The Big Stone Gap post. [volume] (Big Stone Gap, Wise County, Va.) 1892-1928, 1893-05-25
Still, lower beds will have precedence
in other parts of the field.

Next in the series is bed varying
much in thickness, often altogether
wanting, and probably covering but
little area with workable coal. It's
maximum thickness, as yet known,
is about 8 feet, on Mill branch, an
eastern tributary of Powell river. On
Callahan creek, ajoining, it is known
as 5-fQot coking-coal bed, but its
infcriorty to the bed Immediately be-
low it casts it wholly into the shade.
Averaging, perhaps, SO feet lower
than the bed just mentioned, and
800 to $50 feet above the lower con-
glomerate, lies the "Imboden" bed,
the equivalent of No. 8 Of kentucky,
where it is now we'll known as the
"Elkhorn" coking coal Of Pike and
Letcher counties.
1t has been pretty thoroughly ex-
plotted over most of the Big Stone
Gap field, where accessible in outcrop,
and for nearly two years has been
mined, on a small scale, forsupplying
the South Atlantic and Ohio railroad
and local demands along its line.
Its outcrop lies along the base Of
Little Black mountain in Lee county,
but in Wise county it generally goes
under drainage 2 miles or more south
from Black mountain, thus giving
exposures along each main stream for
distance of 9 to s miles. Along
Powell river, from Big Stone Gap
nearly to Norton, it is found in the
ends Of the spurs on the north from
800 to 400 feet above the river.
Making full allowance for indcnta-
tons of streams and absence of the
bed from the southern part of the
field, there remains not less than go
per cent. Of the total area covered by
it, or fully 90 square miles.
East and south of the limits assigned
to the field the bed has comparatively
little or no value; west of it the coal
is thicker, but still considerably below
the average Of the field; but on the
north the coal holds well in thickness
as far as to the Cumberland river.
Most of the openings made in the
bed within the field disclose q thick
ness of coal of over 5 feet, varying with
great irregularity ITO l6 and even
20 feet Of coal. Only in few open
ings near the cxtrcmitics of the field
has the coal been found less than / feet
thick. Though varying so greatly in
thickness along it's hundred or more
miles Of outcrop on the Virginia side
of the field, it's ample proportions
there, combined with its favorable
showing along the Cumberland river,
warrant the assumption that the main
body of the coal under Black noun
tain is also undoubtedly of abundant
thickness. The excessive thickness
has been found always within few
miles of Stone mountain, and may be
attributed to the uplifting of that
mountain as cause.
On the Cane Patch, an eastern
branch of Roaring Fork, the bed has
20 feet of coal with heavy partinys,
but it diminishcs to about 5 feet on
the eastern head of the branch and
on Bear Pen branch, a mile or two
south. Still further east, Oh the
main head of Powell river, the coal is
again II feet or more thick. with a
parting OF 5 feet, but here, at the
eastern end Of the field, it is too near
the tops of the hills to be of value.
1t is to be said of most Of the open
ing made that they are merely sur
face openings, and consequently that
the many partings sometimes shown
would undoubtedly diminish in num-
Der and size on entrance underground.
This has proved to be the case in sew
eral instances in this locality.
On the other hand. qualification
is also necessary in regard to the ex-
treme thickness which the bed so fire.
quently displays. A middle bencl,
of this is so soft that it is often i'm,
possible to mine it except as slack
and it has, intimately mixed with it
and so abundant as to seriously affect
it's quality, thin particles Of soft shale
rarely more than i in diameter
Though much of this shale may be
eliminated by washing, the cost of sc
doing, and the inferior quality of coke
resulting, must dctract largely from
the value of the bed. In extreme
cases, the expense of disposing of the
whole bench may be u total loss.
The thickness of the bench varies
with considerable regularity accord
ing to the total thickness of bed. II
is generally absent when the Goa
is less than feet thick.
The quality of the rest of the coal
throughout, except in the extreme
western part of the field, is remarka
bic fine. The coal is very low in ash
and sulphur Gas regards ash, the re-
suits for Looney creek and Mud Lick
Goals would probably have been bet
ter, but that the samples were taken