 percent in analyses 

of eight specimen samples, six from Russell County 

and two from Dickenson County; the average sulfur

content is 1.2 percent; and the heating value ranges 

from 10, 380 to 13, 960 Btu (U. S. Bureau of Mines, 

1944, pp. 48-49, 70-71).

The total estimated reserves in all categories 

for the Kennedy bed are larger than those for any 

other bed in the State, but the measured reserves 

are relatively small. The bed was first mined in 

Wise County in 1893 but since that time has supplied 

only a small tonnage. Only one mine is known to 

be operating in the bed at the present time.

Caldwell bed, About 50 ft above the Kennedy 

bed, in Tazewell County south of the Dry Fork anticline, a bed locally known as the Caldwell is exposed 

over a small area. It is from 2.0 to 5. 5 ft thick 

and contains small reserves.

Big Fork bed. --About 150 ft above the Kennedy 

bed, in Tazewell County, and 30 to 100 ft above the 

same coal in Buchanan County, is the Big Fork bed, 

which ranges in thickness from 2 to 3 ft, but which 

crops out over small areas only. The Big Fork-is 

'essentially a local bed and Is of little economic interest at the present time.

Lower Banner bed. The Lower Banner bed 

is correlated with the Gilbert coal of West Virginia, 

and in Buchanan, Dickenson, and Russell Counties 

is known locally as the Gary bed. It crops out in 

the highest ridges of western Tazewell County and 

underlies most of the eastern half of Buchanan County 

at minable thickness. Stratigraphically it is 215 to 

275 ft above the Kennedy bed in Buchaaan County, 

200 ft above the Kennedy in Dickenson and Russell 

Counties, and 180 to 225 ft above the same horizon 

in Wise County. In the vicinity of Keen Mountain, 

in Buchanan County, the coal is generally 4 to 6 ft 

thick and without partings. From this vicinity it 

thins in every direction and is divided by partings 

into benches over considerable areas. In the western half of Buchanan County it is generally less than

2 ft thick; but farther west, in Dickenson County, 

the coal is somewhat thicker, being generally 2 to

3 ft thick in the northwestern part of the county. It 

thickens noticeably to the southeast, however, and 

in southeastern Dickenson County and in Russell 

County it is 3 to 5 ft thick and has been mined in the 

vicinity of Dante, in Russell County, on a large 

scale. In eastern Wise County the Lower Banner 

bed is 30 to 45 in. thick, all clean coal.

In addition to the thinning of the bed between 

the Buchanan County and the Wise-Russell County 

districts, which is well shown on the bed map (fig. 

6), the markedly different characteristics of coal 

from the two mining districts merit mention. The 

coal in the Wise-Russell County district is highvolatile A bituminous in rank. In Buchanan County, 

where the name "Gary" is used commercially, it 

is of medium-volatile rank but, like the lower Raven 

bed, possesses unusual qualities that enhance its 

market value. It is characteristically steel-gray 

rather than black in color and is harder than most 

coals of similar rank, so that a larger-than-normal 

proportion of lump coal is produced in mining. The 

distinctive color is attributed to the exceptionally 

large amount of attrital matter contained in the bed. 

The coal stands shipment well, and its storing qualities are comparable to those of the Pocahontas

19
EXPLANATION 

Measured Indicated 

Reserves Reserves Coal more than 

42 in. thick

Coal 28 ta 42in. iIMIIII thick IIIIIIH

Coal 14 to 28 in. M i i M thick II N II

Coal less than 14 in. thick, 

or data Insufficient to 

estimate reserves

I "1

Area-of complex 

structures-,coal 

beds undlfferentiated

TAZEWELL COUNTY

RUSSELL COUNTY

Figure 5. --Generalized map of the Kennedy coal bed, Southwest Virginia field.
EXPLANATION

Cool more thon

42 in. thick 

Coal 28 to 42 in.

thick

Cool 14 to28in. 

thick

Measured 

Reserves

rrmm 

nrrm

Indicated Reserves

VTTTTX U7~A

Inferred 

Reserves

Mined-out 

oreo

42-inch line

Cool less thon 14 in. thick, 

or data insufficient to 

estimate reserves

Area of complex 

structures-, coal 

beds undifferenfiated

28 inch line 14-inch line Fault

t

UPS**" i

Figure 6. Generalized map of the Lower Banner coal bed, Southwest Virginia field.
coals. As it is amost smokeless, large quantities 

are shipped to cities that have strict smoke abatement 

laws. An unusual characteristic is that the coal 

actually contracts on heating, whereas other coals 

of similar rank expand (Keystone Coal Buyers Manual, 1951, p. 319). The/ash and sulfur contents 

vary considerably from place to place, but some of 

the coal is low enough in sulfur to permit its use as

a blending coal in the manufacture of blast-furnace 

coke.

The range in composition of 10 samples from 

the Lower Banner or "Gary" bed in Buchanan County, 

and of seven samples from the Lower Banner bed in 

Russell and Wise Counties^ all on the as-received 

basis, follow (U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1944, pp. 

40-45, 70-73, 84-85):

Russell and 

BuchaHan County

Moisture .......

Volatile matter 

Fixed carbon ... 

Ash ............

Sulfur .........

Btu:

1.6- 8.1

21.4-23-5

62.1-68.4

5.6- 8.8

0.6- 1.8

Wise Counties

1.4- 3-1

31-3-36.6

5^-6-57-9

5.7-H.2

0.7- 1.1

Buchanan County, 13,120-14,280;

13,030-14,300.

The different characteristics of the Lower 

Banner coal in Buchanan and in Wise and Russell 

Counties, coupled with the large area between the 

two districts where the coal is thin or absent, suggest 

the possibility that the Lower Banner and "Gary" may 

actually be different beds rather than one bed. The 

stratigraphic evidence, however, indicates that they 

are actually the same bed.

The Lower Banner or "Gary" is one of the most 

heavily mined beds in Virginia at the present time 

and in 1950 accounted for about 14 percent of the 

State's production. About three-fifths of {he tonnage 

is produced in Buchanan County, the remainder in 

Russell, southern Dickenson, and eastern Wise 

Counties. '

tipper Banner bed. The interval between the 

Lower Banner bed and the next succeeding bed, the 

Upper Banner, increases southwestward from 30 to 

80 ft in Buchanan County to 100 ft in Dickenson and 

Russell Counties and 150 ft in Wise County. The 

thickness pf the coal also increases toward the southRussell and Wise Counties,

west; in Buchanan County the bed is thin and lenticular 

and contains only small indicated and inferred reserves. In Dickenson and Russell Counties, on the 

other hand, it is one of the most important beds and 

is being mined extensively. Over a large area in 

the central part of Dickenson County the coal is 4 to 

7 ft thick, and in another area in the northcentral 

portion of the same county it is 4 to 5 ft thick. Other 

areas of thick coal are in southeastern Dickenson 

County, in northwestern Russell County, and in Wise, 

County close to the Dickenson County line; here the 

coal is 4 to 6 ft thick. Aside from the areas named 

above, the bed is generally divided inte two or three 

benches by shale partings, which are generally so 

located that only one bench of the coal can be mined.

The Upper Banner coal is of high-volatile A 

bituminous ranki The range in-composition, "on the 

as-received basis, of several specimen samples 

from Dickenson, Russell, and Wise Counties is as 

follows (U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1944, pp. 46-51. 

68-73, 84-87):

Moisture .......

Volatile matter 

Fixed carbon ... 

Ash ............

Sulfur .........

Dickenson 

County

1.6- 2.4

30.7-33.3

58.5-63.1

4.1- 6.1

0.7- 1.3

Russell

2.0- 3-4

34.0-37.4

51.9-56.9

4.7- 9-5

0.5- 0.9

Btu: Dickenson County, 14,170-14,690j Russell County, 13,520-14,270; 

and Wise County, 12,660-14,400.

Wise 

County

2.0- 3-9

30.4-34.3

52.0-60.3

4.6-14.4

0.5- 0.6

The general distribution of the Upper Banner 

bed is shown by the bed map (fig/7). The bed ranks 

sixth among Virginia coal beds in total estimated 

tonnage in all categories but contains more measured reserves than any other bed in the State. It was 

first mined near Coeburn in 1893 and production 

from it has been almost continuous since that date. 

In 1950 the Upper Banner bed accounted for approximately 13 percent of the total Virginia production.

Splash Dam bed. The Splash Dam bed is 60 

to 90 ft above the Upper Banner and is exposed over 

large parts of Buchanan and Dickenson Counties. 

In Buchanan County it is one of the most persistent 

beds and crops out in most of the valleys, although

22

at many localities the partings are thick enoughto 

split the coal into benches and lower its commercial 

value. The reserves in Buchanan County are very 

large, however, accounting for more than two-thirds 

of the total estimated reserves for the bed, which 

ranks fourth among Virginia coals in total estimated 

reserves. Most of the other reserves in the bed 

are in Dickenson County, where the coal is 3 to 4 ft 

thick in the southern part of the county and 3.0 to 

3.5 ft thick in the northern portion. In other areas 

the Splash Dam bed is generally thin or separated 

into benches by persistent partings. In Wise County 

the horizon of the bed is marked by only a thin bloom.

In general the Splash Dam coal thins noticeably 

from northeast to southwest and is characterized by
 \v>-£ *o8

EXPLANATION

Measured 

Reserves Caal more fnon flnnnnnnni 

42 in. thick Hill

Coal 28to 42in.

thick 

Coal 14 to 28 in.

thick

Indicated Reserves Inferred Reserves

rmrm 

rrrm r773

Coal less than 14 in. thick, 

ar data insufficient to estimate reserves

cvn

Area of complex 

structures , coal 

beds undifferentiated

14-Inch line Fault

A

10 MILKS

Figure 7. Generalized map of the Upper Banner coal bed, Southwest Virginia field.
fairly large areas of relatively clean coal separated 

by areas in which the coal is thinner and contains so 

many partings that mining operations are not feasible. The bed is being mined at the present time in 

Dickenson and Buchanaff Counties, and it accounted 

for about 8 percent of the annual production in 1950. 

The general distribution of the bed is shown on the 

bed map (fig. 8). As the data used in compiling this 

map were incomplete for certain areas, it is probable 

that some of the mined-out areas are shown smaller 

than they actually are.

Hagy bed. The Hagy bed, the highest extensive coal in the Norton formation, is about 110 ft 

above the Splash Dam in Buchanan County, the interval diminishing to 100 ft in Dickenson County and 

80 ft in Wise County. The coal is a few feet above a 

massive sandstone.and averages 3 to 4 ft in thickness 

in Buchanan County but thins to the west, being only 

1.7 to 2.7 ft thick in Dickenson and Wise Counties. 

The bed is known locally in Buchanan County as the 

War Eagle bed, and in Dickenson County as the 

Edwards( ?) coal. It has been mined in Wise County 

in the past, but no commercial mines are now being 

operated in the bed.

Norton bed. The Norton bed, the highest coal 

in the Norton formation, occurs only in Dickenson 

and Wise Counties, where it is 90 to 370 ft above the 

Hagy. bed. Most of the reserves are in Wise County, 

where the bed is known locally as the Middle Norton, 

Yellow Creek, JGladeville, or Edwards coal; there 

it is as much as 40 ft below the Gladeville sandstone. 

In Dickenson County, where the local name Yellow 

Creek is used in some areas, the coal is directly 

under the Gladeville and therefore at the top of the 

Norton formation. The coal is 2. 5 to 5.0 ft thick in 

the Guest River basin of Wise County but thins in 

every direction from that area. No coal at the horizon of the Norton bed is known in eastern Dickenson 

County or in Buchanan County.

The Norton coal is well suited for making coke 

and has been mined on a large scale for that purpose. 

A composite analysis, on the as-received basis, of 

three specimen samples from the Gladeville No. 3 

mine in Wise County shows 7. 5 percent ash, 1.4 

percent sulfur, and 13,640 Btu (U. S. Bureau of 

Mines, 1944, pp. 86-87). The bed is being mined 

at the present time near Dorchester, in Wise County.

Reserves in the Norton formation

The total estimated reserves, excluding known 

mined-out areas, of coal in the Norton formation, 

as of January 1, 1951, were 7,249 million tons, of 

which 492 million tons were classed as measured 

reserves, 3,896 million tons as indicated reserves, 

and 2,861 million tons as inferred reserves. Of the 

total reserves of the Southwest Virginia field, the 

11 beds in the Norton formation account for 67 percent of the tonnage in all categories, and for 62 pei - 

cent of the measured reserves. One reason for the 

relatively large tonnages is that the Norton formation coals crop out across most of the Southwest 

Virginia field and underlie at minable depth much 

larger areas than the beds in either the underlying 

Lee formation or thd overlying Wise formation. The 

largest reserves in the Norton formation are in 

Buchanan County, followed by Dickenson and Russell

Counties. The distribution of reserves by counties, 

thickness of beds, and categories of reserves is 

given in tables 2, 3, 7, and 8.

The beds in the Norton formation that contain 

the largest reserves in all categories are, in order, 

the Kennedy, Jawbone, Raven, and Splash Dam. 

Those beds containing the largest measured reserves 

are the Upper Banner, Lower Banner, Splash Dam, 

Raven, Tiller, Jawbone, and Norton. The largest 

production in 1950 was from the Raven bed, followed 

by the Lower Banner, Upper Banner, and Splash Dam. 

The total annual production from the formation is 

on the order of 6 million tons, of which approximately 

half is from Buchanan County, with Dickenson, 

Russell, Tazewell, and Wise Counties following in 

the order named.

Coal beds in the Wise "formation 

Description

The complete section of the Wise formation 

is exposed in Virginia only fci Lee and Wise Counties, 

the section being somewhat thicker in the former. 

Lee County also contains more coal beds in the formation, the total being 21 as compared to 17 in Wise 

County. Only the lower part of the formation, containing seven named coal beds, is exposed in Dickenson County; but in Buchanan County a somewhat 

thicker section, including nine named coal beds, 

crops out. The beds are discussed in the following 

paragraphs.

Dorchester bed. The Dorchester bed, the 

lowest coal in the Wise formation, rests directly 

upon the Gladeville sandstone in Lee and Wise 

Counties, and 15 to 25 ft above that formation in 

Dickenson and Bucharian Counties. The bed is known 

by numerous local names, among which are, in 

Wise County, the Norton No. 2, Haskell No. 3, 

Gladeville, Esserville, and Big Dirt seam. In 

Russell, Dickenson, and Buchanan Counties the names 

Glamorgan and Gladeville are used widely; and Cedar 

and Little Cedar are employed locally in Buchanan 

County. (See pi. 3.) In Lee County, where the bed 

crops out in Stone Mountains, it is known locally as 

the Marcee or Cornett coal.

The Dorchester coal underlies the eastern 

half of Buchanan County and extends across Dickenson, Wise, and northwestern Russell Counties into 

Lee County. (See fig. 9.) At its northeasternmost 

outcrops in Buchanan County the bed is thin, averaging more than 1.7 ft in only a few places. It 

thickens somewhat toward the southwest, though it 

is generally not more than 2 ft thick in Dickenson 

County; but in the eastern part of Wise County it is 

more than 3 ft thick, and in the vicinity of Norton 

and westward along the Powell River the bed contains an average of 54 in. of coal and as much as 70 

in. in some measured sections. A thin layer of 

dirty coal immediately under the roof is characteristic of the Dorchester bed over much of its outcrop 

area, and the bed may carry a 1- to 6-inch streak 

of clay and dirty coal 18 to 21 in. below the top.

The Dorchester coal is excellent for coking 

and is now being mined extensively for that purpose. 

Several mines in Wise County are operating in the

24
Measured 

Reserves Cool more than

42 in. thick UUUlttUl

Coo' 2 ?h:!if2tn ' rTTTTTT1

Cool 14 to 28 in. I I I I I 

thick Mill

EXPLANATION

Indicated 

Reserves

Inferred 

Reserves

P771

Mined-out 

area

42-inch lin«

Coal less than 14 in. thick, 

or data insufficient to 

estimate reserves

28-inch line

Area of complex 

structures-, coal 

beds undifferentiated

Figure 8. --Generalized map of the Splash Dam coal bed, Southwest Virginia field.
KENTUCKY

WISE COUNTY

BUCHANAN COUNTY

EXPLANATION

Measured Indicated Reserves Reserves

Coal 28 to 42in. ii 11111 ii thick III III IH

Coal I4 to 28in. I I I I I 

thick I I I I » RUSSELL COUNTY

Cool less than 14 in. thick, 

or data insufficient to

Areo of complex structures -, coal 

beds undifferentiatee estimate reserves

Figure 9. Generalized map of the Dorchester coal bed, Southwest Virginia field.
bed at the present time. The range in composition, 

on the as-received basis, of 12 specimen samples 

from the Dorchester bed in Wise County is as follows ( U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1944, pp. 78-85):

Moisture.................... 2.0- 5.3

Volatile matter. ............. 31.8-36.1

Fixed carbon................ 53.4-59.7

Ash......................... 4.1-10.2

Sulfur....................... 0.8- 2.6

Btu: 13,270-14,380

Lyons bed. The Lyons bed is 65 to 75 ft above 

the Dorchester in Lee County, the interval decreasing to 40 ft in Wise County and 60 ft in Dickenson 

County. The bed apparently thins to extinction in 

northeast Dickenson County and is not present in 

Buchanan County. Blown locally as the Thompson 

Fraley, or Haskell No. 3 Marker bed, it is thickest 

in Wise County, which contains most of the relatively small reserves. There the coal is lr 3 to 3.6 

ft thick; it thins to the northeast and southwest, the 

maximum thicknesses being 2.5 ft in Dickenson 

County and 2.7 ft in Lee County.

The Lyons bed has been mined on. a small scale 

in Wise County, but no mines are now being operated 

commercially in the bed.

Blair bed. The Blair bed is .about 60 ft above 

the Dorchester in Buchanan County and 20 ft or less 

above the Lyons in Dickenson County, where the 

Blair coal is generally thin. In Wise County the 

intervaf between the Lyons and Blair beds is 50 to 

80 ft and in Lee County 65 to 75 ft. Local names 

for the bed are: Bends Creek in Buchanan County; 

Norton No. 7, Haskell No. 1, and No. 3 bed'in Wise 

County; and Bentley in Lee County. The coal is 

1.5 to 4.0 ft thick throughout its outcrop area, except 

in Dickenson County, where the maximum thickness 

is about '2.5 ft. In Wise County the coal is 3.5 to 

4.0 ft thick. It has a hard clear structure and as a 

rule is low in sulfur and ash. A composite analysis 

of three samples from the Esser No. 4 mine in 

Wise County shows, on the as-received basis, 5.2 

percent ash, 0.9 percent sulfur, and 14,260 Btu 

( U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1944, pp. 80-81).

The Blair bed is being mined by both underground and stripping methods at several localities 

in Wise County and in 1950 produced about 6 percent 

of the total Virginia production.

Eagle bed. The Eagle bed, known also as the 

Middle War "Eagle, is 45 to 50 ft above the Blair bed 

in Buchanan and Dickenson Counties; the horizon in 

Wise and Lee Counties contains no coal. The bed is 

1.3 to 5.0 ft thick in Buchanan County, which contains 

more than 90 percent of the estimated reserves, and 

1.3 to 4.7 ft thick in Dickenson County. It has been 

mined to some extent in the past, but no commercial 

operations are now being carried on in the bed. The 

total reserves are relatively small.

Clintwood bed. The Clintwood bed, one of the 

most 'videspreact and important beds in the Wise 

formation, crops out across the Southwest Virginia 

field from Buchanan County to Lee County. In Lee 

County the bed is known locally as the North Fork

or No. 3 bed, in Wise County as the Norton No. 8 

or Big Dorchester, and in Dickenson and Buchanan 

Counties as the Matewan or Feds Creek qoal. In 

Lee County the Clintwood is 125 to 150 ft above the 

Blair bed and 20 ft below the Addington sandstone 

member of the Wise formation,which is persistent 

in the southwestern part of the field. In Wise County 

the interval between the Blair and Clintwood beds is 

about 70 ft, and in Dickenson and Buchanan Counties 

it ranges from 70 to 95 ft.

The Clintwood coal crops out in the higher 

ridges in the northwestern and northcentral parts of 

Buchanan County, where it ranges in thickness from 

2.5 to 7.0 ft and over large areas is free from partings. In the mines operating in Buchanan County the 

coal is generally 58 to 65 in. thick. In Dickenson 

County the bed is thickest south of the Pound River 

and west of the town of Clintwood, where it contains 

4 to 11 ft of coal. In Wise County it crops out in 

many of the valleys south of the village of Pound and 

is as much as 8.3 ft thick as far west as Indian Creek. 

South and west of this area the bed is split into benches 

that are as much as 20 ft apart; but in the southcentral 

part of the field the bed contains 4 to 5 ft of coal and 

a 1- to 5-foot parting. In Lee County the Clintwood 

bed is exposed from the vicinity of St. Charles 

northeast into Wise County. The thickness there is 

variable, but the bed generally contains 3.5 ft or 

more of coal and reaches a maximum thickness of 

more than 8 ft. In some areas it contains one shale 

parting, 3 to 12 in. thick, in the lower part of the 

bed.

The distribution of the Clintwood bed is shown 

on the bed map (pi. 2yA). The range in composition 

among five analyses of samples from two mines in 

Buchanan County, on the as-received basis, is as 

follows (U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1944, pp. 38-39):

Moisture...................... 1.9- 2.1

Volatile matter................ 31.4-32.1

Fixed carbon.................. 58.7-61.9

Ashv.......................... 4.4- 7.2

Sulfur......................... 0.7- 1.6

Btu: 14,070-14,530

A specimen sample from the Virginia Blue Gem 

No. 1 mine in Lee County shows, on the as-received 

basis, the following composition (U. S. Bureau of 

Mines, 1944, pp. 56-57):

Moisture.......................... . 3.2

Volatile matter................... . 38.5

Fixed carbon..................... . 56.1

Ash ............................... 2.2

Sulfur............................. 1.7

Btu: 14,060

The Clintwood coal is being mined on an extensive scale in Buchanan and Dickenson Counties and 

on a smaller scale in Wise County. More coal is 

produced from this bed than from any other bed in 

Virginia, the production in 1950 being about 18 percent of the total for the State. A large tonnage is 

recovered from the bed by strip-mining in Dickenson 

County.

27
Addington and Rocky Fork beds. The Addington 

and Rocky Fork are local beds that are exposed in 

small areas in Wise County and that have not been 

correlated with any of the more widely exposed beds. 

The Addington.bed is 20 to 40 ft above the Clihtwood 

and is 1.3 to 3. 5 ft thick; it has been mined in the 

past but information on areas that have been mined 

out is not available. The Rocky Fork bed is 40 ftabove the Addington and is 1.7 to 2.0 ft thick; it has 

been mined on a small scale. Reserves in the Addington 

and Rocky Fork beds are very small.

Imboden or Campbell Creek bed. The Imboden 

bed of Wise aiicTLee Counties extends northeastward 

into Dickenson and Buchanan Counties, where the 

accepted name of the bed is the Campbell Creek. 

Local names are; in Lee County, the No. 1 bed; in 

Wise County, the Lower Boiling and Lower Campbell 

Creek bed; in Dickenson and Buchanan Counties, the 

Imboden, Upper War Eagle, Freeburn, Burnwell, 

Warfield, Lower Elkhorn, Lower Marrowbone, and 

No. 2 Gas bed.

The Imboden, or Campbell Creek bed, lies 

above one of the thickest barren intervals in the 

Southwest Virginia coal field; the interval between the 

Imboden and the underlying Clintwood is 260 to 300 ft 

in Lee County, 300 to 500 ft in Wise County, about 

270 ft in Dickenson County; and 225 ft in Buchanan 

County. The bed is thickest in the western part of 

Wise County, where at one locality it is nearly 10 ft 

thick and where over a large area it averages 5 to 6 ft. 

In the northern part of the county the bed locally contains areas of crushed coal known as "curly" coal 

and includes one to eight partings of shale, rash, clay, 

dirty coal, and salfur ranging from 1/4 in. to 34 in. 

in thickness. In the Pound River drainage basin of 

Wise County the coal is 1. 5 to 4.0 ft thick; in Lee 

County the maximum thickness is about 5.0 ft. In 

Dickenson and Buchanan Counties where, as stated 

above, the bed is usually known as the Campbell Creek, 

the range of thickness is 2. 5 to 3. 3 ft. As the bed 

crops out only in high land in these counties, reserves 

in the Dickenson-Buchanan part of the field are small. 

Distribution of the bed is shown on the bed map (pi. 

2,B).

The Imboden is highly regarded as a coking coal 

and is mined primarily for that purpose. The range 

in composition of several samples from mines in 

Wise County is, on the as-received basis, as follows 

(U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1944, pp. 78-85):

Moisture.................... 1.8- 2.8

Volatile matter............... 33.0-35.7

Fixed carbon................. 53.6-61.3

Ash......................... 1.2-10.4

Sulfur...................*.... 0.6- 0.9

Btu: 13,310-14,450

The average of two analyses, on the as-received 

basis, of samples from the Penn Lee No. 1 and No. 4 

mines in Lee County, is (U. S. Bureau of Mines, 

1944, pp. 56-57):

Moisture......................... 2.9

Volatile matter................... 38.0

Fixed carbon..................... 54.4

Ash. ........................ f .... 4.8

Sulfur............... ............ 0.8

Btu: 13,720

Stone Creek bed. The Stone Creek is exposed 

in a small area in the southwestern part of the coalbearing portion of Lee County, where the maximum 

thickness of the coal is 2.2 ft. The reserves in this 

uncorrelated bed are very small.

Kelly bed. The Kelly bed is 30 to 70 ft above 

the Imboden in Lee County and 20 to 40 ft above the 

same bed in Wise and Dickenson Counties; it does not 

extend as far northeast as Buchanan County. The 

coal has a maximum thickness of 4.8 ft in Wise County, 

where it contains fairly large reserves. In Lee and 

Dickenson Counties the reserves are small. The bed 

is known locally in Wise and Buchanan Counties as 

the Upper Boiling or Five-Foot bed and is'the highest 

coal exposed in Dickenson County. It is being mined 

in Wise County.

Little Alma and Alma beds. The Little Alma 

bed, less than 2 ft thick, and the Alma bed, 2. 5 ft 

thick, crop out in small areas in northeastern Buchanan 

County. The Little Alma bed is 100 ft above the 

Campbell Creek bed and the Alma is 50 ft above the 

Little Alma. No reserves have been calculated for 

either of these beds.

Lower Cedar Grove bed. The Lower Cedar 

Grove bed, also known as the Lower Thacker, is 

60 ?t above the Alma bed, 210 ft above the Campbell 

Creek, and is exposed only in the highest ridges in 

the northeastern part of Buchanan County. The coal 

is 1.5 to 8.0 ft thick, and the bed contains small 

indicated and inferred reserves.

Cedar Grove bed. The Cedar Grove bed is 

known also as the Red Jacket, Thacker, and Upper 

Thacker, which names are used for the bed |n West 

Virginia. In Virginia the bed crops out in a relatively 

small area in the higher parts of northeastern Buchanan 

County, about 80 ft above the Lower Cedar Grove. 

It is the highest coal in Buchanan County and is now 

being mined near the village of Ward, where ijtis 

12 ft thick; it averages 10 ft over much of its outcrop 

area.

At the time reserves in the Cedar Grove bed 

were calculated complete information on recent operations in the coal was not available, and known points 

of information were so widely spaced that it was necessary to classify the reserves as indicated and 

inferred. It is likely that with a small amount of 

additional information it would be possible to reclassify a large part of the indicated reserves in the 

bed as measured coal.

Pinhook bed. The Pinhook bed crops out in 

northeastern Lee County and in adjacent parts of 

Wise County, where it is known locally as the Meadow 

bed. The coal is 20 to 48 in. thick over a small area 

but is divided by many parting^ and is therefore 

difficult to mine, though the quality of the coal itself 

is good. The bed contains small reserves that are 

not being mined at the present time.

Lower St. Charles bed. The Lower St. Charles 

bed, originally known in Lee County as the No. 2 

bed, crops out in the southwestern part of the county 

in the "Pocket" district. Stratigraphically the bed 

is 150 to 260 ft above the Imboden bed; the coal is 

thin, being nowhere more than 3 ft thick and at most 

localities ranging from 1.7 to 2.5 ft. It has not been 

mined except for local use and contains only small reserves.
Upper St. Charles bed. The Upper St. Charles 

bed of Lee clSunty, formerly known as the No. 2A 

bed, probably should be correlated with the Lower 

Standiford coal of Wise County, though the outcrop 

has not been traced across the county line. The 

bed is 200 to 300 ft above the Imboden coal in Lee 

County and about 260 ft above the same bed in Wise 

County; it is 30 to 65 ft above the Lower St. Charles 

in the latter"s area of occurrence. The Upper St. 

Charles bed is only 2.2 to 3.0 ft thick in Lee County 

and even less in Wise County. It has been mined in 

the past in Lee County, where it contains small 

reserves. No reserves of minable thickness are 

known in Wise County.

Harlan or Upper Standiford bed. --The bed 

known in Lee~C*ounty as the fiartan or Jackrock 

bed, and in Wise County as the Upper Standiford 

bed, is also known locally in both counties as the 

Wilson coal. Although outcrops are not continuous 

from one county to the other, there is little doubt 

as to the continuity of the two coals and they are here 

discussed as one bed, which is 30 to 60 ft above the 

Upper St. Charles in Lee County and about 20 ft 

above the Lower Standiford in Wise County* The 

coal is fairly thick across the entire area of occurrence, ranging from 2.7 to 6.5 ft and averaging 

about 4 ft. It appears to be thickest about 6 ft 

including partings in northwestern Lee County and 

thins both northeast and southwest from that area. 

It generally contains one or more partings of 

pyritife?o«is shale or bony coal that range in thickness 

from I in. to more than a foot. Analyses show a 

large proportion of sulfur; one analysis of a sample 

from the Puckett Creek No. 1 mine to Lee County 

shows, on the as-received basis, 8.6 percent ash, 

2.8 percent sulfur, and 13,040 Btu (U. S. Bureau 

of Mines, 1944, pp. 58-59).

The Harlan bed has been mined da a fairly 

large scale in-Lee County, though no mines are 

being operated commercially in the bed at the present time. So far as is known, the bed has not been 

mined in Wise County.

Kirk bed. The Kirk or No* 4 bed is known 

only in the southwestern part of Lee County, where

it is 150 to 200 ft above the Harlan coal. It averages 

less than 1.5 ft in thickness and in most places ia 

so divided by partings that it is not economical to 

mine. It contains only small reserves and has been 

mined only on a small scale.

Taggart Marker or ^B" bed. The Taggart 

Marker, or "B* bed, liTLSCTtfaBove the Upper 

Standiford in Wise County and about tile same distance above the Kirk bed in Lee County. It is 30 to 

50 ft below the Taggart bed in Wise County and 15 

to 75 ft below that bed in Lee County. The Taggart 

Marker is 18 to 40 in. thick in Lee County, and, 

where it is now being worked in Wise County, is 

39 to 42 in. thick.

The Taggart Marker is generally worked in 

conjunction with the overlying main bed* and preseni 

operations in the seam will bo discussed under the 

Taggart bed. An additional reason for this treatment is that there is some doubt as to whether the 

bed known as the Darby or No. 6 coal in Lee County* 

which has Usually been correlated with the Taggart, 

is not actually the Taggart Marker.

TaooartbecU The Taggart bed is 30 to 75 ft 

Taggart Marker in Lee County and* 30 to

Tfcft

above

§0 ft above the same horizon in Wise County.

coal has many local names: No. 6, Darby, MteGonnell,

Forty-two inch, Keokee, ftoda* and *G" bed. ft

underlies a large area in Wise and Lee Counties at

thicknesses of 2.8 to 6.5 ft but loyally contains many

partings that may total as much as 1 ft in wild County

and 5 in. in Lee County.

The average heating value of the Taggart coal 

is greater than that of any other coal in Wise County, 

and the bed now ranks as one of the most important 

in Virginia. In addition to being widely used feugeneral industrial, railroad, and domestic purposes, 

it has long held a prominent plage in the gas and 

coking markets. At least ten mines are now operating in the Taggart and Taggftft Marker beds.

Analyses, on the as-reeeived basis, of several 

samples from mines in Lee aad Wise Counties show 

the following range in corapexatkm for tile Taggart 

bed (U. & Bureau of Mines, 1W4, pp. 54-5? 78-83):

Moisture.......

Volatile matter.. 

Fifed carbon.. *, 

Ash......*..,.g

Sulfur...*....,.

Btu:

Low SPtintbed. TB<t Low Splint bed, 

known locally in Lee County as the No. 6 or 

Creveling bed and in Wise County as tit® Buck 

Knob bed, is 200 to 400 ft above the Taggart 

bed. It is 4.5 to 5.5 ft thick over a large 

area in Lee County bat thins to the northeast, 

averaging 2.5 to 3.5 ft of coal and 6 to 12 in. 

of partings in Wise Coaaty. The bed contains

Lee County

2.8- 4.3

34.1-38.4

55.4-68.5

1.7- 4.6

0.4- 0.8

13,720-14,180

Wise County

1.5- 2,8 

32. d- 38. 7

2.2- 3.9 

0.6-0.8

14,580-14,810

one or more shale partings at nearly all exposures, and in the few localities where ifi» coal 

is very thick the thickness of the partings 

generally increases also. Despite Us name, 

the bed carries only a small proportion of 

true splint coal. A composite analysis of two 

samples from tfee Vtrgbilii Iron, Coal, & Coke 

Co. No. 2 aad No. 3 ndaes in Lee Count?
shows, on the as-received basis (U. S. Bureau 01 

Mines, 1944, pp. 58-59):

Moisture.......... .f .......... 3.5

Volatile matter................ 35.2

Fixed carbon.................. 53.2

Ash............................ 8.1

Sulfur......................... 1.1

Buu 13,070

Commercial operations in the Low Splint bed 

are concentrated in Lee County, which produces a 

relatively small tonnage from the bed.

Phillips bed. The Phillips bed, also known 

as the No. 7, is correlated with the Fire Clay coal 

of Kentucky and West Virginia and has been referred 

to as the Dean bed in reports of the Kentucky Geological Survey. It is about 260 ft above the Low Splint 

bed in Wise County, where the coal is about 2 ft thick 

without partings; in Lee County the interval above the 

LOW Splint varies from 250 to 400 ft, and the coal 

reaches a maximum thickness of 48 in. The coal 

generally contains a clay parting 2 to 12 in. thick in 

the lower part of the bed and locally has other partings 

of bone, clay, or shale. A composite analysis of 

two samples from the Phillips bed at the Benedict 

No. 1 mine in Lee County shows, on the as-received 

basis (U. S. Bureau of Mines,- 1944 pp. 56-57):

Moisture............ f .......... 3.7

Volatile matter.................35.5

Fixed carbon................... 52.8

Ash............................ 8.0

Sulfur......................... 0.8

Btu: 13,020 ,

All of the past and present-day commercial 

operations in the Phillips bed are in Lee County. In 

Wise County the bed is too thin for economic exploitation.

Gin Creek bed. The Gin Creek coal is confined 

to Lee County, where it is .often referred to as the 

No. 8 bed. It is 150 to 250 ft above 'the Phillips bed 

and is exposed high in the flank of Little Black Mountain, where it is 2.5 to 4.0 ft thick. Its area 6f 

occurrence is small and it contains only small reserves. It has never- been mined on a commercial 

scale.

Wax bed. The occurrence of the Wax or No. .9 

coal is confined to Lee County,, where it is 75 to 125 ft 

above the Gin Creek bed in the same general outcrop 

area as that coal. It is as much as 5 ft thick and 

locally contains a parting near the base. It ha&been 

mined for local use and contains small reserves.

Pardee bed. -»-The Pardee esal underlies narrow 

strips in Lee and Wise Counties close to the Virginia'- 

Kentucky State line. It is correlated/with the Limestone 

and Smith coals of Kentucky; in- Lee County it is; 

known locally as the No. 10 bed; In Wise Cbunty it' 

is also caUed the Baddfx, or Parsons bed. It is'40 

to 50 ft above the Wax bed and 275 to 400 ft above the 

Phillips bed in Lee County, fcnd abbut 400 it-above : 

the Phillips in Wise County. The coal is 9 to 11 ft 

thick in Wise County, which contains most of the ,

estimated reserves; but the coal may contain partings 

of clay, shale, sulfur, rash, or bone coal ranging up 

to several inches in thickness. In Lee County the 

coal is thinner, ranging from 4.5 to 5.0 ft in thickness, 

and usually carrying a thin clay parting in the upper 

part of the bed and a thin shale parting in the lower 

part.

A composite analysis of six samples from the 

Pardee bed at the Pardee No. 1 mine in Wise County 

shows, on the as-received basis (U. S. Bureau of 

Mines, 1944, pp. 82-83):

Moisture........................ 2.5

Volatile matter.................. 35.2

Fixed carbon.................... 56.1

Ash............................ 6.2

Sulfur..........................' 0.9

Btu: 13,750

In the past the. Pardee bed has been mined on a 

fairly large scale in both Lqe and Wise Counties, but 

no commercial operations in the bed are now being 

carried on.

Morris bed. The Morris bed, the No. 11 bed 

of Lee County, is correlated with the Cornett bed of 

of Kentucky. It is 350 to 850 ft above" the 'Pardee , 

coal, cropping out in small areas in Wise and Lee 

Counties. In the former county it is 3.0 to 5.5 ft 

thick, in the latter only about 3.0 ft. It thus differs 

from most of the underlying beds, which reach their 

greatest thickness in Lee County and thin toward the 

northeast. The Morris bed has been mined on a 

small scale only in the past but is now being developed 

commercially in Lee County.

High Splint bed. The High Splint bed, the 

No. 12 coal of Lee dounty, is the highest minable 

coal cropping put in Virginia. In Wise County, which 

contains most of the reserves, the bed is directly, 

under the Harlan sandstone; in Lee County it is 

separated from that unit by 5 to 25 ft of shale and 

sandstone of the Wise formation. In both counties 

it is 70 ft above the Morris coal.

The High Splint is, a true splint coal, usually 

without partings, and consistent in composition. It 

is 4 to 5 ft thick at most of its exposures. As it 

crops out high in the ridges, the area underlain by 

the bed is limited,and the reserves are correspondingly 

, small.

Reserves in the'Wise formation

The estimated remaining reserves of coal in 

the Wise formation as of January 1, 1951, were 

2,738 million tons, of which 270 million tons were 

classed as measured reserves, 1,336 million ton? 

as indicated reserves, 'and 1,132 million tons as 

inferred reserves; T\e la^ge^t total reserves are, 

in order, in the Clintw<iod, I^orc'hester, Imboden, 

Blair, and Eagle beds; the gteatest measured re*- 

serves in thVTaggart, ClittropiDd, Dorchester, 

Pardee, and Low Splint Taeds, 'The lower coats in ' . 

the formation crop out across much of the Southwest 

Virginia field; but the higher beds, including those 

that are now being mined most extensively, are 

largely confined td Wise and Lee Counties. The present

30
production is' largely from the Taggart and Taggart 

Marker and from the Imboden, Dorchester, and 

Clintwood beds.

THE VALLEY FIELDS 

General features

The Valley coal fields are in the Valley of 

Virginia in the western part of the State, mostly in 

Botetourt, Roanoke, Montgomery, PulasM, Wythe, 

Bland, and Smyth Counties, where nine small fields 

are scattered over an area about 100 miles long 

northeast and southwest and not more than 20 miles 

wide. Another field is about 100 miles to the northeast, in northern Augusta and southern Rockingham 

Counties. The locations of the 10 Valley fields are 

indicated on the index map (fig. 1); the MontgomeryFulaski-Bland-Wythe County area, which contains 

the estimated reserves of the Valley fields, is 

shown on a larger-scale map (fig. 10).

The Valley of Virginia is part of the Valley and 

Ridge province, which lies east of the Appalachian 

Plateau from Alabama to Pennsylvania. The topography 

is essentially a series of parallel valleys and ridges 

trending northeast, the heights of the ridges depending 

largely on the relative resistance to erosion of the 

rocks of which they are composed. .The region contains much excellent farmland, and most of the towns 

have sufficient industry to supports well-balanced 

community. In 1950 the total population of Montgomery, 

Pulaski, Bland, and Wythe Counties, was 06,128. The 

largest towns in that area are Pulaski, which has 9,136 

inhabitants; Radford, 8,979; and Wytheville, 5,405.

Blacksburg, to Montgomery County, is the seat of 

the Virginia Polytechnic Institute awl is the closest 

town to the Price Mountain and Brushy Mountain coal 

fields, which have been by far the largest producers 

of. coal in the Valley. Most of the area is drained by 

the New River, which flows northwest between 

Montgomery and Pulaski Counties and drains into 

the Ohio River in West Virginia.

Montgomery, Pulaski, Bland, and Wythe 

Counties are served by the Norfolk and Western 

and the Virginian Railways and have excellent highway transportation over ,U. S. No. 11 and a number 

of other good Federal and State roads. The other 

coalfields, in Augusta, Rockingham, and Smyth 

Counties, also have good rail and highway transportation.

Stratigraphy

According to Campbell (1925) the rocks exposed In the Valley coal fields form a sequence 

about 15,000 ft thick, ranging in age from Cambrian 

to Mississippian. The units composing the sequence 

vary in thickness from place to place, but as a general rule the beds thin from the northeast. The 

lower half of the sequence consists largely of dolomite and limestone, mostly of Cambrian age; the 

upper half is predominantly sandstone and shale of 

Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, and Mississippian 

ages. The coal-bearing unit is the Price formation 

of Mississippian age, which immediately overlies 

the Chemung formation of Devonian age. The 

Chemung consists .of gray and green shale and thickbedded sandstone and reaches its maximum thickness, 

in Virginia, about 2,000 ft, north of Bland, in Bland 

County.

»The greatest known thickness of the Price 

formation, 1,700 to 1,800 ft, is in Price Mountain, 

Montgomery County. In western Bland County and 

eastern Smyth County, at the approximate southwest 

end of the Valley coal fields, the Price formation is 

only 600 ft thick. It consists throughout the coal 

fields of conglomerate,, sandstone, shale, and coaL 

. The conglomerate, named the Cloyd conglomerate 

member by Butts (1940), occurs locally at the base 

of the formation southwest of the New River; at other 

localities the basal portion of the formation consists 

of a purplish sandstone. The Price grades upward 

into the Maccrady shale, a characteristically red 

unit that reaches a maximum thickness of about 

800 ft near the New River. The Maccrady is the 

youngest unit exposed in the Valley fields.

Structure

Throughout toe Valley of Virginia the strata 

in general have been folded into northeast-trending 

synclines and anticlines, and at many places the 

folds have been overturned and faulted, generally 

toward the northwest The resulting overthrust 

faults, which have placed older strata over younger 

beds, are a characteristic feature of the Valley.

The most important structural feature in the 

Valley coal fields is the Pulaski fault, a major overthrust extending from the vicinity of Greenville, 

Augusta. County, southwest at least as far as

31
Marion, Smyth County, where it apparently splits 

into several minor faults. The fault plane dips to 

the southeast at low angle; Butts (1940) suggested 

that the horizontal displacement of the strata along 

this fault may be as much as 20 miles. In Montgomery, 

Pulaski, Bland, and Wythe Counties, where the fault 

influences the coal outcrops to a large extent, the 

rocks above the fault plane are mostly of Cambrian 

age and those below range from Ordovician to Mississippian. Strata both above and below the fault 

plane are folded and crushed, those below being 

disturbed more intensely than those above.

Coal beds

Coal occurs at many horizons in the Price 

formation, but the beds generally are thin and irregular. The thickest beds are in Montgomery, 

Pulaski, Bland, and Wythe Counties. They occur 

in a zone that is about 1,000 ft above the base and 

700 ft below the top of the Price formation in

Montgomery County but near the top of the unit in 

Bland and Smyth Counties. In this zone the thickest 

and most persistent bed is known as the Merximac 

or Big bed; the other minable seam is the Langhome 

or Little bed, which in Pulaski and Montgomery 

Counties is 20 to 70 ft below the Merrimac. At many 

localities, however, identification of the two beds is 

difficult and correlations are not always dependable. 

As a rule the Merrimac bed is considerably thicker 

than the Langhorne but usually contains more partings. 

Both beds are high in ash.

The Merrimac coal is mined principally in 

Montgomery and in the Little Walker Mountain field 

in Pulaski County; the Langhorne bed is mined in 

the other Pulaski County fields. Analyses of specimen 

samples from the two beds in Montgomery and Pulaski 

Counties show that the rank of the coal is semianthracite. For the Merrimac bed in the coal fields 

of Montgomery County, the range in composition 

of several analyses, on the as-received basis (U. S. 

Bureau of Mines, 1944, pp. 58-65), follows:

Mountain

Moisture........

Volatile natter. 

Fixed carbon....

Ash..............

Sulfur..........

1.2- 4.8 

10.0-12.9 

6l.4;-69.8 

15-5-24.6

0.5- 0.?

Price Mountain

1.5- 3.8-

8.8- 9.7

68.1-74.6

14.1-21.1

0.5- 0.7

Btu.

A composite analysis (U. S. Bureau of Mines, 

1944, pp. 66-67), on the as-received basis, of four 

specimen samples from the Merrimac bed at the 

Parrott mine in the Little Walker Mountain coal field 

in Pulaski County shows:

Moisture............................ 1.6

Volatile matter...................... 11.4

Fixed carbon........................ 62.6

Ash........................... ..... 24.4

Sulfur......................... ..... 0.8

Btu: 11,280

Several analyses, on the as-received basis, of 

specimen samples from the Langhorne bed in Montgomery and Pulaski Counties show the following range 

in composition (U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1944, 

pp. 64-69):

Moisture....................... 2.9-4*7

Volatile matter.................. 9.8-12.3

Fixed carbon................... 66.7-72.0

Ash........................... 12.8-19r6

Sulfur......................... 0.3r 1.1

BtaK 11,850 - 12,890

The Max Meadows field of Wythe County includes three coal beds* which, a<xordiDg to several 

analyses, are of sexnianthracite rank. The range

11,310-12,650 11,780-12,880

in composition of several specimen samples, on the 

as-received basis, follows (U. S. Bureau of Mines, 

1944, pp. 88-89):

Moisture...................... 1.8- 4.7

Volatile matter................ 9.4-11.4

Fixed carbon.................. 60.0-66.2

Ash........................... 19.3-28.4

Sulfur.......;.,....,....,..... 0.5- 1.2

Bta 10,530 - 11,920

The coal in the Bland and Lick Creek fields in 

Bland and Smyth Counties occurs in two unnamed beds. 

Three analyses of coal from the Bland field indicate 

that the rank is medium- to low-volatile bituminous 

rather than semianthractte the more usual rank of 

the coal in the Valley fields. Insufficient analyses 

are available to classify the coal in Augusta and 

Rockingham Counties. ,, '

Coalfields 

Description

The Valley of Virginia contains ten named coal 

fields, which are discussed below, beginning with 

the most northeasterly field;

North River field

" * The North River field is in northern Augusta 

and southern Rcctongham Counties.(See fig. 1.) The
coal-bearing formation in the field is the Pocono 

sandstone of MIssissippian age, which is the equivalent of the Price formation of the other Valley coal 

fields. In the North River field the coal-bearing 

rocks, which are exposed near the axis of an asymmetrical syncline, extend for about 20 miles. The 

beds, however, are thin and irregular, and are 

generally composed of alternate layers of coal and 

bone or shale. At places where the coal is 14 or 

more in. thick it is generally described as "soft" and 

"impure," and at some localities it is badly crushed. 

Because of the thinness of the beds and the impurities 

in the coal, as well as the comparative lack of bed . 

information and analyses, no reserves have been 

estimated for the North River field.

North Mountain field

The North Mountain field, which is in northern 

Roanoke and southwestern Botetourt Counties, is a 

northeast extension of the Brushy Mountain field. 

(See below.) The workings in the field consist* of 

several abandoned prospects along a strip about half 

a mile wide on the southeastern side of North 

Mountain and its associated ridges. The beds dip 

southeastward and the field is largely near the axis 

of a syncline in which the rocks are badly crushed. 

The coal beds are generally shattered and deformed 

and may pinch out or thicken locally because of folding 

and faulting. No detailed measurements of the beds 

are knowq, and the information at hand is insufficient 

to estimate reserves for the field.

Brushy Mountain field

The Brushy Mountain field (fig. 10) is about 

2 miles south of and parallel to the northwestern 

boundary of Montgomery County and extends entirely 

across the county, a distance of about 20 miles. Most 

of the field is drained by the New River, but the eastern 

part is in the Roanoke River drainage system.

The Price formation, which crops out in the 

slope of Brushy Mountain, is about 1, TOO ft thick and 

contains minable coal about 1,000 ft above its base. 

Both the Merrimac and Langhorne beds crop out in 

the field, but the latter is generally too thin to mine 

profitably; at one locality in the western part of the 

field, for example, it consists of 12 Jo 14 in. of coal 

separated by a 1-inch parting. 1%e Merrimac bed, 

however, which is 20 to 70 ft above the Langhorne, 

is workable throughout most of the field. Generally 

speaking, the coal increases in thickness from east 

to west, except at one locality where it reaches a 

maximum thickness of 13.8 ft including 3.1 ft of 

partings. Near the western edge of the field, close 

to the New River, the bed is 7.5 ft thick and contains 

several partings that total 1.7 ft.

The coal beds in the Brushy Mountain field 

generally strike N. 60°-88° E.and dip 20°-30° SE. 

except in the eastern part of the field, where the dip 

increases to about 40°. Normal faults are common 

throughout the field, and over much of its outcrop 

area the coal is so badly crushed that it is difficult 

to mine. la fact operations have been confined largely 

to three areas: the western end of the field on the 

banks of .the New River; a second area about 5 miles 

northeast of the river; and the SLusser mine area, 

about 12 miles northeast of the river, where the

Merrimac bed attains its maximum thickness of 

13.8 ft.

The estimated original reserves of the Brushy 

Mountain field, which in the absence of precise data 

are classified as indicated and inferred reserves, 

total 89 million tons.

Price Mountain field

The Price Mountain field is an elliptical area, 

about 4 miles long east and west and 1 mile wide, 

in Montgomery County about 3 miles south of Blacksburg and 2 to 5 miles south of the Brushy Mountain 

field. (See fig. 10.) The coal crops out around the 

flanks of Price Mountain, a low-wooded ridge in the 

central part of the Price Mountain antic line.

Both the Merrimac and Langhorne beds crop 

out in the field, but only the former has been mined. 

The stratigraphic relationships of the two beds are 

essentially the same as in the Brushy Mountain field. 

Mining has been concentrated at the eastern end of 

the field, mostly invthe vicinity of the Merrimac mines, 

where a measured section shows 5.1 ft of coal and 

three layers of bone, ranging individually from 0.2 

to 0.6 ft in thickness and totalling 1.2 ft. In the 

western part of the field the coal is considered to 

be poor, though few actual exposures are known; the 

only measured section available shows the bed to be 

4.9 ft thick and to contain 3.1 ft of coal. Except for 

one layer 14 in. thick, the coal in this area occurs 

in layers generally less than 10 in. thick, separated 

by partings 3 to 6 in. thick. The Langhorne bed, 

which is 40 ft below the Merrimac near the Merrimac 

mines, contains at one measured section 26 in. of 

coal and a 1-inch parting.

The coal beds in the field dip away from Price 

Mountain at angles ranging generally from 20* to 50", 

though the beds are nearly vertical at some places 

on the north side of the mountain Most of the mines 

are in areas where the dips are low, which are also 

the areas in which the coal is thickest. No commercial mines are now operating in the field.

The estimated original reserves of the Price 

Mountain field total 43 million tons, classified as 

indicated and inferred.

Little Walker Mountain field

!.

The Little Walker Mountain field is essentially 

a southwestward continuation of the Brushy Mountain 

field across the New River into the northern part of ; 

PulasM County. (See fig. 10.) The coal is exposed 

in the southeastern slope of Little Walker Mountain 

and the north slope of Tract Mountain, a short ridge 

south of Little Walker Mountain; In general the coal 

beds in the field strike northeast and dip 30°-55° SE., 

away from Little Walker ^fountain.

Two coal beds near the middle of the Price 

formation in this field are believed to be continuations 

of the Merrimac and Langhorne beds of the Brushy 

Mountain field. The interval between the beds varies, 

being as little as 14 ft at one locality. Both beds 

have been mined in the field. In ah old mine near 

the New River in the northeastern part of the field 

the Merrimac bed is about 7 ft thick, of which more

33
than 5 ft is coal, and it averages more than 5 ft in 

thickness over a considerable distance. In the western 

part of the field the Merrimac bed in one mine reaches 

a total thickness of 20/4 ft, which includes 15.8 ft of 

coal. Here the partings are largely concentrated in 

the middle part of the bed to such an extent that for 

practical purposes the coal may be considered to be 

in two benches, 6.9 ft and 4.6 ft thick, respectively.

The Langhorne bed in the Little Walker Mountain field is generally 2.0,to 2.5 ft thick but locally 

reaches a thickness of as much as 5.2 ft, which 

includes a 0.1 ft parting; even thicker sections are 

reported but have not been measured.

The original reserves of the Little Walker 

Mountain coal field are the largest of all the Valley 

fields, being estimated as 98 million tons of indicated and inferred coal.

Pulaski field

The Pulaski coal field is a small area in the 

western part of Pulaski County near the town of 

Pulaski. (See fig. 10.) One coal bed, believed to 

be the Merrimac, crops out in this field for a distance of about 7 miles. At one locality the bed is 

7.0 ft thick, including two partings each 0.3 ft thick, 

one near the top and one near the bottom of the bed.

The coal in the Pulaski field occurs in a northeast-plunging syncline known as the Peak Creek syncline. The dip of the beds in general is less than 

50° but locally, in the southeastern part of the field, 

the beds are nearly vertical. The trace of the Pulaski 

fault is less than 2 miles east of the coal outcrop at 

most places, and the coal throughout the field appears 

to be badly crushed. It has been mined to some extent in the past, operations being favored by the 

closeness of the mines to the town of Pulaski and by 

the excellent rail transportation. 

I

The original reserves of coal in the Pulaski 

field are estimated at 44 million tons, all in the 

indicated and inferred categories.

Max Meadows field

The Max Meadows field occupies a narrow strip 

about 6 miles long and averages less than.a mile wide 

north of the village of Max Meadows, in Wythe County. 

{See fig. 10.) In this area at least three beds are 

exposed near the middle of the Price formation. The 

lowest bed, known as the No. 3 coal, is provisionally 

correlated with the Langhorne bed of other Valley 

fields. It is reported to be 3 to § ft thick in the eastern part of the field and to range from 3 to 10 ft near 

the western end, where the beds are badly crushed; 

the bed, however, is highly lenticular and the thick 

coal underlies small areas only. The two upper beds, 

called the No. 2 or Clark bed and the No. 1 or Gunton 

bed, are probably equivalent to the Merrimac bed of 

other fields, which is split into two beaches in the 

Pulaski field and in the western end of the Little 

Walker Mountain field. The Clark bed, In a mine 

near the eastern end of the field, is 25.8 ft thick, of 

which 13.4 ft is coal; this is the thickest coal bed 

known in -the Valley fields. In the same mine the 

Gunton bed, which is 12 ft above the Clark, is 6.2 ft

thick, including two partings 1 and 4 in. thick, 

respectively, below the middle of the bed.

The coal in the Max Meadows field Is exposed 

less than a mile north of the axis of an overturned 

syncline, and the beds in the northern limb dip 

15°-25* southward. Several abandoned prospects 

on the southern limb of the syncline show that coal 

is present there also, but it is so badly crushed that 

it has neither been correlated with other parts of the 

field nor even measured properly.

The original reserves of the Max Meadows field 

are estimated at 62 million tons, classified as indicated and inferred.

Reed Creek field

The Reed Creek field, in northern Wythe County, 

is on the southeast side of a ridge known as Little 

Walker Mountain or Brushy Mountain, a continuation 

of the ridge bearing those names in Pulaski and 

Montgomery Counties, respectively. There is a gap, 

however, between the coal outcrops in the Little 

Walker Mountain field and those in the Reed Creek 

field, the latter being limited by the overthrust masses 

of the Cove and Pulaski faults.

Three coal-beds have been reported in one 

abandoned mine in the Reed Creek field. Although 

exposures are poor and few measured sections are 

available, it appears that the beds are continuations 

of those in the Max Meadows field but are much 

thinner or split into several benches. In an abandoned mine in the eastern part of the field the lowest 

bed is 2.5 ft thick; the middle bed, which is; only 

6 ft above the lowest bed, is 5 ft thick; and the uppermost bed, about 20 ft above the middle bed, is about 

2 ft thick. Elsewhere in the field beds have been 

measured that range in thickness from 1 ft to 5.9 ft, 

of which 3.2 ft are coal. These beds, however, are 

exposed only locally and have not been correlated 

with beds in other parts df the field.

The coal beds in the Reed Creek field strike 

northeast and dip southeastward away from Little 

Walker and Brushy Mountains, Because the beds 

are close to major overthrust faults and are associated locally with minor folds, the coal is probably 

disturbed at' many places. An-analysis (U. S. Bureau 

of Mines, 1944, pp. 88*89) of a weathered sample 

from a prospect near the western end of the field 

shows, on the as-received basis, 23.6 percent ash, 

0.6 percent sulfur, and 11,330 Btu.

Toe original reserves of the'Reed Creek field 

are estimated at 19 million tons,'Classified as indicated and inferred.

Bland field

The Bland field i& about 20 miles long and 

1 to 2 miles-wide, extending northeast across southcentral Bland County. The northern limit of the 

field is the coal outcrop on the south side of Brushy 

Mountain; the other boundaries are determined by 

'the trace of a major overthrust known as the Bland 

fault.

34
The Price formation in this area is much thinner than in the fields to the northeast, being only 

600 to 700 ft thick. The rocks in general strike 

northeast and dip southeast and contain lenticular 

coal beds that have not been correlated with those 

of other fields. At some places where it is exposed 

the coal is badly crushed and contains many partings. 

Most sections show less than 3 ft of clean coal, but 

at one locality a bed contains 4.5 ft of coal and* at 

another 6 ft of coal and 2 ft of partings.

Though the coal in all the Valley fields to the 

northeast is ranked as semianthracite, that in the 

Bland field is medium- to low-volatile bituminous. 

The coal is very impure; the average of two analyses 

shows, on the as-received basis, 48,. 1 percent ash, 

1.3 percent sulfur, and 6,970 Btu (U. S. Bureau of 

Mines, 1944, pp. 38-39). Because of the impurity 

of the coal and the scarcity of reliable information 

on the beds, no reserves for the Bland field have been 

estimated.

Lick Creek field

The Lick Creek field, in western Bland County 

and northeastern Smyth County, is about 10 oniles 

long and 1 1/2 miles wide. In this area the Price 

formation, which reaches a maximum of only 300 to 

400 ft in thickness, crops out in the limbs of two 

northeast-trending synclines. The dip of the beds < 

is in general southeast. The coal is generally thin 

and contains many partings. The maximum thickness 

reported for the Smyth County part of the field is 

18 in., and, although a bed 6 to 8 ft thick is reported 

from one locality in the eastern part, this thickness 

does not conform with other measurements in the 

area.

No analyses of tHe coal ii the Lick Creek field 

are available but it is generally considered to be of 

bituminous rank comparable to that in the Bland field. 

Because of the lack of reliable data, no reserves for 

the field have been estimated.

Reserves of the Valley fields

Although the Valley, fields have been mined for a long time, the data available for preparing this 

reserve estimate are not sufficient to justify the 

inclusion of any measured reserves,1 This is partic- \ 

ularly true because the structural Conditions in,the 

fields are such that reasonably accurate estimates 

of measured coal would require information ^spaced < 

much more closely than tsj necessary for s$ch areas \ 

as the Southwest Virginia field, for example, where j 

the coal beds are essentially'flat lying. The obtain- , 

ing of closely spaced) <8at|t would demand m&2& field 

work and, in turn, wquld^donsume more time than-it \ 

is practicable to use'iii p)*£paring a £tate-wMe £e-^' i 

serve estimate. For thi£ reason thi estimates jpre- * 

sented herein are noj-in-any^ense t|ie firial|figutes 

for the areas involved but a|Te rather frameworks to { 

which additional reserves may be. added as'new data 

become available. \\ ! - ' '

Subject to the Iftnitatitms 

inal indicated and inferred reser\jfs^ of the 

fields are estimated M 355 milliop tons, ' 

as shown in table 4. j <* ^ *' !

No reserve estimates for the fields in Augusta, 

Rockingham, Roanoke, Botetourt, and Smyth Counties 

were made because of lack of reliable data.

Although there are reports of mining in the 

Valley fields as early as 1782, available production 

figures date from 1883 only. From that year through 

1949 the total reported production of the Valley fields 

was 6, 379, 656 tons. This figure is not entirely accurate because for some years the production of one 

or more counties in the Valley fields was grouped 

with that of counties in other fields, and in other 

years the reverse was true; but the figure may be 

considered a fair approximation. In general it may 

be said that prior to 1915 annual production from the 

Valley fields never reached 50, 000 tons, but that 

from 1916 to the present time the production has 

exceeded 100,000 tons in every year but one, the 

highest production being 271, 100 tons in 1929. (This 

figure includes a small production from Scott County, 

in the Southwest field. ) Since 1940 production has 

ranged from 120, 000 tons to 232, 000 tons annually, 

nearly all from Montgomery County.

THE EASTERN FIELDS 

Richmond Basin 

General features

The existence of coal in the Richmond basin 

(see fig. 11) was first reported to the Colonial Council of Virginia in 1701 by Col. William Byrd. Mining 

began, so far as the records show, in 1748, and the 

field was mined almost continuously from that year 

until about 1904, reported production for the period 

being more than 8 million tons. (See table 5. ) Since 

1904 the only reported production has been in 1910-13, 

1921-23, and 1940-41; the field is at present of historic rather than economic interest. It owed its 

development not so much to the quality or quantity of 

its coal as to its location close to the James River 

and its attendant canal systems, which furnished 

ready transportation for the first century of the field's 

life, and to the ready market provided by the city of 

Richmond and by other towns in Tidewater, Virginia.

, . \ ; ; The Richmond, basin -is about 33 miles long north 

and south and about 9 miles wide and comprises about 

ISO sq mi in parts of Amelia, Goochland, Chesterfield, 

 Henrico, and Powhatan Counties. The eastern edge 

pi tiAe-basin is about 8 miles west $ Richmond. The 

; northern part of the area is drained by the James 

R|ver, tftie southern -part <by the Appomattox River. 

A; few small coal-bearing areas are east of the prinone ^3 east of the village of Gayton, about 

$s fnorth of the James River, and the others are 

in the vicinity of Midlothian, about four miles south 

-of 'the

f ? . Stratigraphy

Tne Richmond basin is near the eastern edge 

of the Piedmont Plateau and is a structural and topQgraphifc basin in which sediments of the Newark 

* *, grbufc of Upper Triiyssic agej have -been preserved; 

These sediments rest on pre- Cambrian granite and 

granites-gneiss in a trough whose western edge is

35
Table 4*""" Rsti«ate4 original reserves of sejaianthracite in the Valley fields of Virginia, b

(in millions of short tons)

Field

Indieat*d reserves 

la beds 

14 to 26 

In. thick

In beds 

» to 4* 

In. thiei

la beds 

aware than 

42 in. 

ttoiok

Total

Inferred reserves

In beds 

14 to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to 42 

Ln. tnldi

In beds 

more than 

42 in. 

thick

Total

Tota

In beds 

14 to 2

in. thic

Montgomery County

Brushy Ift* « «.*»« 

Price Xt .......

total.., 18.16

kf. 

16. 23

67.^

23.41

63.31 90.92 18.10

8.90 

9*20

3. 

1.

10.07

9.07

4.36 19.14 4l.6o

23.88

12.38

36.26 

Pulaski County

Little Walter It. 

Fulasiti ....>....

Co\«aty total....

12.78 

 *. »

*£»? 

ia9

» *

1.19

%lf 

5.36

63.5^

T2.if 

5.3?

n.n

4.82

. * .

- 4-S2

«...

. * .

* . .

20.82 

38.61

5943

25.64 

38.61

64.25

17.60 

* * 

17.60

Wythe County

Heir M««itft»« Aii,l ,l4.j.

Reed Oreek ......

County total..**

_Jto$ii|l %*. * ** * i***

LUJUHJJJU- -Mill,

# ». :

.*.*

>0.9if-

-* * . *

* * 

10.%

* *'.

. . * .

126.85

* * * *

 * .

3P68*y

6.90

0.96

23.88

|.33

1.72

14.05

18*41

57.03

9-30

66.33

1^4.90

62.36

18.98

81.34

187.19

0.96

0.96

54.8
Table 5. Production of coal from the Richmond basin, 1748-1382, in short 

(figures **rom Eavenson (19^2), pp. '441-445)

Year Tonnage

1748 ....... 50

1749 ....... 50

1750 ....... 50

1751 ....... 50

1752 ...... 100

1753 ...... 100

1754 ...... 100

17TC 1OO

1756 ...... 100

M 1757 ...... 100

3 1758 ...... 200

1759 ...... 200

1760 ...... 300

1761 ...... 300

1762 ...... 700

1763 .... l,kOO 

1764 ...... 800

1765 ...... 900

1766 ...... 600

1767 ...... 500

1768 ...... 500

1769 .... 1,000

1770 ...... 500

Year Tonnage

1771 "iOO 1772 ...... 4oo

1773 ...... 400

1774 ...... 400

1775 ...... 400

1776 ...... 400

1777 ...... 500

1778 ...... 500

1779 ...... 500

1780 ...... 5oo

1781 ...... 500

1782 ...... 5oo

1783 ...... 4oo

1784 ...... 400

178? ...... 400 1786 ...... 400

1787 ...... 4oo

1788 ...... 400

1789 ...... 4oo 1790 ...... 4oo

1791 ...... 400

1792 ...... 400

1793 ...... 700

Year Tonnage

1794 

1795 

1796 

1797 

1798 

1799 

1800 

1801 

1802

1803

IdOL

1805 

1806

1807 

1808 

1809 .. 

1810 

1811 

1812 

1813

1814 

1815 

1816

. 1,000 

. 2,000

. 4,000

. 7,000 

22,000 

14,000 

18,000 

22,000 

26,000 

29,500 

40,500 

42,000

43,ooo 

1(4,000 

45,000 

46,ooo

47,000 

48,000

50,000

52,000

54,000 

56,000

57,000

Year Tonnage

1817 

1818 

1819 

1820

182? 

1823 

1824 

1825 

1826 

1827 

1828 

1829 

1830 

1831 

1832

1833 

1834 

1835 

1836

1837 

1838 

1839

58,000 

59,000 

60,000 

62,000

64,ooo

§

,000 

,966 

-040

66,720

88,641

84,720 

100,080 

. 93,350 

102,799 104,320 

132,033 

159,697

124,000 

201,600 

124,000

112,000

107,999 

. 96,000

Year Ton

I8k0 

1841 

1842 

1P43

18 [6 

18 1.7

1849 

1850 

1851 

1852 

1853 

1854 

1855 

1856 

1857 

1858

1860 

1861 

1862

. 88

. 79

. 77

. 95

115

134

12L

136

120

133

138

106

101

132

125

106

ll4

113

106

112

 94

115
bounded by a normal fault. The pre-Cambrian rocks 

are exposed on both sides of the trough.

The thickness of the Triassic rocks is not 

definitely known, but Roberts (1928) suggested that 

possibly the original thickness was less than 2,000 ft; 

he considered that the basins were too small to contain thick deposits, and he also allowed for duplication of the strata by faulting. The only available 

detailed section of the Newark group in the Richmond 

basin is a composite section by Heinrich (1879) based 

on information from drill holes and mine shafts in 

the vicinity of Midlothian. The deepest drill hole 

was 1, 338 ft. The total thickness of the composite 

section penetrated by drilling was 1,498. 7 ft, bvt, 

as it was measured oblique to the local dip of about 

40°, the actual thickness of the deposits measured 

was about 1,150 ft. The rocks penetrated are mostly 

sandstone, which is most prominent in the lower 

400 and the upper 200 ft of the sequence, and shale. 

The sandstone is generally white, light gray to buff 

in most places; some of the lower strata are reddish 

gray. A considerable amount of light-colored feldspar is found in the sandstone. The shale is gray, 

drab, brown, greenish gray, or black; some of the 

black shale is bituminous.

Roberts divided the Newark group in Virginia 

into three formations; the Border conglomerate, the 

Manassas sandstone, and the Bull Run shale. The 

two last-named units are interstratified to a considerable extent. Heinrich (1879) gives the interval 

from the basement rocks to the coal zone in the 

Manassas sandstone as about 435 ft, composed of 

28 ft of basal conglomerate and 407 ft of interstratified sandstone and shale. Clifford (1888) 

reported that the interval between the basement rocks 

and the coal zone varies but in places is more than 

500 ft. In the small detached basins east of the main 

basin, however, he noted that the interval between 

the granite and the coal is in some places only a few 

inches.

The coal occurs in the upper part of the Manassas 

sandstone, in an interval reported by Heinrich to be 

about 70 ft. The coal beds are nowhere continuous, 

and at many places merge into carbonaceous shale. 

The thickness of the beds above the coal zone varies 

from place to place; in the vicinity of Midlothian it 

is about 645 ft.

Diabase dikes cut the pre-Cambrian and Triassic 

rocks throughout the Piedment region and crop out 

in a few places in the Richmond basin. As the area 

is covered by thick soil and good exposures are few, 

it is probable that the basins contain more dikes 

than have been seen. These intrusives have altered 

the nearby coal into semianthracite or, at some 

places, to natural coke.

Structure

The Richmond basin, above the basement rocks, 

consists of tilted and faulted strata that in general 

strike northward and dip westward. The Western 

Border fault, a normal fault, terminates the field 

to the west. The dip of the beds "varies; in one mine 

near Midlothian it averages 30° but ranges from 19°-70°.

A prominent feature of the basin is the numerous 

high-angle faults, the planes of which generally strike 

northeastward and dip steeply toward the southeast. 

These faults make stratigraphic correlations and 

interpretations difficult and seriously handicap mining 

operations. Some writers have suggested that the 

small coal-bearing areas east of the basin proper 

have been separated from it by faulting.

Coal beds

Because the strata of the Richmond basin are 

tilted westward, the coal beds are exposed near the 

eastern edge of the field and are under progressively 

deeper cover toward the west except in a few small 

areas where faulting has brought them to the surface. 

The most important of these exposures are at ManaMn, 

near the western edge of the Basin north of the James 

River, and an area north and west of Huguenot Springs, 

south of the river. Except for these two relatively 

unimportant areas, practically all of the exploration 

and development of the coal in the basin has been 

carried on along the eastern edge and in the small 

detached eastern coal-bearing areas.

In his discussion of the Richmond basin, 

Heinrich (1879) reported two or more workable coa 

beds, the lower 3 to 5 ft thick and the upper 20 to 

40 ft thick, separated by about 50 ft of sandstone and 

shale. At some places he reported that the upper 

bed was divided into two benches by a parting 5 to 

10 ft thick. A large part of Heinrich's information 

came from the Midlothian area, where he was in 

charge of the mines.

The Richmond basin has been mined in five 

areas: Manakin and Huguenot Springs in the northwestern part, and Gayton, Midlothian, and Winterpock 

on the eastern edge. At Manakin, Woodworth (1902) 

reported three coal beds: the lower 3 to 4 ft thick, 

the middle bed, 12 ft thick, and the upper bed, 6 to 

8 ft thick. No figures are available for the relatively 

unimportant mines near Huguenot Springs. In the 

three eastern mining districts one to five coal beds 

were encountered, the topmost in general being the 

thickest. The Murphy Coal Corporation, which reopened the long-dormant Midlothian mines in the 

early 1920's, reported three beds: the lower or 

"A"-bed, consisting of 16 in. of coal and 12 in. of 

shale; the middle or "B" bed, 24 to 26 in. of coal 

and 18 to 24 in. of shale; and the upper or "C".bed, 

52 to 58 in. of coal. Shale partings are common in 

nearly all the beds; Clifford (1888) reported that 

such partings range up to 6 in. in thickness and were 

common at all localities except the detached basins 

east of the main basin. Pyrite is disseminated 

locally through the coal and much of the broken coal 

contains pyrite along the fracture planes. Besides 

being folded locally, fractured, and faulted, the 

coal thins in many places, especially at the crests 

of the numerous "rolls. " The roof of the mines is 

generally sandstone but in some areas is shale. 

Semianthracite and natural coke are found in the 

vicinity of Midlothian and Gayton in at' least one of 

the coal beds.

A few samples from the mines at Gayton show 

that the coal, except where it has been altered by 

the influence of intrusives, ranges in rank from

38
medium- to low-volatile bituminous. Analyses of 

the samples, on the as-received basis, average 

12.4 percent ash, 1.6 percent sulfur, and 12,845 Btu 

(U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1944, pp. 52-53). The 

sulfur is high in all samples from the basin, ranging 

from 1.3 to 2.2 percent in available analyses; but 

at least part of this impurity is in the form of pyrite 

and can be largely removed by washing. The highash content reflects the numerous partings in the 

coal beds.

Coal from the Richmond basin is commonly 

reported to possess coking qualities, but few tests 

have been made to determine its actual suitability 

"or that purpose.

Reserves

Except for a strip about a mile wide at the 

eastern edge of the basin and a few isolated areas 

farther west, practically nothing is known about the 

distribution of coal in the Richmond basin. Shaler 

and Woodworth (1899) state that nearly all coal a 

mile or more from the eastern outcrop is 2, 500 ft 

or more below the surface. It may be safely said 

that in the foreseeable future no coal will be mined 

at that depth in an area where the structure is complex and where mining conditions are correspondingly 

difficult. Also, information as to the continuity of 

the beds under most of the basin is lacking. For 

these reasons, the only areas for which reserves 

could be estimated are the narrow strip along the 

eastern edge of the basin and the small poorly 

defined upthrust blocks to the west. In all of these 

areas the coal has been mined unsystematically for 

many years, and no records except those relating 

to production are available. Except for sporadic 

mining at long intervals, the mines have been idle 

for almost half a century and are in such condition 

that they cannot be explored. This fact, coupled with 

the poor surface exposures, makes it impossible to 

assemble sufficient reliable data to justify the preparation of estimates of reserves at this time. Only 

after a large amount of detailed geologic investigation, 

coupled with a carefully planned drilling program, has 

been done in the field can the reserves be calculated 

with any degree of accuracy. For that reason no 

estimate of reserves in the Richmond basin is 

included in this report.

Farmville Basin

The Farmville basin (see fig. 11) is about 

30 miles west of the Richmond basin and is about 

20 miles long northeast and southwest and a maximum 

of 5 miles wide. It covers about 40 sq mi in Buckingham, Cumberland, and Prince Edward Counties 

and is drained by the Appomattox River. The stratigraphy and structure of the basin are the same as 

in the Richmond basin. Both the pre-Cambrian and 

Triassic rocks are intruded by at least three northtrending diabase dikes, which have altered some of 

the coal to coke. The strata, which in, general strike 

north to northeast and dip westward, are tilted and 

faulted.

Exploration for coal has been confined to a 

small area about 5 miles long at the eastern edge 

of the basin. A core from a drill hole three-fourths 

of a mile northwest of Farmville shows, in an interval of about 40 ft, four coal beds ranging in 

thickness from 1.5 to 2.5 ft. Heinrich (1879) reported that, the coal from the Farmville basin was 

inferior to that from the Richmond basin and noted 

particularly the abundance of pyrite. No analyses 

of coal from the Farmville basin are available, but 

it is probably much like that from the Richmond basin.

For reasons given in the discussion of the 

Richmond basin,. n° estimate of reserves in the 

Farmville basin is given in this report.

PRODUCTION OF COAL IN VIRGINIA

The history of coal mining in Virginia falls 

naturally into two periods. The first period extends 

from the beginning of mining in the State about 1748 

through 1882, the year before the Pocahontas district 

in Tazewell County was opened. During this time 

all reported production was from the Richmond basin, 

which exerted an influence on the economy of Richmond and the adjacent territory that is unfortunately 

overlooked in most histories of the period. The 

second period began in 1883, the year in which the 

first shipments of coal from the Pocahontas district 

were made, and continues to the present time. It 

has been marked by the steady growth of production 

in the Southwest Virginia field, a rather uniform 

mining activity in the Valley fields in Montgomery, 

PulasM, and Wythe Counties, and the decline of 

production from the Richmond basin until 1904, since 

which time that area has been inactive except for 

short intervals. The two periods of mining activity 

in the State are discussed briefly below.

The first period, 1748-1882 

Richmond Basin

The site of Colonel Byrd's discovery of coal 

in the Richmond basin is said to be near the town 

Of Manakin (see fig. 11), north of the James River 

and about 14 miles west of Richmond. From the date 

of discovery in 1701 until the first recorded production in 1748 small amounts of coal doubtless were 

mined for local use, and one report says that a mine 

was opened at Midlothian in 1745. The public records 

in London show that coal was shipped from Hampton, 

Va., to New York, as early as 1758, and it is 

known that coal was sold at Rockett's landing, south 

of Richmond, 10 yr or more before the outbreak 

of the Revolutionary. War. Until about 1820, the 

Richmond basin supplied coal to a rather large area 

along the Atlantic coast.-

As the fall line of the James River is at Richmond, and the stream is not navigable above that 

point, transportation from the mines to the city was 

originally by wagon. About 1795, however, the 

James River Canal, which was renamed the James 

River and Kanawha Canal in 1835, was built along 

the north bank of the river upstream from Richmond, 

and an all-water route to the east became possible 

for the mines north of the river; for the mines on 

the south side, however, the only transportation was 

by wagon to Manchester, which was directly across 

the river from Richmond and is now a part of that 

city. Later, about 1820, the construction of canals 

throughout the country reached a pace comparable 

to the later railroad booms, and the new canals made

39
EXPLANATION

G O

Coal-btormg triassic stdinwntary rocks

^ ^H

Fault

Abandoned mint

BUCKINGHAM POWHATAN

I NCE E DWARD

N 0 T T OW A Y

Figure 11. Map of the Richmond and Farmville basins, Virginia. (Adapted from maps by N. S. Shaler, J. B. Wood

geology of the Virginia Triassic: Virginia Geol. Survey Bull. 29, 1928.)
it possible to ship Pennsylvania anthracite to the 

eastern seaboard and thus give Richmond coal its 

first serious competition. This development weakened 

the economic position of the Virginia miners, who 

attempted to reduce transportation costs by building 

the Tuckahoe Canal from the mines north of the James 

River to the James River Canal; this branch waterway 

was replaced in 1842 by a railroad. In the meantime, 

in 1831 the companies operating south of the river, 

where the canal was of no service, built the Chesterfield and Mansfield Railroad to carry their coal to 

the river. In the same year the Richmond and Danville 

Railroad (now the Southern Railway) was built; and 

In 1836 the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad (now 

the Atlantic Coast Line) was chartered. A branch 

line, the Clover Hill Railroad, connected the Richmond 

and Petersburg with the mines near Wlnterpock. In 

1838 the Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac 

railroad was built north from Richmond and was 

connected with the mines north of the James River by 

a spur line. The James River and Kanawha Canal 

continued in use until 1880, when the Richmond & 

Allegheny Railroad (now the Chesapeake and Ohio 

Railway) was built along its towpath.

The Richmond basin was the main source of 

coal for the Confederacy during the Civil War, 'the 

only other important producing area being the 

Montevallo field, of Alabama. After the surrender the 

mines suffered from the general decline in business, 

and when the building of railroads westward in the 

1870 es and 1880's opened the New River and Pocahontas 

coal fields, the Richmond fuel was unable to meet the 

competition of the higher grade coals and was mined 

for local use only. For several years prior to 1887 

only one mine operated in the field, and it was evident 

that the end of commercial operations was only a 

question of time. Production dropped until 1904, 

after which it ceased altogether except for small 

tonnages produced In a few years in unsuccessful 

efforts to reopen the mines.

The production figures for the Richmond basin 

(table 5) prior to 1883 are taken from Eavenson (1942), 

who also gives much interesting data on early mining 

operations in the Basin. The figures for the period 

1883-1923 (table 6) are from the annual volumes on 

Mineral Resources of the United States, published by 

the Geological Survey and, since 1924, by the U. S. 

Bureau of Mines. Because of the small, scale of 

operations in the Richmond basin, production from 

that area for a number of years, was grouped with 

the production of counties in the Southwest or Valley 

fields. For that reason the totals are not entirely 

accurate, though they are sufficiently so for most 

purposes. It is of particular interest to note that the 

largest production from the Richmond basin was in 

the two decades from 1830 to 1850, and that the peak 

year was 1835. The drop in production after 1882 is 

also noteworthy.

Valley fields

Coal mining in the Pulaski-Montgomery County 

area was reported as early as 1782, though production 

was small and no coal was shipped until many years 

later. The Price Mountain field was evidently in 

operation before the Civil War, and there are reliable 

reports that it furnished fuel for the Confederate 

ironclad Merrimac in 1862. This coal was probably

hauled overland to the James River at or near Buchanan, 

a distance of about 30 miles by road, and transported 

to Hampton Roads by the James River canal system. 

There are reports of activity in other fields in the 

Valley before 1882, but there are no production figures for the period and it is not possible at this time 

to estimate, even in a most general way, the tonnage 

produced.

The second period, 1883- 

Valley fields

Since the first publication of Mineral Resources 

of the United States, which covered the years 1882-83, 

some production has been reported in every year from 

the Valley coal fields; but the custom of grouping 

counties in different fields, made necessary by the 

need for protecting figures for individual properties, 

makes it difficult to arrive at the actual production 

for most of the years since that time. It can only be 

said that p'rior to 1904 mining was on a small scale, 

and that the production from Montgomery, Pulaski, 

and Wythe Counties ranged, from 5,000 to 46,000 tons 

per year. In 1904 the Virginia Anthracite Company 

opened several mines and began to develop the area, 

marketing the product as "Virginia anthracite." 

Unfortunately, production figures from 1904 through 

1913 are grouped with Russell County, in the Southwest Virginia field, and the true figures for the Valley 

cannot be given; but in 1916 production climbed for 

the first time above 100,000 tons and has remained 

above that figure ever since, except for 1921, when 

production dropped to 89,000 tons. The year of 

greatest production was 1926, when 272,000 tons 

were mined. Production In 1949, the latest year for 

which county figures are available, 'was 120,000 tons. 

The major part of the Valley production has come from 

Montgomery County.

Southwest field

The first commercial mining in the Southwest 

Virginia field was in 1883, when the Norfolk and 

Western Railway was built through Bluefield and 

opened the coal-bearing area in Virginia and West 

Virginia known variously as the Flat Top, Smokeless, 

or1 Pocahontas district. Production from Tazewell 

County, the only part of Virginia lying in the Pocahontas district, has shown a steady growth from 1883 

(see fig. 12), when it produced 92,000 tons, to the 

present time, when it ships about 4 million tons 

annually; its cumulative production through 1949 is 

almost 119 million tons and is second only to that of 

Wise County, where operations began in 1893, following completion of the Clinch Valley branch of the 

Norfolk and Western Railway from Bluefield to Norton. 

Wise County has produced, through 1949, more than 

203 million tons of coal; its peak year was 1923, when 

more than 6 million tons were mined, and present 

production is on the order of 4 million tons annually. 

The next county to be opened for production was 

Russell, though the production figures for that county 

prior to 1908 are somewhat misleading because of 

inclusion of counties In other fields. In 1908, however, the building of the Clinchfield Railroad opened 

the area around Dante, which has been a heavy producer ever since. Lee County was made accessible 

in 1904 by the building of the Interstate Railroad, 

which connected with the Louisville & Nashville'Rall41
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i-l rH^' WW r-lrH C\l rHi-lW -rf-Xf\ i-l _^Hf\ i-l r- GO-=H*%<T<O r-^-h-^-J* 

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AOOCO ^CC f^- 

(VsO iH O^rHCO f 0s \O ^^ r-CVJ XACO CVI-rhO sO t^OrH rH Ov£> OXAh- *^t fV» f^-^t^-cp ^-^JlB ^> <"^*t>fy "^^P *

fr C *""*" 

O 3 

O 

O

1

ff) O

vOCO (VI rH OCCO CO O^^- f'Xf-fCO *H_ct>OXA'r*l>OtO OOXAO OXAO^XAO^ f^- 

^ CVJ O_r}"XACO 0s O jT'*^ f%<y>XAO CT*O CVi ~drt*-+& OV

» §

3 O

«_ ViVi-^JKJK B E E C CCC

o*. .......... ..... »r^i-i^iNO ^A\O XAV\ i-i o w o r xr\ oo \AOO w JT r wxr^ o*. .......... ..... i-isoi^'tj' (T'r i-i f^i-i O-*o *~4 oj cvi o^o o ooo cr-Xf\r P

3~ HJ- r- ^r^r-r-r-cocotooo ^ r-o

p

..... .^^ ^a.^^.

VI 

rtOt

«-T

a 3 

o O

*

^3 rt

o «

42
1931 

1932

1933 

1934 

1935 

1936 

1937 

1938 

1939 

1940

1942

1944

194?

194"

194?

< 1949

Total

17k8-19kQ

y 1950

Total

1748-1950

r 40,883

278,853 

573,262 

1 360,668 

2;|35,071 

3,601,509 

3.742,470 

((..280,776 

4.874.311

5,553,444

5,922,5i3

5.207.790

4,472,647

5.397.676

fcwritfi 68,826,14?

1.045,719 

769,726

964,036 

1,176,101

i,'742,'8ik

1,370,506 

1.551,868 

1,707.582

2,075.271 

2,083,496 

2,009,678

1,670,358

1,578,240

1,333,648

2,578,082

IlfttlSS

41,102,234

1,897.205 

1,542.502

1,220,199 

1,123,366 

1,147,272 

1,342,773 

1,285,830 

987,821 

1,196,100 

1,420,683

1,505,354 

1,559,256 

1.347.315

931.063

875,942

599,001

770,204

950,283 

618,911

47,522,804

1,008,773 

674,069

752,798 

J 64t;i62"

x 1,196,924 

I,2o8,319

1,216,399

I,0k0,542

1,166,603

2,001,906

1.499.155 

1,159,749

54.221,428

....

*5o6

27,002

....

29,914

Jili j hf i n

06,050

5,471 

15.549

238,129

2,214,956

1,807,586

1,980,859 

2,693,756 

2,387,002 

2,968,536 

3,009,521

2,800,449

2,757,984 

3,283,135

3,827,007 

4,352,499 

4,800,320

4,679,870

4,o6l,201

3,884,197

4,380,720

3,943,220 

2,152,458

118,956,343

3,348,266 

2.700,533

2,816,613 

2,836,162 

2,795.701 

2,934.22k 

3.301.946 

2.732,504 

2,940,580 

3,193,440

i^ZS'tf? 4,656,349

4)255.'46> 1

3.825.987

4,796,857

4,214,336 

3,517,188

203,768,253

9,514.919 

7.535,299

8,on,356 

9,174.078 

9,480,515 

11,463,252 

13,591,106 

12,143,304 

13,378.007 

15,174\618

18,440,946 

19,906,108 

20,048,628

19,292,409

17,049,090

15,346,529

20,011,495

17,823,574 

14,463,297

534,635.338

1 183,761 

156,881

165,284 

202,003 

186,503 

198,384 

204,133 

139,732 

152,967 

173,457

 J 230)67! 

 J 231,581

<J 221,465

185,903

180,366

159.304

175,831 

120,790

6,379,656 

"Valley fields Include Montgomery, Pulaskl, Wythe, Bland, and Smyth 

Counties.

^tionmond basin Includes Henrlco, Chesterfield, Ctooohland, and Powhatan 

Counties.

8Yearly production figures for this period are given In table 5.

^Includes Valley fields.

 includes Russell, Buehanan, and Dlokenson Counties.

'includes pulaski County.

Blncludes Buehanan, Russell, Lee, Dlekenaon, and Wythe Counties.

^Includes Russell County.

^mall mines.

^Includes Pulaski and Montgomery Counties.

^Includes Lee and Pulaski Counties.

"includes Pulaski and Montgomery Counties and small mines.

nlnoludea Pulaski, Montgomery, and Rsnrlco Counties, and small, mines.

°Includes small mines.

^includes Seott County and small mines.

^includes Scott County.

^Exclusive of production from wagon-mines.

 Includes Richmond basin.

^Includes Scott County and Richmond fan In.

"includes wagon mines served by rail.

'From 192i| to present, wagon-mine production omit

'includes the Tftzewell County operations for one 

County, Va., and McDowell County, W. Va. All tonnage 

was tabulated In MeDoirell County, W. Va. (U. a. Miner

xlncludes Valley fields and Rlwnmond basin, 

yCounty totals not available. 

'Preliminary.
TONS

7.0 OO.OOO

.OOO.OOO

EXPLANATION

 Tozewall County

 Wist County 

Los County 

' Dicktnson County

 Bucbonon County

 Rustall County

». 000,000

4,000.000

i\ t

i \ i

i \ i

A

'

9,000,000

t,o 00,000

1,000,000

VCM 1*00 1*30 

Figure 12. Graph showing production of Southwest Virginia field by counties, 1882-1948.
Table 7.--Estimated remaining reserves of bituminous coal In the Southwest Virginia field as of January 1, 1951. 

(in millions of short tons)

County

Maasured reserves

In beds 

Ik to 28 

in. thick

In bads 

28 to 42 

in. thick

In beds 

more than 

42 in. 

thick

Total

Indicated reserves

In bads 

Ik to 28 

in. thick

In beds 

28 to lj.2 

in. thick

In beds 

more than 

42 in. 

thick

Total

Inferred reserves

In bads 

Ik to 28 

in. thick

In bads 

28 to lj.2 

in. thick

In beds 

more than 

42 in. 

thick

Total

In th« Wlaa forn^ptlnn

High Splint bad

Lea .... 

Wise ....

Total . .

o'.ki

0,21

0.84 

0.71

1.55

rlzi

7.21

0.8k 

8.l3

8.97

o!&3

0.63

3^72

3.72

5l22

5.22

%57

9.57

6! 07

0.07

10*. 38

10.38

'.'.'.'

....

loiis

10.45

Morris bed

Ua ..... 

wisa ....

Total «.

 

....

0.06 

2.81

2.87

0.04 

12.32

12.36

0.10 

15.13

15.23

o'M

0.9,8

1.57 

0.69

2.26

9^90

9.90

1.57 

11.57

13.14

i!?i

1.71

1.10 

0.33

1.43

....

....

1.10

2.04

3.14

Pardee bed

Laa ..... 

Wlsa ....

Total «.

olsi

0.51

2ll5

2.15

0.60 

28.22

28.82

0.60 

30.88

31.48

2!ii

2.11

iS!H

16.77

A»

24.81

^:S

43.69

0.37 

0.90

1.33

....

....

....

....

0.37 

0.96

1.33

Wax bed

U......I ....1 ....I .... | ....) ....| .... 2.46| 2.46| ....| .... ....| 

Oln Creek bed

Laa.....| .....| ....( .... | ....I 1.63] .... .... 1.63| .... ,..«] .... .,..| 

Phillips bed

& ' . .... 

Wlsa ....

Total ..

.*::.*

....

0.16

0.16

0.34

0.34

0.50

o.so

i!i3

1.13

2.90

2.90

7.64

7.64

10.54 

1.0

11.67

1.65 

10.75

12.40

0.48

0.48

::::

....

2.13 

10.75

12.88

Low Splint bed

Lee .....

WiM ....

Total..

ol29

0.29

0.08 

14.U

14.49

7.32 

1.93

9.15

il-K

23.93

i'.iS

1.13

2.61 

22.66

25.87

9.09 

2.57

11.66

11.70 

26.36

33.06

2.31 

51.26

53.57

$'.kk

5.44

....

....

2.31 

56.70

59.01

Taggart bed

Ua »,..,

Wlaa ,.-..

To«tl..

o'.54

0.54

10, 8| 

1.7«

13.63

4.07 

26,51

30.58

14.92 

29.83

kk.n

i'.si

1,51

24,59 

E.38

55.97

7.08 

53.11

60.19

31.67 

86.00

117.67

103

1.33

4a3

4.13

....

....

5146"

5.46
Table 7. Estimated remaining reserves of bituminous ccal In the Southwest Virginia ftajd as of January 1, 1951. by 

(In millions of short tons) -Continued

County

Measured reserves

In beds 

14 to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to 42 

In. thick

In bads 

more than 

4.2 In. 

thick

Total

Indicated reserves

In beds 

llj. to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to £2 

In. thick

In beds 

more than 

1+2 In. 

thick

Total

Inferred reserves

In bads

14 to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

2fl to 42 

In. thick

In beds 

more than 

1*2 In. 

thick

Total

In 

Ik 

In. 

Taggart Marker bed

Lee. .....

Vise ....

Total...

0.44

0.44

ii.l«.2

11.42

....

....

ii.861

11.86

4.33

11.58

15.91

5.36

59.95

6501

....

....

9.69

71.53

81.22

22.59

2.40

24.99

0.6l

....

0.6l

....

....

23.20

2.40

25.60

Kirk bed

Lee ..... .... .... .... .... 1.76| ....| .... 1.76 .... .... .... .... 

Upper Standlford bed

Wise .... .... .... .... 7.33 5.81 13.14 53.66 3.54 57.20 

Marian bad

Lee .....

Lee .....

....

....

3.50

0.92

1.35

....

4.85

0.92

0.46

....

.... .... .... .... ....

72.73

2.60

29.83

Upper

....

103.02 .... * 9.8o .... 9.80 

St. Charles bed

2.60 3.03 0.13 .... 3.16 

Lower St. Charles bed

5.70 .... 5.70 24.50 3.43 .... 27.93 

Cedar Grove bed

Buchanan .... .... .... .... .... .... 3. BO 3.80 .... .... .... .... 

Lower Cedar Grove bed

Buchanan * .... .... .... .... 0.43 . . » . 0.32 0.75 0.71 .... 0.81 1.52 

Plnhook bed

Lee .....

Wise ....

Total...

))"

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

1.02 

1.23

2.25

0.88 

0.56

1.44

...!

....

1.90 

1.79

3.69

7.23 

2.08

9.31

....

....

...;

....

7.23

2.0fl

9.31

Kelly bed

Dlckenson 

Lee ..... 

Wise ....

Total...

....

....

....

....

....

....

 t .

....

i)i5

1.15

<?)23 

61.29

70.52

2.77 

26!50

29.27

2.77 

9.23

88.94

100.94

2)62

40.85

43'.4?

4)13 

19.38

23.51

1.92

1.92

1.92 

6.75 

60.23

68.90

Stone Creek bed

Lee ..... .... .... .... .... 0.63 .... .... 0.63 .... .... .... .... 

Irabodon bed (Campbell Creek bed of Buchanan County)

Buchanan. 

Dlckenaon 

Lee ..... 

Wise ...:

Total ..

6! 08

0.08

i*6o

0.68

2.28

i!39 

14.40

17.79

I5!c8

20.15

1)46 

5.32

6.72

30.23 

2.18 

13.81 

30.47

76.69

6)55 

57.75

64.30

30.23 

2.18 

21.76 

93.54

147.71

27)67 

29.95

57.62

19.52 

2.20 

0.98 

39.65

62.35

8)l6

8.16

19.52 

2.20 

28.65 

77.7&

128.13

* Overburden 0-2,000 ft.
Bads in the Wise formatlon--Coni;lnued

Rocky Pork bed

Wise . ...| .... .... -...

Wise ...,| .... ....

.... .... .... .... .... 0.241

Addington bed

o.3o| 1.94! °.5i 2.75 1.28

Cllntwood bed

.... 0.24| 

0.33 .... 1.6l 

Buchanan 

Diekenaon 

Lee .....

Wise.....

Total . . .

«...

....

0.18

6)49

0.67

12.33 

14.81 

0.40 

11.23

38.77

12.51

14.81 

0.4o

11.72

39.1*4

6.1+0 

12.45 

1.98 

10.27

31.10

30.24 

1.77 

l.lk 

39.98

73.13

29.41 

43.96 

10.49 

46.27

132.13

66.05 

58.18 

13.61 

98.52

236.36

3.17 

L34 

» 24.75 

37.05

69.84

11.05 

0.80 

22.08 

19.59

53.52

0.41 

23.79 

0.51

24.71

14.22 

6.05 

70.65 

57.15

148.07

Eagle bed

Buchanan 

Dlckenson

Total...

0.98 

0.81

1.79

4-92 

1.67

6.59

8.20 

5.94

14.14

14.10 

8.42

22.52

32.98

6.fe

39-83

96.17 

0.55

96.72

36.68 

0.58

37.26

165.63 

7.98

173.81

32.60 

2.30

34.90

3.17 

0.10

3.27

)).*)

....

35.77 

2.4o

38.17

Blalr bed

Buchanan 

Diekenaon 

Lee ......

Wise .....

Total...

; ;;

' 1)26

1.20

....

4l37

4.37

....

0.04

0.04

....

5)6i

5.61

....

5.50

5.50

11.50

4.31

15.81

19.78

....

19.78

31. '28

9.81

41.09

1.74 

6.63 

6.49

72.05

86.91

25.83 

7.76 

2.35

34-39

70.33

2.83

0)46

35.16

33.39

30.40 

14.39 

9.24

141.60

195.63

Lyons bed

Diekenaon 

Lee ......

Wise.....

Total. . .

....

1.90

1.90

....

4.54

4.54

....

0.27

0.27

....

6.71

6.71

....

30.05

30.05

0.28

9.74

10.02

....

....

....

0.28

39.79

40.07

8.76 

2.55

85.84

97.15

3)22

3.22

....

....

....

8.76

5.77

85.84

100.37

Dorchester bed

Buchanan 

Die kens on 

Lee......

Russell.. 

Wise.....

Total...

Formation 

total..

0.93

i.'i4

2.37

9.33

0.66

7)50

8.16

77.30

....

22)31

22.31

183.13

1.59

31 '.25

32.84

269.76

26.60 

6.39

36)67

63.66

208.87

15.6? 

1.61

45! 07

62.35

669.18

....

13)41

13.41

458.30

42.27

8.00

89)15

139.42

1,336.35

60.98 

65.09 

1.80

0.08 

» 71.49

199.44

777.46

0.49 

21.33 

0.21

2! 08

24.11

280.01

....

....

....

73.99

61.47 

8642 

2.01

0.08 

73.57

223.55

1,131.46

 Overburden 0-2,000 ft.
Table 7. Estimated- remaining reserves of bituminous coal In the Southwest Virginia field as of January 1, 1951, by 

(In millions of short tons)--Contlnued

County

Measured reserves

In beds

14 to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to 42 

In. thick

In beds 

more than 

42 In. 

thick

Total

Indicated reserves

In beds 

14 to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to 42 

In. thick

In beds 

more than 

42 In. 

thick

Total

Inferred reserves

In beds 

111. to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to 42 

In. thlok

In beds 

oore than 

42 In. 

thlok

Total

In 

111. 

In. 

Beds In the Norton formation 

Norton bed

Dlokenaon 

W1«e ....

Total..

3!23

3.23

24! 16

24.10

i'.49

1.49

26182

28.82

30." 92

30.92

46! 89

46.89

....

....

77!31

77.81

1.51 

63.56

65.07

....

....

....

....

1.51 

63.56

65.07

Hagy bed

Buohanan 

Dlokenion 

Wise ....

Total . .

!.'.*!

....

!!!!

....

....

....

....

....

25.70 11.91

9.08

46.69

168.62 

2.22

170.814.

n.44

11.44

205.76

Vo!

228.97

75.11 

37.41

112.52

22.90

22.90

....

....

98.01 

37.41

135.42

Splash Dam bed

Buohanan 

Diokenson

Russell..

Wise ....

Total...

3.28 

0.42

....

....

3.70

26.93 

3.18

«...

....

30.11

35.72 

0.09

....

....

35.81

1:8....

....

69.62

262.57 

67.51

....

1.42

331.50

240.28 

56.16

....

....

296.44

92.37 

16.97

....

....

109.34

595.22 

14.0.64

1.42

737.28

47.35 

178.1k

8.58

9.94

244.01

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

47.35 

178.1k

8.56

9.94

244.01

Upper Banner bed

Buohanan 

Dlokenson

Russell..

Vise .,..

Total . .

12.36

0.85

0.65

13.86

27! So

1.30

11.02

40.12

66a6

9.75

21.42

97.27

106.26

11.90

33.09

151.25

1.90 

38.06

6.73

3.28

43.97

l.So 

50.38

t'l1

14-83

69.08

56.83

1.00

23.53

81.36

3.4o 

145.57

4.10

41.64

194.41

2.43 

57.52

....

15.63

75.58

lo! 38

....

3.74

20.12

....

....

....

....

2.43 

73.90

19.37

95.70

Lower Banner bed

Buohanan 

Dlekenson 

Russell . 

Tacewell. 

Wise ....

Total..

0.76 

3.24

4.00

2.12 

22.58 

4.73

& 81

38.24

3 -?k 

14.65 

11.29

9150

39.44

6.82 

40.47 

16.02

is! 37

81.68

26' 32 

81.14

1.05 

0.08 

17.27

195.90

31.24 

83.84 

11.79 

0.14 

24.51

151.52

19.87 

lk.72 

15.71 

0.12

11.34

62.26

147.43 

179.70 

23.59

*°'& 

53.62

409.68

132.18 

113.46 

1.26

37^63

284.53

6I27 

7!l6

13.43

 

....

132.18 UJ:S

44179

297.96

Big Pork bed

Buohanan 

Russell 

Tazewell

Total..

::::

....

....

....

 

....

::::

....

0.98

0.98

....

....

. ...

....

0.98

0.98

7.04 

6!35

7.39

1.51 

4.80 

0.64

6.95

::::

....

8.55 

4.80 

0.99

14.34

Caldwell bed

Tazewell .... .... .... .... 1.17 2.75| 0.95 4.87| .... .... .... 

Kennedy bed

BuohananDiokenson 

Russell

Tazewell

Wise ....

T««-.l

0.64

 

....

n Al.

0.05

2*. 33

 

....

9 10

....

 

....

0.69

203

* 

....

*J ft-3

278.57 

)jn,l|li

15.20

1.84

14-47

OI?A tf^

254.96 

84.71 

93.75

7.40

39.10

I.**S\ A«t

7.96

3.56 

6.34

f 

16.16

 ^1. AA

&$ 115.29

9» 2li

69.73

ail 1 L

222.87 

120.36 

10.12

 

19.79

->_, ,i 1

6.90 

185.18 

0.35

 «

23.33

_.- _/

*.!!!

 

....

229.77 

305.54 

10.4.7

 

43.12

w»- --
Be da in the Norton formation Continued

Ally bed

Buohanan 

Diokenaon 

Tacewell

Total...

iii:

....

'.'.'.'.

....

....

....

....

....

5.50

5.50

....

....

....

....

5.50

5.50

36.79 

8.26 

1.90

46.95

....

....

....

....

36.79 

8.26 

1.90

46.95

Raven bed

Buehanan

Diokenaon

Ruaaell.. 

Tasewell .

Wiae ....

Total...

1.69

2.22

5.98

0.13

10.02

14.21

4.22

6.69 

9.39

0.37

34.88

1.28

7.91

2.4? 

0.4.0

3.30

1546

17.18

14.35

15.24 

9.79

3.80

60.36

53.65

46.30

36.18 

p.94

4.94

142.01

82.57

47.96

23.39 

22.67

39.84

216.43

....

32.78

0.76

11.42

44.96

136.22

127.04

60.33 

23.6!

56.20

40340

422.29

134.36

23.27

 43.29

628.21

 * 

103.72

....

22.42

126.14

....

13.90

....

....

13.90

422.29

251.98

23.27

70.71

768.25

Jawbone bed

Buehanan 

Diokenaon

Ruaaell-..

Seott ....

Twewell

Wiae ....

Total..,

0.25 

0.25

 

1.16

....

1.66

2.11 

0.66

 

 

2.61

0.14

5.52

MS

23.21

 

1.40

1.94

37.69

1046

23.21

....

5.17

2.08

44.87

5747 

12.05

11.75

....

7.76

0.18

89.21

138.63 

75.13

27.60

 

38.88

28.21

30845

7.17 

105.73

14.0.05

0.48

10.26

45.62

309.31

203.27 

192.91

179.40

0.48

56.90

74.01

706.97

120.77 

162.88

4546

10.66

26.80

366.57

8.94 

97.78

1.28

 

1.01

54.51

163.52

ii!44

0.12

 * *

 « 

....

11.56

129.71 

272.10

46.86

 * 

11.67

81.31

541.65

Tiller bed

Buehanan 

Dlekenaon 

Ruaaell.. 

T«s»well 

Wiae ....

Total...

Formation 

total..

0.21 

0.59 

2.08 

0.56

3.44

4o.55

1.88 

0.17 

2.86 

1.86

6.77

182.12

6.05

14.87 

21.39

42.31

26947

8.14 

15.63 

26.33 

2.42

52.52

492.14

26.16

18.71 

16.17 

17.84

78.98

1,317.25

10.27 

11.89 

22.0k 

14.36

58.56

1,800.88

6.97 

35.50 

81.80

124.27

777.91

4340 

66.10 

120.01 

32.20

261.71

3, '896. 04

25.25 

12.72 

8.22 

10.11 

3.34

59.64

2,263.61

0.65 

i:&9

2.34

571.16

6126

0.26

25.72

25.90 

12.72 

8.22 

10.11 

5.29

62.24

2,860.49

3

Ta»ewell

Taxewell

Beda in the Lee formation 

Upper Seaboard bed

j 0.50 1 3.14J 3.64 1 19.99

547

.96f ... | 28. 95 1 

Qreaay Creek bed

2.93

4.37 [ 9.84] 3.02T

2.931 

3;Q2J 
Table 7. Estimated remaining reserves pf bltumlnoua coal In the Soutnwest Virginia field as of January 1, 1951, 

(In millions of short tons) Continued

County

Measured reserves

In bed* 

lit to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to 42 

in. thick

In beds 

more than 

42 In. 

thick

Total

Indicated reserves

In beda

lit to 28 

in. thick

In beds 

28 to 42 

In. thick

In beds 

more than 

42 in. 

thick

Total

Inferred reserves

In beds 

14 to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to 1^.2 

in. thick

In beds 

more than 

42 in. 

thick

Total

I

Middle Seaboard bed

Taaewell . .... 0.20 .... 0.20 4.59 1.29 .... 5.88 15.99 .... .... 15.99 

Lower Seaboard bed

Buchanan . 

Tazewell.

Total...

6'. 85

0.85

6!4C

6.40

1)27

1.27

8!52

8.52

0.42 

43.82

44.24

liiii

14.11

....

....

0.42 

57.93

58.35

7.23 

7.93

15.16

....

....

....

....

7.23 

7.93

15.16

Upper Horaepen bed

Tasewell. .... .... .... .... 26.81 1.40 9.10 3". 11 16.87 2.08 .... IS. 95 

Middle Horsepen bed

Taaewell . .... .... .... .... 11.73 7.97 4.38 24.08 3.13 5.65 .... 8.78 

"C" bed

Tazewell. J .... .... .... .... 748 2.46 .... 9-94 .... P. 17 .... 8.17 

War Creek bed

Buchanan. . 

Tazewell. <

Total ...

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

2M8

27.48

I5ll7

15.17

z'.'zi

2.23

44l 88

44. ss

3ii6i

31.01

2.00

4-48

6.48

0.96

0.96

2.96 

35.49

38.45

Lower Horsepen bed

Tasewell . .... .... .... .... 4.02 3.01 .... 7.03 14.37 .... .... 14-37 

Pocahontas No. 8 bed

Tasewell .... .... .... .... .... .... .... .... o.35| .... 0.35 

Pocanontas No. 7 bed

Taaewell. .... .... .... .... '0.03 :.57 .... 1.60 4-87 0.64! 5.51 

Pocahontas No. 6 bed

Tazewell . .... .... .... .... 5.30 .... .... 5.30 6.35 .... 6.35 

Pocahontas No. 5 tad

Tasewall. 0.16 0.85 1.69 2.70 4.26 9.21 5.13 18.60 14.82 6.08 .... 20.90J 

Pocahontas No. 4 bed

Tazewell* .... .... 5.65 5.65| 0.42| 0.68 25.70 26.80 2.87| 3.53| 6.4o| 

Pocahontas No. 3 bed

Buonanan , 

Tazewell.

Total...

....

....

o!63

0.03

2'.75

2.75

2i78

2.78

** 6i63

0.63

 » 4.' 83

4.83

10.77 

«t22.87

33.64

10.77 

28.33

39.10

39-93 

<H»21.97

61.90

39.74 

**22.4(J

62.22

23.50 

«* 8.80

32.30

103.17 

53.25

156.42

« Overburden 1,000-2,000 ft. 

** Overburden 0-2,000 ft.
Beds In the Lee formation Continued

Cove Creek bed

Scott ... 

Wise ....

Total...

....

....

Scott. . ..

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

2.46 

0.19

2.65

2.46 

0.19

2.65

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

....

Eg an bed

.... .... 0.441 L37 2.23 4.04] 3.23 3.23

Carter bed

Scott.... .... .... 0.22 .... 0.22 .... ....

Tacus bed

Scott.... .... .... .... .... 1.71 0.57 0.61 2.89 4.20 .... .... 4.20 

S tarns bed

Scott.... .... .... .... 1.13 3.52 0.06 4.71 .... .... .... .... 

Burtons Pord bed

Russell.. 

Scott ... 

Wise.....

Total...

Formation 

total...

Grand

total..

.'.'.!

....

1.51

'.'.'.'.

....

10.62

....

....

11.36

'.'..'.

....

23.49

0.*73

2.49

168.44

11.82 

13.22 

1.32

26.36

106.85

0.77 

21.13 

0.13

22.03

108.56

12.59 

36.11

2.18

50.83

383.85

0.42 

46.18 

6.24

52.64

253.96

....

....

94.85

....

....

33.26

0.42 

46.13 

6.24

52.34

382.07

51.39 270.04 463.96 785.39 1,694.56 2,576.91 1,344.77 5, 616. 84 3,295.03 946.02 132.97 4,374-02 5
Table 8. Estimated remaining reserves of bituminous coal In the Southwest Virginia .field as of January 1, 1951, by 

(In millions of short tons)

Ram* of bed

Measured reserves

In beds 

14 to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to (4.2 

In. think

In beda 

more than 

14.2 In. 

thick

Total

Indicated reserves

In beds 

14 to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to (4.2 

In. thick

In beds 

more than 

£2 in. 

think

Total

Inferred reserves

In beds 

111 to 28 

In. thick

In beds 

28 to 42 

In. thick

In beds 

more than 

42 in. 

thick

Tot-\l

Buchanan County

Eagle .............

Blalr .............

Hagy...............

Splash Dam ........

Big Fork. ..........

Ally...............

Pocahontas No. 3...

0.98

0.93

3.28

0.76

0.61,.

1.69

0.25 

0.21

8.71*

0.18 

4.92

6)66

26.93

2.12

0.05

14.21

2.11 

1.88

53.06

1 |-33 

8.20

35.72

3.94

....

1.28

1.59 

6.05

69.11

12.51 

14.10

i)59

65.93

6.82

0.69

17.18

!:?

130.91

0.43

6.40 

32.98

26)60 

25.70 

262.57 

1.90

96.32 

0.98 

278.57 

5.50 

53.65

5747 

26.16 

0.42

875.65

36123 

30.24 

96.17

11.50 

15.67 

168.62 

240.28 

1.50

31.24 

?54i 96 

P2.'57

138.63 

10.27

1,111.88

3.80 

0.32

36)63 

19.78

sjS

19.^7

7)96

7.17 

6.97

10.77

246.54

3.80 

0.75 

30.23 

66.05 

165.83

31.28 

42.27 

205.76 

595.22

340

14743 

0.98

541.49

5.50 

136.22

203.27 

4340 

042

10*. 77

2,234.07

0.71

3)J7 

32.60

1.74 

60.98 

75.11

wi&

132.18

7.04

222. «7 

36.79 

422.29

120.77 

25.25 

7.23

39)93

1,238.44

19)52 

11.05 

3.17

25.83 

049 

22.90

j'5i 

6.90

8:8

2! 66 

39.74

142.70

0 81 

2 83

6 96

23 50

28.10

1.5

19.5

14.2

35.7

30.4

61.4

98.0

47.3

2.4

132.1

8.5

229.7

36.7

422.2

129.7

25.9

7.2

2.9

103.1

1,409.2

Dlckenson County

Kelly .............

Imboden ., ........

Blalr .............

Upper Banner. ; . . ...

Lower Banner ......

Ally ..............

Tiller.............

Total ............

0.81

04?

12.36 

3.211

2.22

0.25 

0.59

19.89

1.6?

3.18

27.80 

22.58

If. 22

0.66 

0.17

60.28

14.81 

5.94

'6.69

66.10 

14.65

7.91

9.55 

14.87

133.92

lk.81 

8.42

3:69

106.26 

40.47

14.35

10.1>6 

15.63

214.09

1MrS 

6.%

6.39

11.91 

67.51

38.06 

§1.14 

40.44

46.30

12.05 

18.71

341.81

2.18 

1.77 

0.55

0.?8 

1.61

2.22 

56.16

50.38 

83.84 

84.71

47.96

75.13 

11.89

41B.68

2.77

43.'96 

0.58

....

16" )Q?

56.83 

14.72 

3.56

32.78

105.73 

35.50

313.40

2.77 

2.18 

58.18 

7.98

0.28 

9.00

14! 13 

140.64

145.27 

179.70 

126.71

127)64

1Q2.91 

66.10

1,073.89

4)84

2.30 

6.63

8.76 

65.09 

1.51 

3741 

178.14

57.52 

11346 

120.36 

8.26 

134.36

162.88 

12.72

914.24

2 '.20 

0.80 

0.10 

7.76

21 .'33

16.33 

6.27 

185.18

103)72 

97.78

441.52

1.92 

O.'ii

13)96

11.44

27.67

1.9

2.2

6.0

2.4

14.3

«.7

86.4

l.S

374

178.1

73.9

119.7

305.5

8.2

251.9

272.1

12.7

1,383.4

« Overburden 1,000-2*000 ft.
Tfcfcl* 8» »»4iiS»4«d p»m»4nlng r«**rve* of bituminous coal In the SeuthWMt Virginia field a* of J**H***y 1» 1951*

(In million* of chert ton*)

cou

fiil*ef *»*

K*M\tf*d msefrev

ta bwt* c«* *

lS. tttteft

til h«U2ft tc M 

i»t tiiieK

In bed* 

HAW thaii 

1+3 In. 

thick

Total

Indicated resei>Te»

In beds 

14 to 26 

In. thick

In bud*

28 to k2 

In. thick

In bed* 

more than 

It? In. 

thl ok

Tot*l

Inferred reaerves

In fc*dt 

tk to 2t 

In. thick

tn b*a* 

2» to ki 

In. thick

In bedo 

mear» than 

k» in, 

thlo*

Total

Wtx

Oin CrW*.

PhlUi**.-....

ie» Sfitn*..*.

H«-l«a.

St. 

Pinhaolt *

@

Lyww .........

Sttraa*****- -.

0.8k 

0.06

0.1

o.c

3.50

1.60

14.01

0.34

7.32

4.07

1.35

040

17.51

V»-M»

0.16

0.60

0.50 740~

4.85

0.92

5.07

0.40

35.60-

1.76

0.46

1.02

0.63

140

13.21

1.57

2.90 

J.61

IP.

ot88 

9.23

13.81 

l.Ut

11^3.12

2.

7.

29.8

6.55

1049

230.81

0.37

201

2Z.&

1. 10

O.k0

0.13

343

M3

0. 

22.

0.21

127^59 2^,19

1.10

0.37

2.13

2.31

23^ 20

27.93

7.2."

28.65 

70.|l

2)01

200.30

Ruasell Oountjr

i'.'ti

lf.fi:

.75

23.21

21.39

68.21

U.90 

16.02

2.33

15.4

23.21

26.33

95.03

0.73

1.09

15.20 

35.1S 

11.75 

16.1?

81.12

2.37

11.79

93.75 

13.39 

37.60 

22.0k 

11.82

198.76

1.00

15.71

6.34

0.76 

iko.<«

81.80 

0.77.

1.10

iS.4?l

12.

520.31

** 

»» * » »

o»H

i! 80 

0.35

143

12

O.O8 

8.58

4,80

10.47

8

.27

.86

8.22

0.12 103.9* 

Scott Oounty

*^^l^^lt^

o«wrON>««,.....,.

C§t%*J^*"* **""*'*"**

TWtWV. .,..**.,,..

MuW*»SUitek Tlriiill^l

*

044

0.22

1.71

1.13

1

«*JL

5.26

1.37

0.57

3.52

18.68

o.kd 

246

2.23

0.61

0.06 

21.13

26.9f

O.kS

k'^k

o 2c

2l89

k.71 

w.11 *

56.91

 J -Ml

k.20

kfr.is

53.66

....

....

....

....

3.28

k.20

k6.l8

- 53^66

ft*
Table 8. Estimated remaining reserves of bituminous coal In th0 Southwest Virginia field as of January 1, 1951, by counties 

Tu«**ll County

Ally.. .............

TilUr... ..........

Op?«r S*«bo«rd . . . . .

M1M1* S»*b0*rd.... 

-toufcr S«*bowd .«..

POC^IOCTCM^ t^. 6 ...

Foeahontaa Re. 5 *

PoeahoDtft« Ho..3«««

Total

i!i6

0.56

 0.50

0.85

o.i6

....

' 3.23

9.39

2.6J

1

AA

3.1k

0.20 

640

0.85

0.03

2k.k8

040

140

....

1.27

1.69 

5.65

2.75

13.16

9.79

5.17

2.k2

3.61*

0.20 

8.52

2.70 

5.65

2,78

ko.87

0.08

1.17

1.8k

0.9k 7*76

17.8k

19.99

i'*

kM2

26.81

11.73

7.k8 _ " p*t

27.k8

4.02

0.03

?-3o

k-26 

O.kg

« 0.63

191.66

O.Ik

2.75

7.4&

22.67

lA AA

ik. 36

i.96 

 k.37

T.29

ik. 11 

140

I'H

2.k6 

15.17

3.01

1.57

9.21

»k.83

161.23

0.12

0.95

....

4.38

2)23

* * * *

5.13

25.70

» 22.87

81.5k

0.3k

!*- 87

9.2k

23.61

56.90

32.20

28.95

It 88 

57.93

«O 1 1

2k. 08

Q.<5k

kk.^5

7.03

5.30

lfl.60 

26.80

28.33

k3k43

0.35

1.90

10.66

10.11

2.93 

3.02

15.99 

1'P

3.13

31 '.oi

lk.-37

,°'l5

k.S7

6.35

Ik. 82

? AT

» 21.97

169.50

0.6k

1.01

....

5.65

8.17 

k48.

0.6k

6.08

. £8

5k. 76

» 8 80

8.80

0.99

1.90

11.67

10.11

2.93

15.99

7.93 

^\

8.78

.8.17 

3549

lk.37

0.35

5.51

6.35

20.90 

6AO

53.25

233.06

Wise County

High Splint........

ttirrl«*..........k..

JPWl|iD»... :.......

tow Splint .........

t*eg«r «>;..........

t«g8«pt *»!c«r . . . . .

ft< MK«^AW

tolly.. ............

JWdlngton..........

m 4W1 15or8h«»t«r .........

- H«rto"B *..,*... ......

H*«y .......'.......

Low«r BABIMT ......,

R*T«O . . t, , . .......

Tiller ..........**.

0.21

O.Sl

0.29

6.5k

.O.S

1.20

1.90

14k

/ 3.23

0.65

' «P^3

10.5k

0.71

2.81

2.15

Ik.kl

2.78

1142

0168

O.k9

k.37 £*§i

rM

, 2k.lO

11.02

8.81

0.37 

 O.Ik

96.30

7.21

12.32

28.22

1.83

26.51

44o

11.23

0.27

22.31

149

21 42

9:11

. 3.30 

1.9k

162.05

8.13

15.13

30.83

16.53

29.83

11.86

15.08

11.72

5.61

6.71

31.25

- 9fi A«

33.09

18.37

3.80 

2.08

268.89

0.63

0.98

2.11

1.13

1.13

1.51

11.5«

1.23

1.15

5.32

0.30

10.27

5.50

3.0.05

30.67

30.92

9.08

l.p

3

9A

£5

Mil

0.73

185.85

3.72

16.77

22.*>6

31.38 -

59-95 

7.33

0.56

61.29

30.k7

9.7fe

k|.07

k6.89

Ik. 83

4.51 

39.10

8'&

1.32

530.56

5.22

9.90

234?

*1«7

53.11

5 

AT 

26,50

57775

0.51

*

13. kl

*

23.53

11.8k 

16.16

Il.k2 

kg.62

0.19 

0.13

355.kl

9.57

11. SI

1*. 35

1.13

26.36

71.53 

13.4

1.79

88.9k

2.75

98.52

9.81

39-79

HA 1 C

9.08

kl 6k

69*. 73

56.20 

7k. 01

2.18

1.071.82

1.71

0.96

10.75

51.26

1.33

240

5

-S K*t * «»

ko.85

9Q OK

0.2k

1.28

n AC

72.05

Af ftL

63.56

9.0k

il:8 37.63 19.79

k8.29

26.80

3.3k

6.2k

69k. 19

10.38

0.33

....

5.4k

k.13

3*5k

19.38

39.65

0.33

19.59

J*T m -*7

2 

Aft

 *

7J:ii 23.33

2242

....

252.09

*

* "

*

. ..

* *

ft ,*i

"

0 51

95 16

« « «

. . .

 .

. ..

 » «.

0 26

....

1+4.09

1045

2.0k

0.96

19.75

56.70

546

240 

57.20

9 AA

60.23

77.76

1.61

,57.15

lkl.60

85.8k

73.57

63.56

*»

III. . TO

Pal

70.71

5.29

6.2k

990.37

total....,..! 51.39 ] 270.0k [ k63t$6 j ?85.39 |l.69k.56 | 2,576.91 U.3kk.77 I 5.6l6.2k[3.295.03 I 9k6.02 | 132.97 Ik.37k.02 

* Ov«i*burd«n 0-1,000 ft.
road and the Southern Railway to open the previously 

undeveloped area. The first reported production 

from Dickenson County was in 1917, when mines in 

that county along the Clinchfield Railroad were opened; 

production from that county has increased steadily 

and is now approaching 3 million tons annually.

The last part of the Southwest field to be opened 

to mining was Buchanan County, which was made 

accessible in 1932 by branches of the Norfolk & 

Western Railway. Development in the county since 

that year has been very rapid, production having 

climbed to about 5 million tons annually in 1948. 

During the 18 yr from 1932 through 1949 more than 

68 million tons of coal have been mined in the County, 

which thus ranks third in all-time production, behind 

Wise and Tazewell Counties.

The reported cumulative production, through 

1949, of the Southwest field of Virginia is about 

534 million tons, compared with approximately 

6 million tons for the Valley fields and 8 million tons 

from the Richmond basin of the Eastern fields. At 

the present time production from the Southwest field 

is approximately 99 percent of the annual State production, the remainder being from the Valley fields. 

In 1949 Virginia ranked eighth among coal-producing 

states, after Indiana and before Alabama.

COAL MINING IN VIRGINIA 

Mining methods

In 1949, the latest year for which figures are 

available, underground mining accounted for 92.7 percent of the total reported production of Virginia 

(U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1950). The room-and-pillar 

system of mining is used almost exclusively; most 

mines are reached by drifts, only a f«w by shafts. 

The average annual production per mine is 43,535 

tons, compared with the national aver.age of 51,159 

tons. The production per man-day is also comparatively low, being 4.83 tons in Virginia as against 

a national average of 5.42 tons. It is interesting to 

note that 94.4 percent of the coal is cut by machines, 

but that only 47.6 percent is loaded mechanically; 

the Nation-wide figures are 91.4 percent and 66.7 percent, respectively.

The low percentage of coal loaded mechanically 

possibly reflects the comparatively large number of 

small (1,000 to 50,000 tons annually) mines in 

Virginia. The number of mines in each size range, 

and the percentages for Virginia and for the United 

States as a whole, are given below; mines producing 

less than 1,000 tons per year, which do not report 

their production figures, are not included.

Size of coal in Virginia compared with the national average

Annual capacity, 

(tons)

More than 500,000 

100,000 - 500,000 - _

50, 000 - 100, 000 _______

10, 000 - 50, 000 _____ __

1,000 - 10,000 ______

TVital ___ _, ___ _ ____

Number of 

mines

4

34

23

103

171

O«3K

Virginia

Percent of 

total number

1.2

10.2

6 a

30 7

51.0

100.0

Percent of 

production

18.8

47.5

11.7

14.5

7.5

100.0

United £

Percent of 

total number

1.9

10.3

7.9

25.1

54.9

100.0

fetes

Percent of 

production

29.3

43.4

10.9

11.4

5.0

100.0

Of the coal produced in Virginia, 1.8 percent 

is used at the mine, 73. 5 percent is shipped directly 

by rail, 21.2 percent is hauled by trucks to railheads 

for shipment, and only 3. 5 percent is trucked to its 

destination. The percentage of truck-hauled coal is 

only about one-third of the national average of 10.9 

percent and probably reflects the final destination of 

Virginia coal, much of which is shipped to distant 

points in the United States for special purposes) and 

very large tonnages of which are shipped overseas 

through the port of Hampton Roads. Another- inference from the low percentage of truck shipments is 

that only a small part of the coal mined in Virginia 

is used in nearby areas.

The nature of the terrain in both the Southwest 

and Valley fields is such that possibilities for stripmining are limited, and that method of recovery 

accounted for only 7.3 percent of the State's production in 1949 as compared to the Nation-wide 

average of 24.2 percent. Of the 335 mines reported as operating in 1949, only 16, with an average annual production of 67,100 tons, were strip 

mines. The average production per man-day was 

14.87 tons, compared with the national average of 

15.33 tons.

Reeoverability in mining

The percentage of coal recovered in mining 

operations varies greatly from place to place and 

from time to time, according to the thickness, 

structure, and c:her characteristics of the coal beds, 

the methods used in mining, and many other factors. 

The first published report on recoverability in coal 

mining was that of Rice and Paul (1925) who estimated 

the average loss in mining in bituminous coal mines 

in the eastern United States at 34.7 percent, the 

figures by States ranging from 20.0 percent for 

Virginia to 49.0 percent for Illinois. The extremely 

low figure for Virginia is based on studies of 34 mines 

and took into account six types of loss: coal left in 

the roof or bottom; coal left in pillars; coal lost in 

oil- and gas-well pillars; coal lost under buildings, 

railroads, highways, and other places; coal lost in 

handling and preparation; and coal lost by rolls, thin 

or dirty layers, and streams. No consideration was 

given to coal in overlying beds lost through mining 

in lower beds, nor to coal lying between mined areas; 

the figures apply to individual mining properties 

rather than to the mining districts as a whole. Further, 

the mines studied in 1925 were comparatively large, 

and it may be presumed that they were favorably

55
located in thick, easily accessible coal and were 

well managed. Since 1925 it has been necessary 

to mine thinner coal, at greater depths and under 

less favorable conditions generally than prevailed 

at that time; under these conditions mining losses, 

even if considered on a mine-by-mine rather than 

an over-all basis, probably have increased considerably.

Mining losses over large areas as distinguished 

from those in individual mines have been discussed 

at considerable length by Averitt and'Berryhill (1950), 

who estimate the average loss throughout the United 

States, on the basis of numerous estimates made by 

qualified persons, as being about 50 percent; in other 

words, the amount of coal lost in mining a given 

large area may be expected to be approximately equal 

to the tonnage actually recovered. Studies of the 

mined-out areas in the Southwest Virginia field, which 

are estimated to have contained about 920 million tons 

of coal as compared to reported production of about 

534 million tons, indicate that the. 50 percent figure 

is not far from the true percentage for the Virginia 

coal fields.

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ashley, G. H., 1906, The maximum deposition of 

coal in the Appalachian coal field: Econ. Geology, 

vol. 1, pp. 788-793.

Averitt, Paul, and Berryhill, L. R., 1950, Coal 

resources of the United States, a progress report, 

November 1, 1950: U. S. Geol. Survey Circ. 94.

Belden, A. W., 1908, Coking tests, in_Moldenke, 

Richard, and others, Washing and coking tests of 

coal and cupola tests of coke, conducted by the 

United States fuel-testing plant at St. Louis, Mo., 

January 1, 1905, to June 30, 1907: U. S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 336, pp. 18-47.

Bloomer, R. O., 1938, The geology of the Piedmont 

in Chesterfield and Henrico Counties, Va., Unpublished Master of Science thesis in files of Univ. 

of Virginia Library, 53 pp., map, 17 pis.

Breckenridge, L. P., 1907, A study of four hundred 

steaming tests, made at the fuel-testing plant at 

St. Louis, Mo., in 1904, 1905, and 1906: U. S. 

Geol. Survey Bull. 325;

Brown, C. B., 1937, Outline of the geology and 

mineral resources of Goochland County, Va.: 

Virginia Geol. Survey Bull. 48, County ser. 1.

Burrows, J. S., 1908, Mine sampling and chemical 

analyses of coals tested by the United States fueltesting plant, Norfolk, Va., in 1907: U. a Geol. 

Survey Bull. 362.

Butts, Charles, 1914, The coal resources and general 

geology of the Pound quadrangle of Virginia and 

Kentucky: U. S, Geol. Survey Bull, 541-F, pp. 165- 

221.

______ 1914, The coal resources and general 

geology of the Found quadrangle In Virginia: 

Virginia Geol. Survey Bull. 9.

1940, Geology of the Appalachian

Valley in Virginia: Virginia Geol. Survey 3ulL 52. 

Campbell, M. R., 1893, Geology Of the Big Stone , Gap coal field of Virginia and Kentucky: U. S.

Geol. Survey Bull. Ul, pp. 11*-104. , 

_________ 1914, Coking coal in Powell Mountain,

Scott County, Va.: U. S. GeoL Survey Bull. 541-F,

pp. 163-164.

__________ 1914, Analyses of coal samples from 

various coal fields of the United States: U. S. Geol. 

Survey Bull. 541-K, pp. 491-526.

1917, Coal fields of the United States

considered as sources of supply for the western 

hemisphere: Froc. 2d Fan-Am. Sci. Cong., 

Washington, D. C., sec. 7, vol. 8, pp. 163-174. 

1923, History of geologic work in

the Wise County coal field and correlation of the 

coal beds, in Eby, J. B., The geology and mineral 

resources oFwise County and the coal-bearing 

portion of Scott County, Va.: Virginia Geol. Survey Bull. 24, pp. 73-139.

1925, Metamorphism of Virginia

coals: Fan-Am. Geologist, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 62- 

65. 

_________ 1929, The coal fields of the United

States, general introduction: U. S. Geol. Survej 

Frof. Paper 100-A, pp. 1-33.

Campbell, M. R., and Clark, F. R., 1916, Analyses 

of coal samples from various parts of the United 

States: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 621-P, pp. 251- 

375.

Campbell, M. R., and Woodruff, E. G., 1911, The 

Fowell Mountain coal field, Scott and Wise Counties, 

Va.: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 431-B, pp. 147-162.

Campbell, M. R., and others, 1925, The Valley 

coal fields of Virginia: Virginia Geol. Survey ' 

Bull. 25.

Clifford, William, 1888, Richmond coal field, 

Virginia: Manchester Geol. Soc. Trans., vol. 19, 

pt. 13, pp. 326-358.

Davenport, F. B., 1923, Virginia anthracite (Fulaski, 

Wythe, Montgomery, and Roanoke Counties): Mining 

and Metallurgy, vol. 4, no. 203, p. 554.

Dilworth, J. B. , 1913, The Black Mountain coal 

district, Kentucky: Am. Inst. Min. Eng. Trans., 

vol. 43, pp. 129-156.

Eavenson, H. N., 1942, The first century and a 

quarter of American coal industry, pp. 29-137, 

Koppers Bldg., Pittsburgh, Fa., privately printed.

Eby, J. B., 1923, The geology and mineral resources 

of Wise County and the coal-bearing portion of Scott 

County, Va.: Virginia Geol. Survey BulL 24.

Fieldner, A. C., and others, 1914, Analyses of 

mine and car samples of coal collected in the fiscal years 1911 to 1913: U. S. Bur. Mines Bull. 85.

_______ 1918, Analyses of mine and car 

samples of coal collected in the fiscal years 1913 

to 1916: U. S. Bur. Mines Pull. 123.

1922, Analyses, of mine and car

samples of coal collected in the fiscal years 1916 

to 1919: U. a Bur. Mines BulL 193.

1931, Methods and apparatus used

in determining the gas-, coke-, and byproductmaking properties of American coals, with results 

on a Taggart bed coal from.Roda, Wise County, 

Va.: 0. S. Bur. Mines Bull. 344.

1936, Carbonizing properties and

petrographic composition qf Clintwood bed coal 

from Buchanan mines Nos. 1 and 2, Buchanan, 

County, Va,: U* S, Bur. Mines Tech. Paper 570.

Fisher, C. A., 1909, The Pocket coal district, 

Virginia, in the Little Black Mountain coal field: 

U. a GeoL.SurveyBuiL 341-C, pp. 409-418. , Giles, A. W. r 1921» The geology and coal resources 

of Dickenson County, Va, J Virginia Geol. Survey 

Boll. 21^

56
________ 1925, The geology and coal resources 

of the coal-bearing portion of Lee County, Va.: 

Virginia Geol, Survey Bull. 26.

1926, The coal resources of Virginia:

Univ. Virginia, Jour. Eng., vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 1-5. 

Griffith, William, 1906, Kinds and occurrence of

anthracite coal: Mining Mag., vol. 13, pp. 214-

221. 

Harnsberger, T. K., 1919, The geology and coal

resources of the coal-bearing portion of Tazewell

County, Va.: Virginia Geol._ Survey Bull. 19. 

Hayes, C. W., 1901, The coal'fields of the United

States: U. S. Geol. Survey 22d Ann. Rept., pt. 3,

pp. 7-24. 

_________1903, Coal fields of the United States:

U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 213, pp. 257-269. 

Hetarich, O. J., 1873, The Midlothian colliery,

Virginia: Am. Inst. Min. Eng. Trans., vol. 1,

pp. 346-357.

1879, The Mesozoic formation in

Virginia: Am. Inst. Min. Eng. Trans. vol. 6,

pp. 227-274. 

Hinds, Henry, 1916, The coal resources of the 

Ciintwood and Bucu quadrangles, Virginia:

Virginia Geol. Survey BulL 12.

_ 1918, The geology and coal resources

of Buchanan County, Va.: Virginia Geol. Survey

Bull. 18. 

Keystone Coal Buyers Manuals, 1940-51, McGrawHill Publishing Co., Inc. 

Lord, N. W., 1907, Experimental work conducted

in the chemical laboratory of the United States

fuel-testing plant at St. Louis, Mo., January 1,

1905 to July 31, 1906: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull.

323. 

Lord, EL W., and others, 1913, Analyses of coals

in the United States, with descriptions of mine and

field samples collected between July 1, 1904, and

June 30, 1910: U. S. Bur. Mines Bull. 22. 

McGill, W. M., 1934, Coal in Virginia: Colorado

School Mines, Mines Mag., vol. 24, no. 5, pp. 19-

23, and no. 6, pp. 16-17. 

Pultz, J. L., 1904, The Big Stone Gap coal field of

Virginia and Kentucky: Eng. Mag., vol. 28, pp. 71-

85. 

Rice, G. S., and Paul, J. W., 1925, Amount and

nature of losses in mining bituminous coal in the

eastern United States: U. S. Coal Comm. Rept.,

pt. 3, pp. 1841-1876.

Roberts, J. K., 1928, The geology of the Virginia

Triassic: Virginia Geol. Survey Bull. 29. 

Shaler, N. S., and Woodworth, J. B., 1899, Geology

of the Richmond basin, Virginia: U. S. Geol.

Survey 19th Ann. Rept., pt. 2, pp. 385-519. 

Stone, R. W., 1907, The Russell Fork coal field,

Virginia: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 316-A, pp. 55-

67..

_____ 1907; Coal mijttin9 at Dante, Va.:

U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 316-A, pp. 68-75.

________1908, Coal resources of the Russell

Fork basin .in Kentucky and Virginia: U. S. Geol.

Survey Bull. 348. 

U. S. Bureau of Mines, 1923-31, Mineral Resources

of the United States. 

________ 1926, Analyses of Virginia coals:

Tech. Paper 365.

 ..... _.- 1^^> Analyses of Virginia coals:

Tech/Paper 656.

1932-50, Minerals Yearbooks . ________ U. S. Geological Survey, 1894-99, 16th to 21st 

Annual Reports.

____ 1912, Miscellaneous analyses of coal 

samples from various fields of the United States: 

U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 471-F, pp. 629-655.

1913, Miscellaneous analyses of coal

samples from various fields of the United States: 

U. 3. GeoL Survey Bull. 531-M, pp. 331-355. 

_______1882-93; 1900-1922, Mineral Resources

of the United States. 

Wanless, H. R., 1946, Pennsylvanian geology of a

part of the Southern Appalachian coal field: Geol.

Soc. America Mem. 13. 

Wentworth, C. K., 1922, The geology and coal

resources of Russell County, Va.: Virginia Geoi.

Survey Bull. 22, 

White, C. D., 1905, The age of the Wise and Harlan'

formations of southwestern Virginia (abstract):

Science, new ser., vol. 22, pp. 335-336. 

Woodworth, J, B., 1902, The Atlantic coast Triassic

coal field: U. S. Geol. Survey 22d Ann. Rept.,

pt. 3, pp. 25-53.

1902, The history and conditions

of mining in the Richmond coal basin, Virginia:

Am. Inst. Min. Eng. Trans., vol. 31, pp. 477-

484.

57

testtt
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 171 PLATE

Horlon sondstone

V77*

Wise formation

-t 

Syncline 

Anticline

C and 0-Chesapeake ond Ohio

Clin- Clinchfield

Int-interstate

LandN Louisville and Nashville

NandW-Norfolk and Western

Sou-Southern

GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA COAL FIELD
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 171 PLATE 2

EXPLANATION

Measured 

Reserves 

Coal more thon nnninniRI

Indicated 

Reserves

Inferred 

Reserves

Cool 28 to 42 in.

thick 

Coal I4to28in.

thick rrm

Mined-out 

area

Coal less than 14 in. thick, 

or data insufficient to 

estimate reserves

Area of complex 

structures-, cool 

beds undifferentioted

42-inch line 28-lnchline 14-lnchline

r ->._.,K_E..N_!-y.£K--rx-..

A. GENERALIZED MAP OF CLINTWOOD COAL BED, SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA FIELD

S? a »

EXPLANATION 

Measured Indicated

Cool more thon 

42 in. thick

Coal less than 14 in. thick, 

or do to insufficient to 

estimate reserves

28-inch line 14-inch line

Area of complex 

structure , coal 

beds undifferentioted

Fault

10 MILES

B. GENERALIZED MAP OF IMBODEN OR CAMPBELL CREEK COAL BED, SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA FIELD
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

Lee County CIRCULAR 171 PLATE 3

Wise County

Buchonon County

Cedar Grove (Red Jacket. Thacker. Upper Thacker) 

Lower Cedar Grove (I ower Thacker)

Campbell Creek (Imboden, Upper War Eagle.

Freeburn, Burnwell. WarfnM. Lower Elkhom.

Lower Marrowbone, No. 2 Gat)

Morris (No. II, Cornett)

Pardea (Haddw, Paraons)

(No. 10, Limestone, Smith)- 

Wax (No. 9

Gin Creek (No. B)

illipi (No. 7, Fire Clay, Dean)

Dickenson County

Low Splint (Buck Knob) Clintwood (Matewan, Fedt Creek)

Eagle (Middle War Eagle) 

Blair (Bends Creek) 

Glamorgan (Gladeville. Dorchester, 

(Upper bench: Lyons?, Little Cedar?

Splint (No. 6, Crevelingi pper Boiling (Kelly, Five Foot)

*Vnptwll Creek (Lower Boiling, Imboden)

Taggart (Roda. Keokee. No. 5. "C" Darby) 

Taggart Marker ("B")

Taggart (No. 5, Darby. 42", McConnell 

Roda. "C")

Upper Standiford (Wilson)

Taggjrt Marker ("B") 

KVk (No. 4) Splafh Dam 

Upper Banner

 Lower Banner (Can, Gilbert)

.Kelly (Upper Boiling, Five Foot)

'Imboden (Lower Boiling, Lower Campbell Cr.) chuster (Gladeville, Glamorgan)

^ 

 Norton (Yellow CreekJ arlan (No. 3, Jackrock, Wilson) 

pper St. Charles (No. 2A) 

Lower St. Charles (No

 Big Fork

Kennedy (Widow Kennedy, 

 jj' Douglas, Harris) 

Ally

agy (Edwards?

 Splash Dam (Wilson) + 

"Upper Banner -f-

 Lower Banner (Cary) +

Rocky Fork 

Addinoton 

Pinhook ~ * ' ( Norton No. 8, Big Dorchester) (Meadow) 

'Imboden (No. I)

kfiaven (Raven Red Ash,Garden Hole, 

"Imboden," Lower DouglatLX' Blair (Norton No. 7, Haskell No. 1, No. 3A)

 Lyons (Fraley. Haskell No. 3 Marker) --

 Dorchester Norton No. 2. Ha.kell No. 3,

Gladeville, Esserville. Big Dirt Seam) 

Norton (Middle Norton, Yellow Creek, 

Edwards, Gladeville)

intwood (North Fork) 

.Blair (Bentley) 

.Lyons (Thompson) 

"Dorchester (Marcee, Cornett)

'Splash Dam (Edwards) 

pper Banner Raven (Garden Hole. "Imboden," No.6) -f

Jawbone (Ratliff, No. 5) + 

Tiller (No. 4) +

Dickenton County Coals alto 

found in Russtll County

'Kennedy (Widow Kennedy) 

fbven (Garden Hole, "Imboden")

Jawbone (Shannon) 

Her (Hogwallow

Tozewell County

^

I ^/^ Is'

D 

L *>r

^

C .^

D^.^

:

^

:

4 

E

r

i.

oJJj J

 z. 

o

52

rr 

o

IL.

UJ

z 

o

\n

UJ

3

' * 1

_

Lower Banner (Gilbert) 

Big Fork

Kennedy (Dough*)

Aily

Raven (Lower Douglas, Jewel! Ridge)

Jawbone (laeger) 

Tiller (Lower laeger?)

Upper Seaboard

Greasy Creek (SewerTB"?)

Middle Seaboard (SeweK"A"?) 

Lower Seaboard (Sewell?) '

Upper Horsepen (Smith.Welch) 

Middle Horsepen (Little Raleigh?)

C" Seam 

War Creek (BecWey)

Lower Honepen (Little Fire Creek?)

PocahonUs No. 9 

Pocahontai No. B 

Pocahontas No. 7

Pocahontas No. 6

Pocahontas No. 5 

Pocahontas No. 4 

Pocahontas No. 3

Pocahontas No. 2 

Pocahontas No. I

CHART SHOWING STRATIGRAPHIC POSITION OF COAL BEDS IN THE SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA FIELD